|THEOLOGICAL  SEMINARY,f 
f  Princeton,  N.  J.  * 


^*****  £&&&* 


BR  143  .J63  1832 
Jones,  William,  1762-1846. 
The  history  of  the  Christia 
church 


u 


HISTORY 


CHRISTIAN    CHURCH, 


THE  BIRTH  OF  CHRIST  TO  THE  XVIII.  CENTURY: 


I>'CLCDI>TG  THE 


VERY  INTERESTING  ACCOUNT 


WALDENSES   AND   ALBIGENSES, 


BY  WILLIAM  JONES. 


TWO  VOLUMES  IN  ONE. 


THIRD  AMERICAN  FROM  THE  FIFTH  LONDON  EDITION. 


IWaifelpfjia: 

PUBLISHED  BY  R.  W.  POMEROY. 

SOLD  BY  HOGAN  &  THOMPSON,   139*  MARKET  STREET. 

1832. 


C.  SHERMAN  &,  CO.  PRINTERS, 

St.  James  Street,  Philadelphia. 


t"vzv~    . 


THSOLOG: 


mm 

iVV.*v  -  -  ' 


Chronological  Tables  to  Vols.  I.  and  II.  -  -  vii 

Preface  to  the  First  Edition,       -----     xiii 
Preface  to  the  Fifth  Edition,  ....  xix 

Introduction,       -------l 

CHAPTER  I. 

A  View  of  the  Rise  and  Progress  of  Christianity  from  the  Birth 

of  Christ  to  the  End  of  the  First  Century. 
Sect.  1.  From  the  Birth  to  the  Death  of  Christ,    -  35 

2.  From  Christ's  Resurrection  to  the  Promulgation  of  the 

Gospel  among  the  Gentiles,     -  -  -  40 

3.  From  the  first  Preaching  of  the  Gospel  among  the  Gen- 

tiles to  the  Return  of  Paul  and  Barnabas  from  their 
first  Journey,  -  53 

4.  The  Subject  continued — Paul's  second  and  third  Journeys,     66 

5.  From  Paul's  Arrival  at  Jerusalem  with  the  Contributions 

from  Asia  to  the  Period  of  his  Death,  -  84 

6.  From  the  Time  of  Paul's  Decease,  A.  D.  66,  to  the  End 

of  the  first  Century,     -  96 

CHAPTER  II. 

History  of  the  Christian  Church  from  the  End  of  the  first  Cen- 
tury to  the  Establishment  of  Christianity  under  Con- 
stantine  the  Great,  A.  D.  98 — 306. 

Sect.  1.  The  State  of  the  Christian  Profession  under  the  Reign 

of  the  Emperor  Trajan,  A.  D.  98 — 117,  -  115 

2.  The  Christian  Church  under  the  reigns  of  Adrian  and 

the  Antonines,  A.  D.  117 — 180,  -  -  123 

3.  From  the  Death  of  Marcus  Aurelius  to  the  days  of  Con- 

stantine,  A.  D.  180 — 306  -  -  -  134 

4.  Reflections  on  the  History  of  the  Christian  Church  dur- 

ing the  first  three  Centuries,  with  a  View  of  the  Rise 

of  Antichrist,  -  -  -  -  152 


CHAPTER  III. 

The  State  of  Christianity  from  the  Accession  of  Conslantine  to 

the  Rise  of  the  PFaldenses,  A.  D.  306—800. 
Sect.  1.  A  View  of  the  Reign  of  Constantine  the  Great,  and  the 

Establishment  of  Christianity,  A.  D.  306—337,  159 

2.  From  the  Death  of  Constantine  to  the  End  of  the  fourth 

Century,  A.  D.  337—400,  175 

3.  From  the  Beginning  of  the  fifth  Century  to  the  Establish- 

ment of  the  Dominion  of  the  Popes,  A.  D.  401— 606,   195 

4.  The  Subject  continued — the  Gothic  Invasion — the  sack- 

ing of  Rome — Settlement  of  the  Barbarians  in  Europe,  209 
Appendix  to  Chap.  III.  Sect.  4.  -  -  222 

5.  From  the  Establishment  of  the  Dominion  of  the  Popes 

to  the  Rise  of  the  Waldenses — Sketch  of  Mahometan- 
ism— Sect  of  the  Paulicians,  &c.  A.  D.  606—800,       225 

CHAPTER  IV. 

Ji  View  of  the  State  of  the  Christian  Prof essionfromthebeginning 
of  the  ninth  to  the  end  of  the  twelfth  Century,  A.  D.  800 
—1200. 

Sect.  1.  Description  of  the  Valleys  of  Piedmont,  and  of  the  Py- 
renees, with  some  Account  of  Claude  of  Turin,  246 

2.  View  of  the  Catholic  Church   from  the  ninth  to  the 

twelfth  Century,  A.  D.  800—1200,      -  -  257 

3.  Sketch  of  the  State  of  Christianity  from  the  Death  of 

Claude  of  Turin,  to  the  Days  of  Peter  Waldo, — Ca- 
thari  in  Germany — Waldenses  in  England — Arnold 
of  Brescia — Paterines  in  Milan,  &c.  A.  D.  840 — 1160,  273 

4.  History  of  the  Crusades  for  the  Recovery  of  the  Holy 

Land,  and  of  the  City  of  Jerusalem,  A.  D.  1096 — 1270,  289 

CHAPTER  V. 

The  History  of  the  Waldenses  and  Mbigenses,  from  the  7  imes 

of  Peter  Waldo,  A.  D.  1160,  to  the  Bays  of  Wickliff, 

A.  D.  1368. 

Sect.  1.  Etymology  of  the  Terms   Waldenses  and  Albigenses, 

with  some  Account  of  Peter  Waldo  of  Lyons — Decree 

of  Pope  Lucius  III.  &c.  ...  307 

2.  View  of  the  doctrinal  Sentiments  of  the  Waldenses,  ac- 

cording to  the  Testimony  of  their  Adversaries,  318 

3.  Their  Sentiments   and   Practices,  collected  from   their 

own  Writings,  332 


4.  Additional  Testimonies  from  the  Writings  of  both  Friends 

an<Z  Foes — Miscellaneous  Reflections  on  their  History,  346 

5.  A  View  of  the  Rise  and  Establishment  of  the  Inquisition, 

with  Reflections  on  its  Spirit  and  Operation — Edicts 

of  Frederick  II.  358 

6.  History  of  the  persecutions  of  the  Albigenses  in  France, 

during  the  thirteenth  Century,  -  -  369 

7.  The  State  of  the   Waldenses,  from  the  Period  of  the 

Extirpation  of  the  Albigenses,  to  the  Middle  of  the 
fourteenth  Century,  A.  D.  1220 — 1350,  -  389 

8.  State  of  Religion  in  England  and  Bohemia,  in  the  thir- 

teenth and  fourteenth  Centuries— Sketches  of  Wick- 
liff — the  Lollards — Huss — Jerome  of  Prague — Bohe- 
mian Brethren,  &c.  &c.  ...  403 

CHAPTER  VI. 

History  of  the  Waldenses  continued  from  the  Middle  of  the  four- 
teenth to  the  End  of  the  seventeenth  Century,  A.  D. 
1350—1700. 

Sect.  1.  The  History  of  the  Waldenses  from  the  Days  of  Wick- 

liff  to  the  Rise  of  Luther,  A.  D.  1350—1500,  430 

2.  History  of  the  Waldenses  from  the  End  of  the  fifteenth 

to  the  Middle  of  the  sixteenth  Century,  A.  D.  1500 — 
1550,  .....  443 

3.  View  of  the  Conduct  of  the  Court  of  Rome,  and  of  the 

Inquisition  in  the  sixteenth  Century — State  of  Affairs 

in  Spain  and  the  Netherlands,  A.  D.  1550 — 1570,        458 

4.  History  of  the  Waldenses  continued,  from  the  Middle 

of  the  sixteenth  to  the  Commencement  of  the  seven- 
teenth Century,  A.  D.  1551— 1600,      -  -  473 

5.  History  of  the  Waldenses  continued,  from  the  year  1600 

to  1665 — their  Banishment  from  the  Marqnisate  of 
Saluces — Cruel  Order  of  Gastaldo — Dreadful  Massacre 
in  Piedmont,  A.  D.  1665 — Defection  and  Recovery  of 
two  of  their  Pastors,  &c.  -  -  -  491 

6.  History  of  the  Waldenses  continued — Generous  Inter- 

ference of  the  English  Government — Milton's  Sonnet, 
and  State  Letters  to  the  Swiss  Cantons — the  King  of 
France — Duke  of  Savoy — King  of  Sweden — King 
of  Denmark — United  Provinces — Swiss  Cantons — 
Prince  of  Transylvania — Senators  of  Geneva — The 
a2 


Landgrave  of  Hesse  to  the  Duke  of  Savoy — Mission 

of  Sir  S.  Morland,        -  -  -  -  504 

7.  Waldensian  History  continued— Sanguinary  Proceedings 

against  them  in  Poland— Appeal  to  the  English  Na- 
tion—Narrative of  the  Cruelties  inflicted  by  the  Ca- 
tholics, ...  -  -  527 

8.  History  concluded— Edict  of  Victor  Amadeus— Inter- 

ference of  the  Swiss  Cantons— Distracted  State  of 
Piedmont — Despotic  Influence  of  Louis  XIV. — Pied- 
mont invaded  by  the  French  Army — Massacre — Im- 
prisonment—Final Extirpation  of  the  Waldenses— 
Reflections  on  their  History  and  Sufferings,     -  540 

Appendix— Proofs  and  Illustrations,     -  -  -  -      567 

Index  to  the  two  Volumes,  .  -  -  -  597 


CHRONOLOGICAL   TABLE 

OF 

SOVEREIGN  PRINCES 

TO  ILLUSTRATE  THE  FIRST  VOLUME  OF  THIS  WORK. 


N.  B.  The  dates  in  the  first  column  denote  the  year  in  which  the  person  died,  or 
resigned  the  office. 


HOMAX  EMTEBORS. 

A.  11. 

BISHOrS  OF   K03I 

E.* 

Century  I. 

Century  I. 

Augustus,    - 

14 

Linus, 

f 

Chronologists 

Tiberius, 

- 

37 

Anaclitus,  - 

- 

■differ  about 

Caligula, 

41 

Clement, 

\ 

the  dates 

Claudius, 

Nero,            - 

54 

Evaristus,   - 

-       ) 

of  their 

68 

Alexander, 

L 

deaths 

Galba,    - 

- 

69 

Century  II. 

A.  D. 

Otho, 

69 

Xystus  or  Sixtus, 

- 

. 

127 

Vitellius, 

- 

70 

Tellesphorus,    - 

. 

- 

138 

Vespasian,   -.-*.- 

79 

Hyginus,      - 

- 

- 

150 

Titus,     - 

- 

81 

Pius  I.    - 

. 

- 

153 

Domitian,    - 

96 

Anicetus,     - 

. 

. 

162 

Nerva,      - 

- 

98 

Soter,     - 

. 

. 

172 

Century  II. 

Eleutherus, 

. 

. 

185 

Trajan, 

117 

Victor, 

- 

- 

196 

Adrian, 

■ 

138 

Century  III. 

Antoninus  Pius, 

161 

Zepherinus, 

. 

- 

219 

Marcus  Antoninus, 

• 

180 

Callistus, 

. 

. 

224 

Lucius  Verus  Commodus,   - 

192 

Urban, 

. 

. 

231 

Pertinax, 

. 

193 

Pontianus, 

. 

. 

235 

Did.  Julianus, 

193 

Anterns, 

. 

. 

236 

Niger,    - 

- 

194 

Fabianus, 

. 

. 

251 

Albinus,        - 

197 

Cornelius,    - 

. 

254 

Century  III. 

Lucius, 

. 

. 

256 

Se  verus,       - 

211 

Stephen, 

- 

. 

258 

Caracalla, 

• 

217 

Sixtus  II. 

. 

259 

Macrinus,     - 

218 

Dionysius,    - 

- 

. 

270 

Heliogabalus,     - 

- 

222 

Eutychianus, 

. 

283 

Severus  Alexander, 

235 

Caius  Marcellinus, 

. 

. 

296 

Maximin, 

. 

237 

Century  IV. 

Gordian  I.  II. 

237 

Marcellinus, 

. 

. 

304 

Bubianus  and  Balbinus, 

. 

238 

Marcellus, 

. 

. 

309 

Gordian  III. 

244 

Eusebius,     - 

. 

. 

311 

Philip  the  Arabian, 

- 

250 

Melchiades, 

- 

- 

313 

Decius,        - 

252 

Sylvester,     - 

- 

- 

335 

Gallus  and  Volusianus,  - 

- 

253 

Mark,     - 

- 

. 

336 

JEmilianus, 

253 

Julius, 

- 

. 

352 

Valerian, 

. 

259 

Liberius, 

. 

. 

367 

Gallienus,     - 

268 

Damasus, 

. 

. 

384 

Claudius  II. 

- 

270 

Syricius, 

- 

- 

398 

•  The  succession  of  the  Bishops  of  Rome  is  an  extremely 

intricate  affair. 

But 

the  following  catalogue,  which  is  according  to  the  learned  Bishop  Pearson, 

will, 

perhaps,  be  sufficiently  accurate  to  serve  the  purpose  of  assisti 

ng  the  readers  of  this 

history.     I  am  apprehensive, 

lowever,  that  the  date's,  as  res 

pects  the  Bishops  of 

Rome  and  the  Popes,  denote 

thet 

imeof 

their  elevation  to  the  chair  of  St.  Peter. 

CHRONOLOGICAL  TABLE  OF  SOVEREIGN  PRINCES. 


ROMAN   EMPERORS. 


Century  III.  a.  b. 

Quintillius,  -  -  270 

Aurelian,  -  -  -  275 

Tacitus,        -  -  -  275 

Florianus,  -  -  -  276 

Probus,        ---  282 

Cams,    -  -  -  -  283 

Numerianus,  -  -  284 

Century  IV. 

Dioclesian  and  Maximal,      -  305 

Constantius,        ...  306 

Galerius,       -  -  -  311 

Maximin  and  Licinius,  -  -  312 

CoNSTANTINE  THE  GREAT,     -  337 

Constantine  II.  -  -  538 

Constans,     -  -  -  350 

Constantius,       -  -  361 

Julian  the  Apostate,  363 

Jovian,  -  -  36-4 

Valentinian,  -  -  375 

Valeria;  .  -  -  378 

Gratian,        ...  383 

Valentinian  II.    -  -  -  392 

Theodosius  the  Great,      -  395 

N.  B .  The  Roman  empire  was  at  this  time 

divided  into  Eastern  and  Western. 

emperors  or  the  west,   (home.) 

Century  V. 

Honorius,     ...  423 

Valentinian  III.  -  -  455 

Maximus,     ...  455 

Avitus,  ---.  456 

Majorianus,  -  -  461 

Severus,  ...  465 

Anthemius,  -  -  472 

Glycerius,  ...  474 

Julius  Nepos,  -  -  475 

Augustulus,        ...  476 

Odoacer  took  the  title  of  King  of^\ 

Italy,  and  put  an  end  to  the  i  .„-, 

Western  Empire  until  the  reign  \ 

of  Charlemagne,  in  800.  J 

Century  VI. 

KINGS   OF  ITALY. 

Theodoric, 
Athalaric, 


BISHOPS  OP  ROME. 


Theodatus, 
Vitiges, 


526 
534 
536 

540 


LOMBARD    KIXGS. 


Albinus, 
Clephis, 
Autharis, 

EMPERORS  OF  THE  EAST. 


571 

-      573 

590 

(COXSTASTI- 


Arcadius,  - 
Theodosius  II 
Marcianus,  - 


NOPLE. 

Century  V. 


408 
450 
457 


Century  V, 

Anastasius, 

Innocent, 

Zasinius, 

Boniface  I.  - 

Celestine  I. 

Sixtus  in. 

Leo  the  Great, 

Hilarius, 

Simplicius,  - 

Felix  HI. 

Galasius, 

Anastasius  II.     - 

Century  VI. 

Symmachus  I. 

Hormisdas, 

John  I.- 
Felix IV. 

Boniface  II. 

John  H. 

Agapetus  I. 

Sylverius, 

Vigilius, 

Pelagius  I.- 
John III.      - 
Bendict  I. 

Pelagius  II. 
Gregory  the  Great,  who  is  pro- 
perly termed  the  Pope  or  Uni- 
versal Bishop. 

POPES  AFTER  GREGORY  THE  GRE 

Century  VII. 
Sabinianus, 
Boniface  III.      - 
Boniface  IV. 
Deodatus, 
Boniface  V. 
Honorius  I. 
Severinus  I. 
John  IV. 
Theodore  I. 
Martin  I. 
Eugenius  I. 
Vitalianus, 
Adeodatus, 
Domnus, 
Agatho  I.     - 
Leo  II.  - 
Benedict  II. 
John  V. 
Conon, 


Sergius  I. 
John  VI.      - 
John  VII. 
Sisinnius, 

Constantine, 


Century  VIII. 


A.  D. 

402 
417 
418 
423 
432 
450 
461 
467 
483 
492 
496 
498 

514 
523 
526 
529 
531 
535 
536 
540 
555 
558 
572 
577 
590 


605 
606 
6l4 
617 
625 
638 
639 
641 
648 
655 
656 
671 
676 
678 
682 
684 
685 
686 
687 

701 

705 
707 
708 
714 


CHRONOLOGICAL  TABLE  OF  SOVEREIGN  PRINCES. 


EMPERORS  OF  THE  EAST. 

POPES   OF  ROME. 

Century  V. 

A.  D. 

Century  VIII. 

A.  D. 

Leo  I.    - 

474 

Gregory  II. 

731 

Leo  II.         - 

474 

Gregory  III. 

- 

-      741 

Zeno  Isaurius,    - 

491 

Zachary, 

752 

Century  VI. 

Stephen  II. 

- 

-      752 

Anastatius,  -             -             - 

518 

Stephen  HI. 

757 

Justin  I. 

527 

Paul,      - 

- 

-      767 

Justinian,     - 

565 

Stephen  IV. 

772 

Justin  II. 

578 

Adrian, 

- 

-      795 

Tiberius  IT. 

586 

Leo  HI. 

795 

Century  VII. 

Century  IX. 

Mauricius,   - 

602 

Stephen  V. 

816 

Phocas,               ... 

610 

Paschal  I. 

- 

-      817 

Heraclius,    - 

641 

Eugene  H. 

824 

Constantine  III. 

641 

Valentine, 

- 

-      827 

Heraclianus, 

642 

Gregory  IV. 

827 

Constans  II.        - 

668 

Sergius  II. 

- 

-      844 

Constantine  IV.        - 

685 

Leo  IV. 

847 

Leontius,            ... 

698 

Benedict  in.      - 

. 

-      855 

Century  VIII. 

Nicholas  I.- 

858 

Tiberius  III. 

703 

Adrian  II. 

- 

-      867 

Justinian  II.        - 

711 

John  VIII.  - 

872 

Anastatius  II.            -             - 

714 

Marinus  H 

- 

-      882 

Theodosius  III. 

716 

Adrian  III.  - 

884 

Leo  Isaurius, 

741 

Stephen  VI. 

- 

-      885 

Const.  Copronymus, 

780 

Formosus, 

890 

Porphyry,    - 

797 

Boniface  VI. 

- 

-      896 

Irene,     .... 

802 

Stephen  VII. 

897 

EMPERORS  OF  THE  WEST,  OF  THE 

HOUSE 

Century 

X. 

OF  FRANCE. 

Theodore  II. 

901 

Century  IX, 

John  IX. 

. 

-      901 

Charlemagne, 

800 

Benedict  IV. 

905 

Lewis  the  Debonnair,    - 

814 

Leo  V. 

- 

-      905 

Lotharius  I.               -              - 

840 

Christopher, 

906 

Lewis  II. 

855 

Sergius, 

- 

-      906 

Charles  II.  or  the  Bald, 

875 

Anastatius  in. 

910 

Lewis  III.  or  the  Stammerer,     - 

878 

Landon, 

. 

-      912 

Charles  in.  or  the  Fat 

879 

John  X.- 

913 

Arnold,               - 

887 

Leo  VI. 

. 

-      928 

Lewis  IV.    - 

899 

Stephen  VIH. 

929 

GERMAN  EMPERORS. 

John  XI. 

. 

-      931 

Century  X. 

Leo  VII.       - 

936 

Conrad  I.- 

912 

Stephen  IX. 

. 

-      939 

Henry  I.  or  the  Fowler, 

919 

Marinus  III. 

943 

Otho  I.  or  the  Great, 

936 

Agapetus  II. 

. 

-      946 

Otho  II.  or  the  Bloody, 

973 

John  XII.     - 

955 

Otho  HI.      - 

983 

Leo  VIU. 

. 

-      963 

EMPERORS  OF  THE  EAST. 

Benedict  V. 

964 

Century  IX. 

John  XUI. 

. 

-      965 

Nicephorus, 

802 

Domnus  II. 

972 

Stauracius,          - 

811 

Benedict  VI. 

. 

-      972 

Michael  Corupalates, 

811 

Boniface  VII. 

974 

Leo  V.                .             .            . 

813 

Benedict  VII.    - 

. 

-      975 

Michael  II.  the  Stammerer, 

820 

John  XIV.    - 

984 

Theophilus, 

829 

John  XV. 

. 

-      985 

Michael  III. 

842 

John  XVI.   - 

996 

Basil,     - 

866 

John  XVII. 

. 

-       996 

Leo  the  Philosopher, 

886 

Gregory  V. 

996 

CHRONOLOGICAL  TABLE  OF  SOVEREIGN  PRINCES. 


EMPERORS  OF  THE  EAST. 

A.  D. 

POPES  OF  ROME 

Century  X. 

Century  XL 

Alexander, 

911 

Silvester  11. 

Constantino  Prophyrogenitus,   - 

912 

John  XVIII. 

Romanus  Lecapene, 

919 

John  XIX. 

Christopher,       - 

Sergius  IV. 

Constantino  restored, 

944 

Benedict  VIII. 

Stephen,             - 

John  XX. 

Romanus  the  Young,            - 

959 

Benedict  IX.    - 

Basil  and  Constantine,   - 

963 

Gregory  VI. 

Nicephorus  Phocas, 

963 

Clement  II. 

John  Zimisces, 

969 

Damasus  II. 

Basil  II.  and  Constantine  the 

St.  Leo  IX. 

Young-  restored, 

974 

Victor  H. 

Century  XL. 

Stephen  X. 

Romanus  Argyropulus, 

1028 

Nicholas  n.      - 

Michael  the  Paphlagonian, 

1034 

Alexander  II. 

Michael  Calaphates, 

1041 

Gregory  VII.  - 

Zeo  and  Theodora, 

1042 

Victor  HI. 

Constantine  Monomachus, 

1042 

Urban  II. 

Theodora, 

1054 

Paschal  n. 

Michael  the  Warrior,   - 

1056 

Century  XLL. 

Isaac  Comnenus,    - 

1057 

Gelasus  II. 

Constantine  Ducas, 

1059 

Calixtus  II. 

Romanus  Diogenes, 

1068 

Honorius  II. 

Michael  Ducas, 

1071 

Innocent  II. 

Nicephorus  Botoniates, 

1078 

C  destine  H. 

Michael  Ducas  and  Constantine, 

Lucius  II. 

Alexius  Comnenus, 

1081 

Eugenius  III. 

Century  XII. 

Anastatius  IV. 

Joanus  Comnenus, 

1118 

Adrian  IV. 

Manuel  Comnenus, 

1143 

Alexander  ni. 

Alexius  Comnenus  the  Younger, 

1180 

Lucius  HI. 

Andronicus  Comnenus, 

1183 

Urban  III. 

Isaac  Angelus, 

1185 

Gregory  VHI. 

Alexius  Angelus,  called  the  Ty- 

Clement ITT.     - 

rant, 

1195 

Celestine  III. 

EMPERORS  OF  THE  WEST. 

innocent  III.    - 

Century  XL 

St.  Henry  II.  surnamed  the  Lame, 

1002 

Conrad  II.  the  Salic, 

1024 

Henrv  HI.  the  Black,   - 

1039 

Henry  IV.  the  Old, 

1056 

Rodolph  I.       - 

1077 

Century  XII. 

Henry  V. 

1106 

Lotharius  H.    - 

1125 

Conrad  III. 

1139 

Frederick  I.  Barbarossa, 

1150 

Henry  VI. 

1193 

Philip, 

1199 

999 
1003 
1003 
1009 
1012 
1024 
1034 
1044 
1046 
1048 
1049 
1054 
1057 
1058 
1061 
1073 
1086 
1088 
1099 

1118 
1119 
1124 
1130 
1143 
1144 
1145 
1153 
1154 
1159 
1181 
1185 
1187 
1188 
1191 
1192 


CHRONOLOGICAL   TABLE 

OF 

SOVEREIGN  PRINCES 

ILLUSTRATIVE  OF  THE  SECOND  VOLUME  OF  THIS  WORK. 


POPES   OF 

rome. 

GERMAN"    EMPERORS. 

KINGS  OF  FRANCE 

Century 

XIII. 

A.  D. 

-     1216 

Century  XIII. 

Century  XIV. 

Honorius  III.   - 

Otho  IV.   -     -     - 

1208 

Lewis  X.  called 

Gregory  IX.  - 

-     -  1227 

Frederick  II.    -     - 

1212 

Hutin,      -     -     - 

1314 

C  destine  IV.  - 

-     1241 

Conrad  IV.     -     - 

1250 

Philip  V.  called  the 

Innocent  IV.  - 

-    -  1243 

William,    Earl  of 

Long,      -     -     - 

1316 

Alexander  IV. 

-    1254 

Holland,     -     - 

1254 

Charles  IV.  called 

Urban  IV.     - 

-    -1261 

Richard,  of  Corn- 

the Fair,      -     - 

1321 

Clement  IV.     - 

-     1265 

wall,       -     -     - 

1257 

Philip  VI.  of  Va- 

Gregory  X.   - 

-     -1271 

Interregnum       "^ 

1271 
1272 

loise,  -     -     -     - 

1328 

Innocent  V. 

-     1276 

which  lasted    V- 

John,  sur named  the 

Adrian  V. 

-    -  1276 

two  years,  viz.  j 

Good,  -     -     -     - 

1350 

Nicholas  III.     - 

-     1277 

Rodolph  I.  Count  c 

f 

Charles  V.  or  the 

Martin  IV.     - 

-    - 1281 

Hapsburg, 

1272 

Wise,      -     -     - 

1364 

Honorius  IV. 

-     1285 

Adolphus  of  Nas- 

Charles VI.  called 

Nicholas  IV.  - 

-    -  1288 

sau,  -     -    -     - 

1292 

the  Bienaime,    - 

1380 

S.  Celestine  V 

-     1294 

Albert  I.      -     - 

1298 

Century  XV. 

Boniface  VIII. 

-     -  1294 

Charles  VII.  called 

Century  XIV. 

the  Victorious,  - 

1422 

Century 

XIV. 

Henry   VII.    of 

Benedict  XL 

-     1303 

Luxumburg,  - 

1308 

Lewis  XI.  -     -     - 

1461 

Clement  V.    - 

-     -  1305 

Lewis  V.  of  Ba- 

Charles VIII.     -     - 

1483 

John  XXII.      - 

-     1316 

varia,     -     -     - 

1314 

Lewis  XII.  -     -     - 

1497 

Benedict  XII. 

-     -  1334 

Charles   IV.    of 

Clement  VI.     • 

-     1342 

Luxemburg,   - 

1347 

Century  XVI. 

Innocent  VI. 

-     -  1352 

Winceslaus,  king 

Francis  I.    -     -     - 

1514 

Urban  V.     - 

-     1362 

of  Bohemia,    - 

1378 

Henry  II.  -     -     - 

-1547 

Gregory  XI. 

-     -  1370 

Robert,   elector 

Francis  II.  -     -     - 

1559 

Urban  VI.  - 

-     1378 

Palatine,     -     - 

1400 

Charles  IX.   -     - 

1560 

Clement  VII. 

-     -  1378 

Henry  III.  -     -     - 

1574 

Boniface  IX. 

-     1389 

Century  XV 
Sigismund,  king 

Henry  IV.     -     -     - 

1589 

Century 

XV. 

of  Bohemia,    - 

1411 

Century  XVII. 

Innocent  VII. 

-     1404 

Maximilian  I.    - 

-1493 

Lewis  XIII.     -     - 

1610 

Gregory  XII. 

-     -  1406 

Lewis  XIV.  -     - 

1643 

Alexander  V. 

-     -     1409 

Century  XVI. 

John  XXIII.  - 

-     -  1410 

Charles  V.     -     - 

1519 

EARLS  OF  SAVOY  AND  VULV- 

Martin  V.    - 

-     -     1417 

Ferdinand  I. 

-1558 

RIENNE. 

Eugene  IV.  - 
Nicholas  V. 

-     -  1431 

Maximilian  II.     - 

1564 

-     -     1447 

Rodolph      -     - 

-1576 

Century  XIV 

Calixtus  IU.  - 

-     -  1455 

Edward,      -     -     - 

1323 

Pius  II.  -     - 

-     -     1458 

Century  XVII. 

Aymon,     -     -     - 

1329 

Paul  n.     -    - 

-     -  1464 

Matthias  I.      -     - 

1612 

Amadeus  VI.    -     - 

1343 

sixtus  rv.  - 

-    -     1471 

Ferdinand  II.    - 

-  1619 

Amadeus  VII.    - 

■  1383 

Innocent  VIII 

-     -  1484 

Ferdinand  HI.     - 

1637 

Alexander  VI. 

-     1492 

1  Leopold,      -     - 

-  1657 

CHRONOLOGICAL  TABLE  OF  SOVEREIGN  PRINCES. 


POPES  OF  ROME. 

EMrERORS  OF  THE  HOUSE 



OF    AUSTRIA. 

Century  XVI. 



A.  D. 

Century  XV. 

Pius  III.      -    -    -    1503 

A.  D. 

Julius  II.  -     -     -     -1503 

Albert  n.      -    -    1438 

Leo  X.  -     -     -     -     1513 

Frederic  III.     -     -  1440 

Adrian  VI.     -     -     -1522 

Maximilian  I.      -     1493 

Clement  VII.  -     -     1523 

Paul  m.   -     -     -     -  1534 

Century  XVI. 

Julius  in.    -     -     -     1550 

Charles  V.     -    -     1519 

Marcellus  II.  -     -     -  1555 

Paul  IV.      -     -     -     1555 



Pius  IV.    -     -    -     -1559 

Pius  V.  -     -     -    -     1563 

EMPERORS  OF  THE  EAST. 

Gregory  XIII.    -     -1572 

(CONSTANTINOPLE.) 

Sixtus  V.    -     -     -     1585 

Urban  Vn.    -    -    -1590 

Century  XIII. 

Gregory  XIV.      -     1590 

Alexius  the 

Innocent  IX.      -     -  1591 

Younger,    -     -     1203 

Clement  VIII.      -     1592 

Alexius  IV.      -     -  1203 

Murtzuphius       -     1204 

Century  XVII. 

Leo  XI.-     -     -     -     1605 

Paul  V.     -     -     -     -  1605 

Gregory  XV.  -     -     1621 

Urban  VIII.  -     -     -  1623 

Innocent  X.     -     -     1644 

Alexander  VII.  -     -  1655 

Clement  IX.    -     -     1667 

Clement  X.  -     -     - 1670 

Innocent  XI.    -     -     1676 

Innocent  XII.  -    -     1691 

DUKES  OF  SATO  I 

Century  XIV. 

A.  Dv 

Amadeus  VIII. 

resigned,      -     - 

1391 

Century  XV. 

Lewis,    -    -     -    - 

1434 

Amadeus  IX. 

-  146S 

Philibert  I.       -     - 

1472 

Charles  I.      -     - 

1482 

Charles  John 

Amadeus,     -     - 

1490 

Philip  Lackland, 

■1496 

Philibert  II.     -     - 

1496 

Century  XVI. 
Charles  III.      -     -     1504 
Emanuel  Phili- 
bert,     ...     -  1559 
Charles  Emanuel,     1580 

Century  XVII. 
Victor  Amadeus  I.     1630 
Francis   Hyacin- 

thus,  ---  -  1637 
Charles  Emanuel  II.  1638 
Victor  Amadeus  II.    1675 


PREFACE  TO  THE  FIRST  EDITION. 


The  History  of  the  Christian  Church,  when  prosecuted  in  minute 
detail,  and  in  all  its  ramifications,  is  an  ample  theme,  and  has  occu- 
pied the  pens  of  many  learned  men,  both  of  our  own  and  other  coun- 
tries. The  elaborate  treatises  of  Eusebius,  Du  Pin,  Fleury,  Mo- 
sheim,  Priestley,  Milner,  and  others  of  inferior  consideration,  have 
most  of  them  been  long  before  the  public,  and  are  all  well  known.  To 
discuss  the  subject  at  large,  or  to  enter  into  any  competition  with  those 
-works,  as  it  is  not  to  be  expected  in  the  compass  of  a  single  volume,* 
so  it  must  not  be  considered  as  having  at  all  entered  into  the  views  of 
the  present  writer.  The  following  pages,  whatever  may  be  their  merits 
or  defects,  were  not  designed  to  instruct  persons  of  general  reading;  for 
the  author  is  fully  aware  that  they  contain  little  which  is  not  familiar  to 
that  class  of  men.  They  were  compiled  with  the  view  of  communi- 
cating some  interesting  information  to  a  few  friends  whose  views  of  the 
gospel  of  Christ,  and  of  the  nature  of  his  kingdom  in  this  world,  hap- 
pen to  coincide  pretty  much  with  his  own,  but  who  have  been  debarred 
the  opportunity  of  exploring  the  voluminous  productions  in  which  that 
information  lay  scattered. 

Those  who  have  bestowed  any  considerable  degree  of  attention  upon 
the  article  of  Ecclesiastical  History,  will  readily  admit,  that  no  period 
of  it  stands  so  much  in  need  of  elucidation,  as  that  which  intervened 
from  the  beginning  of  the  ninth  century  to  the  days  of  Luther.  The 
original  sources  of  our  information  are,  almost  exclusively,  the  Catholic 
writers — a  race  of  men  who,  while  they  had  an  interest  in  disguising 
the  truth,  appear  to  have  delighted  themselves  in  calumniating  all  that 
dissented  from  their  communion.  And  even  since  the  time  of  the  Re- 
formation, while  the  light  of  divine  truth  has  been  shining  around  us 
with  increasing  splendour,  and  thus  contributing  to  expose  in  all  its 
deformity  that  "  mystery  of  iniquity,"  the  Roman  hierarchy,  our  Pro- 
testant historians  have  been  but  too  implicitly  led  by  those  false  guides. 
There  is  scarcely  any  History  of  the  Christian  Church  extant  in  our 
language  from  which  it  would  not  be  easy  to  exemplify  the  truth  of 
this  representation  ;  but  in  no  case  could  it  more  stfikingly  be  done, 
than  in  that  which  respects  the  leading  object  of  the  present  work. 
Not  to  multiply  proof  of  this,  where  proofs  are  so  abundant,  an  instance 
in  point  may  be  adduced  from  a  cotemporary  writer  of  our  own  country, 

*  The  first  edition  was  comprised  in  one  volume. 


X1V  PREFACE  TO  THE  FIHST  EDITION.     k 

who,  a  few  years  ago,  published  in  our  own  language,  the  "History  of 
France,"  in  five  vols.  4to.  The  following  is  the  account  there  given 
of  the  Albigenses,  a  class  of  Christians  who.,  as  the  reader  will  see 
from  the  subsequent  part  of  this  volume,  were  only  a  branch  of  the 
Waldenses,  inhabiting  a  particular  district  in  France. 

"  The  Albigenses,"  says  this  historian,  "believed  in  two  Gods  ;  one 
a  beneficent  being,  author  of  the  New  Testament,  who  had  two  wives, 
Collant  and  Collibant,  and  was  father  of  several  children,  and  among 
others,  of  Christ  and  the  devil.  The  other  God  was  a  malevolent  being, 
a  liar,  and  a  destroyer  of  men,  author  of  the  ancient  law,  who,  not  con- 
tent with  having  persecuted  the  patriarchs  during  their  lives,  had  con- 
signed them  all  to  damnation  after  death.  They  also  acknowledge  two 
Christs ;  one  wicked,  who  was  born  at  Bethlehem  and  crucified  at  Je- 
rusalem, and  who  kept  as  his  concubine  Mary  Magdalene,  the  woman 
so  well  known  for  having  been  caught  in  the  act  of  adultery;  the  other 
Christ,  all  virtuous  and  invisible,  who  never  inhabited  the  world,  but 
spiritually  in  the  body  of  Paul.  They  represented  the  Church  of  Rome 
as  the  scarlet  whore  mentioned  in  the  Revelation.  They  regarded  the 
sacraments  as  frivolous  things  ;  considered  marriage  as  a  state&of  prosti- 
tution; the  Lord's  supper  as  a  chimera;  the  resurrection  of  the  flesh  as 
a  ridiculous  fable;  and  the  worship  of  images  as  detestable  idolatry. 
Had  all  their  tenets  been  equally  rational  with  the  last,  they  would  not 
have  been  obnoxious  to  much  censure.  They  were  divided  into  two 
classes  ;  the  perfects  and  the  believers.  They  all  openly  professed 
great  purity  of  manners,  and  secretly  practised  the  most  infamous  vo- 
luptuousness, on  the  principle,  that  from  the  waist  downwards  man  is 
incapable  of  sin."* 

Such  is  the  disgusting  caricature  which  this  writer  has  exhibited  to 
the  world  of  the  Albigenses.  But  that  any  man  with  his  eyes  open, 
and  capable  of  exercising  two  grains  of  discrimination,  should  have  first 
of  all  permitted  himself  to  be  so  far  imposed  upon  by  the  Catholic 
writers,  as  to  give  credit  to  such  a  tissue  of  absurd  and  ridiculous  fool- 
eries, and  then  gravely  to  detail  them  to  his  readers  for  the  truth  of 
history,  is  at  once  a  striking  instance  of  weakness  in  the  author,  and 
of  the  necessity  of  exercising  continual  vigilance  on  the  part  of  the 
reader,  if  he  would  neither  become  the  dupe  of  Papal  slander,  nor  of 
Protestant  credulity.  The  reader  cannot  fail  to  be  surprised  when  he 
is  told  that  the  author  of  this  wretched  ribaldry  is  no  other  than  John 
Gifford,  Esq,  the  biographer  of  the  late  Right  Honourable  William  Pitt, 
whose  work,  recently  published  in  3  vols.  4to.  and  6  vols.  8vo.  is  held 
up  as  a  kind  of  national  undertaking !     Of  the  merits  of  this  last  pub- 

«  History  of  Fhance,  Vol.  I.  p.  412.  London,  1791.  lam  not  insensible  that 
there  is  a  grossness  in  this  quotation  which  renders  it  almost  unfit  to  be  trans- 
planted into  any  other  soil  ;  and  I  am  anxious  to  apologize  to  my  readers  foT 
laying  it  before  them  ;  but  the  truth  is,  that  it  is  not  worse  than  may  be  found  on 
the  same  subject  in  many  other  writers  ;  while  the  recency  of  its  publication,  and 
the  high  ground  which  its  author  has  lately  taken  among  us,  seemed  to  entitle 
him  to  the  right  of  preference.  As  to  the  statement  itself,  it  cannot  but  remind 
us  of  the  words  of  Jesus,  "  Blessed  are  ye  when  men  shall  say  all  manner  of  evil 
against  you  falsely  for  my  name's  sake." 


PREFACE  TO  THE    FIRST  EDITION.  XV 

Ucation  it  would,  no  doubt,  be  presumptuous  in  the  present  writer  to  of- 
fer any  opinion;  but  if  the  biographer  of  our  great  statesman  have  been 
as  regardless  of  the  truth  of  history  in  the  latter  instance  as  in  the  for- 
mer, posterity  will  owe  him  but  few  obligations  for  his  labours. 

Mr.  Hume  had  a  much  more  correct  view  of  the  character  of  the  Al- 
bigenses  ;  and  it  is  singular  that  Mr.  Giffbrd  should  have  overlooked  it. 
The  following  is  the  passage  to  which  I  refer.  "  The  Pope  (Innocent 
III.)  published  a  crusade  against  the  Albigenses,  a  species  of  enthu- 
siasts in  the  south  of  France,  whom  he  denominated  heretics,  because, 
Jike  other  enthusiasts,  they  neglected  the  rights  of  the  church  and  op- 
posed the  power  and  influence  of  the  clergy.  The  people  from  all  parts 
of  Europe,  moved  by  their  superstition  and  their  passion  for  wars  and 
adventures,  flocked  to  his  standard.  Simon  de  Montfort,  the  general  of 
the  crusade,  acquired  to  himself  a  sovereignty  in  these  provinces.  The 
Count  of  Toulouse,  who  protected,  or  perhaps  only  tolerated  the  Albi- 
genses, was  stripped  of  his  dominions.  And  these  sectaries  them- 
selves, though  THE  MOST  INNOCENT  AND  INOFFENSIVE  OF  MANKIND,  were 

exterminated  with  all  the  circumstances  of  extreme  violence  and  barba- 
rity." History  of  England,  Vol.  II.  ch.  xi.  Nothing  can  be  more 
just  than  this  account  of  the  Albigenses,  provided  we  allow  Mr.  Hume 
his  own  definition  of  the  term  "enthusiasts" — a  term  which  he  uni- 
formly employs  to  denote  all  those  who  believe  the  Bible  to  be  the  word 
of  God,  and  who  receive  it  as  the  rule  of  their  faith  and  practice.  I 
may  further  add,  that  the  reader  will  find  his  account  of  the  Albigenses 
to  be  perfectly  consonant  to  all  that  is  related  of  them  in  the  following 
pages.. 

I  shall  here  take  the  liberty  to  introduce,  as  expressive  of  my  own 
sentiments,  the  language  of  an  author,  who  more  than  a  century  ago, 
was  engaged  in  the  same  pursuit  with  myself,  and  to  whose  learned  pen 
the  following  pages  are  much  indebted.  "  I  conceived  that  it  was  well 
becoming  a  Christian  to  undertake  the  defence  of  innocence,  oppressed 
and  overborne  by  the  blackest  calumnies  the  devil  could  ever  invent. 
That  we  should  be  ungrateful  towards  those  whose  sufferings  for  Christ 
have  been  so  beneficial  to  his  church,  should  we  not  take  care  to  justi- 
fy their  memory,  when  we  see  it  so  maliciously  bespattered  and  torn. 
That  to  justify  the  Waldenses  and  Albigenses,  is  indeed  to  defend  the 
Reformation  and  Reformers,  they  having  so  long  before  us,  with  an  ex- 
emplary courage,  laboured  to  preserve  the  Christian  religion  in  its  an- 
cient purity,  which  the  Church  of  Rome  all  this  while  has  endeavoured 
to  abolish,  by  substituting  an  illegitimate  and  suppositious  Christianity 
in  its  stead.  So  long  as  the  ministers  of  the  Church  of  Rome  think  fit 
to  follow  his  conduct  who  was  a  liar  and  a  murderer  from  the  begin- 
ning, innocence  should  not  be  deprived  of  the  privilege  of  defending 
herself  against  their  calumnies,  while  she  willingly  resigns  to  God  the 
exercise  of  vengeance  for  the  injustice  and  violence  of  those  who  have 
oppressed  her."* 

It  may  possibly  occur  to  some  of  my  readers  that  "the  Portraiture 
of  Popery,"  would  have  been  a  title  every  way  as  appropriate  to  the 

*  Dr.  Affix's  Remarks  on  the  Churches  of  Piedmont,  preface,  p.  6. 


XVI  PREFACE  TO  THE  FIRST  EDITION. 

ensuing  pages  as  that  which  I  have  given  it.  And  it  certainly  must  be 
admitted,  that  the  odious  features  of  superstition  and  intolerance  do  but 
too  prominently  obtrude  upon  us,  wherever  the  proceedings  of  that 
apostate  church  interpose  themselves.  The  picture  which  invariably 
presents  itself  to  the  mind,  is  that  of  a  power  "  speaking  great  words 
against  the  Most  High,  and  wearing  out  the  saints  of  the  Most  High,"* 
or,  of  a  woman  "  drunken  with  the  blood  of  the  saints,  and  of  the  mar- 
tyrs of  Jesus. "t  It  should,  however,  be  remarked,  that  if  the  outlines  of 
this  hideous  picture  have  been  sketched  in  the  following  work,  and  in 
colours  more  sombre  than  may  be  pleasing  to  its  friends,  the  circum- 
stance is  wholly  accidental,  since  it  is  an  object  that  was  entirely 
foreign  to  the  intention  of  the  writer,  further  than  a  faithful  record  of 
well-authenticated  facts  might  necessarily  lead  him  to  it. 

In  sketching  the  History  of  the  Christian  Church  previous  to  the 
times  of  the  Waldenses,  I  have  gone  considerably  more  into  detail  than 
was  my  original  intention;  but  in  that  particular  I  have  been  actuated 
solely  by  the  desire  of  rendering  the  work  more  generally  useful  to  that 
class  of  readers  for  whom  it  was  principally  designed.  After  all,  it 
pretends  to  nothing  more  than  a  sketch  of  a  vast  subject,  and  no  one  can 
be  more  sensible  than  the  writer  himself  is  of  its  numerous  deficien- 
cies. Whether  he  may  hereafter  be  induced  to  resume  the  subject,  and 
fill  up  the  outline  more  correctly,  must  depend  partly  upon  the  recep- 
tion which  the  present  attempt  meets  with  from  his  cotemporaries,  and 
partly  upon  other  circumstances  which  are  beyond  the  reach  of  human 
control.  For  the  rest  he  would  gladly  offer  his  apology  in  the  words 
of  Father  Paul  the  Venetian.  "  He  that  shall  observe  that  I  speak 
more  of  some  times,  and  more  sparingly  of  others,  let  him  remember, 
that  all  fields  are  not  equally  fruitful,  nor  all  grains  deserve  to  be  kept; 
and  that  of  those  which  the  reaper  would  preserve,  some  ears  escape 
the  hand,  or  the  edge  of  the  sickle  :  it  being  the  condition  of  every  har- 
vest, that  some  part  remains  to  be  afterwards  gleaned.";}: 

It  may  possibly  strike  some  readers  with  surprise  that  no  notice  is 
taken,  in  the  following  pages,  of  a  multiplicity  of  sects  which  arose, 
from  time  to  time,  in  what  is  called  the  Christian  world  and  whose  his- 
tory occupies  so  very  large  a  space  in  the  volumes  of  most  of  our 
modern  writers  on  this  subject.  But  to  speak  the  truth,  my  opinion 
of  these  in  general  is,  that  they  have  nothing  to  do  with  the  history 
of  the  church  or  kingdom  of  Christ ;  and  that  to  connect  them  with 
it,  as  Dr.  Mosheim  and  others  have  done,  is  scarcely  more  unwise 
than  the  conduct  of  Mr.  Hume  would  have  been,  had  he  incorporated 
the  Tyburn  Chronicle  into  his  valuable  History  of  England. 

In  tracing  the  kingdom  of  Christ  in  the  world,  I  have  paid  no  regard 
whatever  to  the  long  disputed  subject  of  apostolical  succession.  I  have, 
indeed,  read  much  that  has  been  written  upon  it  by  the  Catholic  writers 
on  one  side,  and  by  Dr.  Allix,  Sir  Samuel  Morland,  and  several  Pro- 
testants on  the  other ;  and  I  regret  the  labour  that  has  been  so  fruit- 
lessly expended  by  the  latter,  persuaded  as  I  am  that  the  postulatum 

*  Dan.  vii.  26.  f  Rev.  xvii.  6. 

%  History  of  the  Council  of  Trent,  translated  by  Brent,  p.  2. 


PREFACE  TO  THE  FIRST  EDITION.  XV11 

is  a  mere  fiction,  and  that  the  ground  on  which  the  Protestant  writers 
have  proceeded  in  contending  for  it,  is  altogether  untenable.  It  is  ad- 
mitted, that  the  Most  High  has  had  his  churches  and  people  in  every 
age,  since  the  decease  of  the  Apostles  ;  but  to  attempt  to  trace  a  regular 
succession  of  ordained  bishops  in  the  Valleys  of  Piedmont,  or  any 
other  country,  is  "  labouring  in  the  fire  for  very  vanity,"  and  seems  tome 
to  proceed  upon  mistaken  views  of  the  nature  of  the  kingdom  of  Christ, 
and  of  the  sovereignty  of  God,  in  his  operations  in  the  earth,  as  they 
have  respect  unto  it.  Jesus  himself,  in  reply  to  an  inquiry  put  to  him 
by  the  Pharisees,  (Luke  xvii.  20 — 24.)  compares  his  kingdom  to  the 
lightning,  darting  its  rays  in  the  most  sovereign  and  uncontrolled  man- 
ner from  one  extremity  of  the  heavens  to  the  other.  And  this  view  of 
it  corresponds  with  matter  of  fact.  Wherever  the  blessed  God  has  his 
elect,  there  in  his  own  proper  time,  he  sends  his  gospel  to  save  them. 
One  while  we  see  it  diffusing  its  heavenly  light  on  a  particular  region, 
and  leaving  another  in  darkness.  Then  it  takes  up  its  residence  in  the 
latter,  and  forsakes  the  former.  Thus,  when  Paul  and  his  companions 
attempted  to  go  into  Bithynia,  the  Spirit  permitted  them  not ;  but  they 
were  instructed  by  a  vision  to  proceed  to  Macedonia,  where  the  word 
of  the  Lord  had  free  course  and  was  glorified.  When  Paul  first  came 
to  Corinth,  he  met  with  great  opposition,  but  he  was  encouraged  to 
persevere  by  Him  who  said,  "  I  have  much  people  in  this  city."  When 
the  first  churches  began  to  swerve  from  the  form  of  sound  words,  to  cor- 
rupt the  discipline  of  the  house  of  God,  and  to  commit  fornication  with 
the  kings  of  the  earth,  by  forming  an  alliance  with  the  state,  we  cease 
to  trace  the  kingdom  of  Christ  among  them,  but  we  shall  find  it  suc- 
cessively among  the  churches  of  the  Novatians,  the  followers  of  jErius, 
the  Paulicians,  the  Cathari,  or  Puritans,  in  Germany,  the  Paterines, 
and  the  Waldenses,  until  the  times  of  reformation. 

If  the  present  work  contain  any  thing  of  sufficient  interest  to  give 
it  a  temporary  buoyancy  upon  the  ocean  of  public  opinion,  and  pre- 
vent its  rapid  transition  into  the  gulf  of  oblivion — that  insatiable  vor- 
tex which  has  already  swallowed  up  myriads  of  much  more  important 
publications,  the  author  would  persuade  himself  it  must  be  those  excel- 
lent letters  of  our  great  poet  Milton,  which,  in  the  capacity  of  Latin 
Secretary  to  Cromwell,  he  wrote  to  the  Protestant  princes  upon  the 
Continent,  pleaded  the  cause  of  the  poor,  afliicted,  and  grossly  injured 
Waldenses.  It  is  a  mortifying  reflection,  that  these  interesting  letters 
should  now  be  almost  forgotten  as  the  compositions  of  our  great  poet. 
Whence  comes  it  to  pass,  that  while  Milton's  Defence  of  the  People 
of  England  is  so  generally  known,  no  one  ever  speaks  of  his  Defence 
of  the  Waldenses  ?  It  will  be  difficult  to  assign  a  more  plausible  rea- 
son for  this,  than  the  unpopularity  of  the  subject.  The  Waldenses 
were  "  a  poor  and  afflicted  people,"  the  subjects  of  a  kingdom  that  is 
not  of  this  world,  and  they  were  treated  by  their  adversaries  as  "  the 
filth  of  the  world  and  offscouring  of  all  things."  But  Milton  under- 
stood their  character,  and  duly  appreciated  it.  He  recognized  in  them 
his  Christian  brethren ;  their  distress  not  only  reached  his  ears,  but 
roused  all  the  sensibilities  of  his  soul;  he  participated  in  their  sorrows, 
and  his  letters  in  their  behalf  do  as  much  honour  to  the  benevolence 
b2 


XVU1  PREFACE  TO  THE  FIRST   EDITION. 

of  his  heart  as  his  immortal  poem  of  Paradise  Lost  does  to  the  sub- 
limity of  his  genius.  It  has  been  too  much  the  fashion  amongst  a  cer- 
tain class  of  writers  to  inveigh  against  the  malignity  and  moral  charac- 
ter of  Milton ;  but  surely  we  have  a  right  to  ask  his  revilers,  before 
they  take  such  freedoms  with  his  fair  fame,  at  least  not  to  be  unjust  to 
his  virtues. 

Islington,  July,  1812. 


PREFACE  TO  THE  FIFTH  EDITION. 


An  interval  of  somewhat  more  than  a  dozen  years  has  now  elapsed, 
since  I  first  called  the  attention  of  my  friends  and  the  public  to  the  in- 
teresting history  of  "  The  meek  confessors  of  Piedmont,  and  of  the 
south  of  France."  To  detail  the  circumstances  which  originally 
prompted  me  to  prosecute  the  study  of  their  history,  would  have  so 
much  the  appearance  of  vanity  and  parade  that  I  decline  entering  upon 
it;  but  I  may  be  allowed  to  say  that,  after  having  possessed  myself  of 
such  materials  as  the  leadings  of  Providence  had  thrown  in  my  way, 
I  was  chiefly  determined  to  pursue  the  subject  and  lay  the  result  be- 
fore the  world,  by  finding,  that  in  whatever  circle  the  mention  of  these 
extraordinary  people  was  introduced,  scarcely  an  individual  could  be 
met  with  who  knew  any  thing  more  about  them  than  the  name.  Whe- 
ther it  were  owing  to  the  political  state  of  Europe  during  the  greater 
part  of  the  past  century,  and  of  the  last  thirty  years  in  particular ;  or 
to  whatever  other  cause  it  is  to  be  attributed,  the  fact  is  undeniable, 
that  the  memory  of  this  noble  army  of  martyrs  was  rapidly  sinking 
into  oblivion,  and  in  a  fair  way  of  speedily  becoming  extinct. 

Concise,  and  consequently  imperfect,  however,  as  was  the  narrative 
of  the  "Waldenses  comprised  in  the  first  edition  of  this  work,  the  au- 
thor was  gratified  on  perceiving  that  it  had  excited  an  unusual  degree 
of  interest  among  the  friends  of  Primitive  Christianity,  who  expressed 
themselves  anxious  to  know  whatever  more  could  be  told  them  con- 
cerning this  remarkable  people.  He  therefore  kept  the  subject  con- 
stantly in  view,  and  in  the  beginning  of  the  year  1816,  presented  them 
with  a  greatly  enlarged  edition  of  the  work,  comprised  in  2  vols.  8vo. 
Two  years  afterwards  a  third  edition  was  called  for,  and  since  then  a 
fourth,  all  of  which  the  public  have  been  pleased  to  receive  with 
marked  testimonies  of  approbation. 

Though  additions  and  improvements  were  introduced  into  each  suc- 
ceeding impression  of  the  work,  the  author  was  far  from  supposing 
that  he  had  brought  it  to  any  thing  like  a  perfect  state.  He  was,  ne- 
vertheless, disposed  to  take  credit  to  himself  for  having  embodied  into 
one  succinct  narrative  a  more  copious  and  digested  history  of  the  Wal- 
denses, and  of  those  who  maintained  the  same  faith  and  order  with 
them,  than  had  hitherto  appeared  in  our  language,  or  indeed  in  any 
other,  and  he  had  the  satisfaction  to  find  the  public  voice  unequivocally 
admitting  this  fact.  It  cannot  reasonably,  therefore,  as  he  thinks,  be 
expected  from  him  that  he  should  sit  down  quiet  and  unmoved  while 


XX  PREFACE  TO  THE  FIFTH  EDITION. 

he  sees  others  rising  up,  and  by  means  that  are  scarcely  compatible 
with  the  strict  rules  of  literary  warfare,  endeavouring  to  push  him  to 
the  wall.  Of  this  unfair  mode  of  proceeding,  he  has  witnessed  many 
attempts  since  he  first  brought  the  subject  of  this  history  before  the 
public,  but  of  which  he  did  not  think  it  worth  his  while  to  take  any 
particular  notice. 

That  a  topic  which  has  every  year  been  rising  in  popularity,  should 
find  writers  ready  to  take  it  up,  was  so  naturally  to  be  expected,  that  it 
could  not  reasonably  excite  surprise  in  any  one.  Since  the  first  edition 
of  this  work  made  its  appearance,  several  of  our  countrymen  have  been 
induced  to  visit  the  regions  of  Piedmont ;  and  two  of  them,  clergymen 
of  the  Church  of  England,  who  on  their  return  laid  before  the  public 
the  result  of  their  observations  and  inquiries,  have  shown  no  little  zeal 
to  identify  the  ancient  Waldenses  with  our  national  establishment. 
This  is  no  way  wonderful — there  is  scarcely  a  sect  in  Christendom, 
which,  during  the  last  dozen  years  has  not  laid  claim  to  them  as  their 
rightful  kindred,  in  one  way  or  other  ;  but  as  this  is  a  case  of  fact  which 
involves  in  it  the  truth  of  history,  it  deserves  more  than  a  bare  mention 
in  this  place. 

Before  we  enter  on  the  discussion  of  it,  however,  and  indeed  to  lay 
a  proper  foundation  for  the  remarks  which  I  have  to  offer,  I  must  be 
permitted  to  premise,  that  I  have  now  before  me  a  "  Narrative  of  an 
Excursion  to  the  Mountains  of  Piedmont,  in  the  year  1823,  and  Re- 
searches among  the  Vaudois  or  Waldenses,  Protestant  inhabitants  of 
the  Cottian  Alps,  &c.  &c.  By  William  Stephen  Gilly,  M.  A.  Rector 
of  North  Fambridge,  Essex.  Second  edition,  with  considerable  addi- 
tions and  corrections,  1825." 

In  an  Appendix  to  the  volume,  Mr.  Gilly  presents  his  readers  with  a 
"  Notice  of  Publications  relating  to  the  Vaudois  (Waldenses)  during  the 
three  last  centuries;"  and  having  given  the  titles  of  several,  and  re- 
marked upon  most  of  them  with  some  degree  of  minuteness,  he  at  last 
announces  my  book  in  the  following  terms,  which  I  quote  verbatim. 

8.  "  History  of  the  Waldenses,  connected  with  a  Sketch  of  the 
Christian  Church,  from  the  birth  of  Christ  to  the  eighteenth  century. 
By  William  Jones,  London,  1812.     Octavo,  pp.  576." 

"  This  volume  does  not  enter  upon  the  subject  of  the  Vaudois  till 
the  319th  page,  and  carries  their  history  no  farther  than  the  year, 
1686." 

This  is  the  only  mention  that  is  made  of  my  publication,  so  far  as  I 
can  perceive,  in  all  Mr.  Gilly's  book ;  and  there  are  two  or  three  cir- 
cumstances connected  with  it  of  sufficient  moment  to  entitle  them  to 
regard.  Some  may  probably  think  that  I  ought  to  be  well  satisfied, 
and  consider  it  an  act  of  condescension  in  a  clergyman  of  the  Church 
of  England,  that  he  had  noticed,  even  thus  briefly,  a  publication  issuing 
from  the  pen  of  a  dissenter !  Be  this  as  it  may,  I  cannot  help  remark- 
ing it  as  somewhat  singular,  that  he  should  refer  his  readers  to  the  first 
edition  of  my  book,  which,  at  the  time  of  his  writing,  had  been  ten 
years  sold  off,  and  consequently  must  have  cost  him  no  little  pains  to 
procure.     In  the  year  1823,  when  he  commenced  his  excursion  to 


PREFACE  TO  THE  FIFTH  EDITION.  XXI 

Piedmont,  there  had  been  a  second,  third,  and  fourth  edition  published, 
in  an  enlarged  and  improved  state ;  but  probably  it  better  suited  his  pur- 
pose to  refer  to  the  first  and  most  imperfect  edition  of  the  work  than  to 
any  other. 

Leaving  the  reader,  however,  to  indulge  his  own  reflections  on  the 
correctness  of  this  probability,  I  proceed  to  notice  the  complaint  which 
Mr.  Gilly  makes,  and  which,  in  fact,  is  applicable  to  every  edition  of 
my  work,  namely,  that  "  it  carries  their  history  no  farther  than  the  year 
1686."  This  is  certainly  true;  but  my  defence  is  an  easy  one — my 
Narrative  stops  ivhere  the  Story  ends.  I  professed  to  give  the  His- 
tory of  the  Churches  of  Piedmont  and  other  places,  commonly  desig- 
nated Waldenses  and  Albigenses,  not  of  individuals ;  and  as  I  consider 
those  churches  to  have  been  utterly  dispersed  and  scattered  by  a  series 
of  persecutions  which  terminated  in  the  year  1686,  I  consider  myself 
to  have  brought  the  subject  to  its  legitimate  close. 

If  we  are  to  credit  a  host  of  writers  belonging  to  the  Church  of  Eng- 
land, the  two  witnesses  of  the  Apocalypse,  (Rev.  xi.  3,  4,  &c.)  were 
the  two  churches,  or  to  speak  more  properly,  the  two  classes  of 
churches,  which  passed  under  the  names  of  the  Waldenses  and  Albi- 
genses. This  was  the  opinion  of  Bishops  Lloyd,  Newton,  Hurd,  &c. 
Messrs.  Whiston,  Faber,  Gauntlett  and  others,  and  even  Mr.  Gilly 
himself  admits  it,  (p.  146.)  Now  these  two  witnesses,  after  prophe- 
sying twelve  hundred  and  sixty  years  in  sackcloth,  according  to  the 
prophetic  testimony,  were  to  be  finally  overcome  and  killed  by  the  beast 
that  ascended  out  of  the  bottomless  pit.  (Rev.  xi.  7.)  This  event  I  con- 
sider to  have  been  consummated  in  the  year  1686,  and  consequently  as 
terminating  the  history  of  the  Waldenses.  Where,  then,  is  the  pro- 
priety of  complaining  of  me,  as  Mr.  Gilly  and  others  Would  seem  to 
do,  that  I  have  not  pursued  the  subject  further  ? 

But  it  may  be  asked,  does  not  the  page  of  history  record,  that  in  the 
year  1689  about  eight  or  nine  hundred  men  proceeded  from  the  neigh- 
bourhood of  Geneva,  equipped  with  arms  and  ammunition,  re-entered 
their  own  country,  drove  away  the  new  inhabitants,  and  after  many 
contests  with  their  enemies,  obtained  a  reinstatement  in  their  former 
possessions?  Certainly;  there  is  no  disposition  to  deny  the  fact; 
but  I  beg  leave  to  ask  Mr.  Gilly,  and  those  who  dwell  upon  it,  of  what 
description  of  persons  did  this  new  race  of  the  Waldenses  consist — 
and  are  they  prepared  to  show  us  a  number  of  new  churches  formed  by 
them  bearing  any  resemblance  to  those  of  the  ancient  Waldenses  which 
were  dispersed  by  the  armies  of  Louis  XIV.  and  the  Duke  of  Savoy? 
We  are  quite  content  to  rest  the  issue  of  this  inquiry  on  the  testimony 
which  is  borne  to  the  present  state  of  the  Vaudois,  by  our  author  and 
the  other  members  of  the  Established  Church,  compared  with  the  ac- 
counts which  have  been  transmitted  us  by  friends  and  foes  concerning 
their  ancestors.  Let  us  try  the  subject  on  one  or  two  points ;  and  I 
begin  with  their  doctrinal  sentiments  : — 

"I  ventured  to  ask  Mr.  Peyrani  (says  Mr.  Gilly)  if  the  Vaudois 
Clergy  urged  the  doctrine  of  absolute  prodestination  and  election.  He 
replied  that  these  nice  points  of  controversy  were  not  often  discussed 
in  their  pulpits,  and  that  for  his  own  part  he  had  never  given  his  assent 


XX11  PREFACE  TO  THE  FIFTH  EDITION. 

to  the  belief  in  absolute  predestination."  "  If  God  infallibly  saves  some, 
and  as  infallibly  rejects  others,  (said  Mr.  P.)  I  do  not  see  what  is  the 
use  of  his  laws  ?"  He  admitted  that  Calvin  was  a  good  man,  he  desired 
to  be  thought  a  faithful  servant  of  God,  "  but  many  of  his  tenets  con- 
vey a  strange  notion  of  the  Almighty's  attributes." 

I  now  request  the  reader  to  turn  to  Vol.  II.  of  my  History,  and  com- 
pare the  preceding  extract,  with  the  numerous  testimonies  given,  pp. 
357,  et  seq.  to  the  doctrinal  sentiments  of  the  ancient  Waldenses  But 
what  shall  we  think  of  Mr.  Gilly,  who  in  the  face  of  all  this  evidence 
to  the  contrary,  can  stand  up  and  tell  us,  "  that  the  peculiar  doctrinal 
sentiments  maintained  by  Calvin  never  found  any  warm  advocates  in 
these  Valleys,"  p.  245  ?     This  is  to  falsify  the  truth  of  history. 

But  I  proceed  to  notice  the  account  which  Mr.  Gilly  gives  us  of  the 
constitution,  discipline  and  worship  of  the  present  Vaudois  churches. 
He  informs  us  they  are  partial  to  the  Episcopal  form  of  church  govern- 
ment ;  and  though  particular  circumstances  have  induced  them  to  drop 
the  title  of  bishop  in  its  generally  received  sense,  yet  the  Episcopal 
functions  are  retained,  p.  75. 

"At  present,"  says  he,  "  either  the  liturgy  of  Geneva,  or  Neufchatel 
is  read  in  the  churches,  according  to  the  discretion  of  the  pastor;  but 
that  of  Geneva,  which  is  a  beautiful  production,  is  principally  follow- 
ed.— The  rituals  which  are  adopted,  in  conformity  to  their  intercourse 
with  Switzerland,  have  a  service  for  the  Communion,  and  different 
forms  for  certain  days  and  seasons."  So  much  for  the  present  race  of 
churches  in  Piedmont !  Let  the  reader  carefully  examine  the  Con- 
fessions of  Faith,  published  by  their  ancestors,  and  given  in  my  History, 
vol.  II.  ch;  v.  sect.  3.  and  try  if  he  can  find  any  thing  that  bears  a 
resemblance  to  this  order  of  things.  As  regards  Episcopacy,  we  find 
them  saying,  "  We  must  not  obey  the  pope  and  bishops,  because  they 
are  the  wolves  of  the  church  of  Christ." — "  So  many  orders  of  the 
clergy,  so  many  marks  of  the  beast." 

In  the  "beautiful"  liturgy  of  Geneva,  as  Mr.  Gilly  terms  it,  we  have 
stated  prayers  for  Sundays — morning  and  evening  prayers  for  Mondays, 
Tuesdays,  and  Fridays  ;  others  for  Wednesdays  and  Saturdays — prayers 
also  for  particular  solemnities,  Easter,  Ascension-day,  and  Whitsunday 
—Christmas-day — New-year's-day — the  first  of  June,  &c.  &c.  Had 
the  ancient  churches  of  the  Waldenses  any  thing  of  this  trumpery 
among  them  ?  Far  otherwise  ;  for,  in  alluding  to  these  things,  we  find 
them  strongly  inveighing  against  them,  as  marks  of  antichrist,  and 
quoting  the  very  words  of  the  apostle  Paul  to  the  Galatians.  "Ye 
observe  days  and  months,  and  times  and  years  ;  I  am  afraid  of  you,  lest 
I  have  bestowed  on  you  labour  in  vain."  See  pp.  354 — 357.  Vol.  II.  of 
this  work. 

Once  more :  let  us  compare  the  ancient  and  modern  Vaudois  on  the 
article  of  Baptism.     On  this  subject  Mr.  Gilly  thus  writes : 

"  From  infant  instruction,  we  came  to  the  discussion  of  infant  bap- 
tism, and  nothing  can  be  more  false  than  the  calumny,  that  the  Vau- 
dois object  to  infant  baptism.  One  of  the  arguments  used  by  the  pe- 
titioners of  the  commune  of  San  Giovanni,  when  they  implored  per- 
mission to  reopen  their  new  church,  was,  that  in  the  winter  time  their 


PREFACE  TO  THE  FIFTH  EDITION.  XXUl 

poor  infants  suffered  dreadfully  from  the  severity  of  the  cold,  in  being 
carried  to  such  a  distance  as  Angrogne  to  be  publicly  baptized.     They 
have  even  a  formulary  of  baptism,  very  much  like  that  in  the  Church 
of  England,  and  the  service  begins  thus  : — 
"  You  present  this  infant  to  be  baptized." 

This  may  be  done,  it  seems,  either  by  sprinkling  or  immersion,  at 
the  discretion  of  the  parties  ! 

"  In  some  articles  of  faith,"  says  Mr.  Gilly,  "  subsequently  drawn 
up  by  the  Waldensian  clergy,  there  are  many"  such  strong  declarations 
as  these  :  «  We  maintain  that  infants  must  be  baptized  under  salvation, 
[pray  what  is  meant  by  that  ?]  and  consecrated  to  Jesus  Christ,  accord- 
ing to  Christ's  command  ;'  '  Suffer  little  children  to  come  unto  me.'  " 
pp.  168,  169. 

Let  us  now  compare  with  this,  the  doctrine  of  their  forefathers,  as 
handed  down  to  us  in  their  Confessions  of  Faith  and  other  writings. 

"  We  believe  that  in  the  ordinance  of  baptism,"  say  they,  "  the 
water  is  the  visible  and  external  sign  which  represents  to  us  that  which, 
by  virtue  of  God's  invisible  operation,  is  within  us — namely,  the  re- 
novation of  our  minds,  and  the  mortification  of  our  members  through 
Jesus  Christ.  And  by  this  ordinance  we  are  received  into  the  holy 
congregation  of  God's  people,  previously  professing  our  faith  and 
change  of  life."  And  with  regard  to  the  baptism  of  infants,  they  in- 
sist upon  it  to  be  one  of  the  leading  features  of  antichrist.  Their 
words  are :  "  He  teaches  to  baptize  children  into  the  faith,  and  attri- 
butes to  this,  the  work  of  regeneration;  thus  confounding  the  work  of 
the  Holy  Spirit  in  regeneration,  with  the  external  rite  of  baptism,  and 
on  this  foundation  bestows  orders,  and  indeed  grounds  all  his  Christi- 
anity."     .See  pp.  335  and  338. 

But  here  I  stop — it  is  needless  to  pursue  the  subject  farther. 
Enough  has  surely  been  said  to  show  that  the  present  race  of  Pro- 
testant churches  in  Piedmont,  bears  little  or  no  affinity  to  the  ancient 
Waldenses,  either  in  their  doctrinal  sentiments,  their  discipline  and  ex- 
ternal order,  or  their  religious  practices  ;  and  it  is  an  act  of  justice  to 
the  memory  of  those  excellent  people  to  rescue  them  from  this  unna- 
tural alliance.  Mr.  Gilly's  "Narrative"  is  not  destitute  of  amuse- 
ment and  information,  but  it  is  a  perfect  melange,  in  which  topogra- 
phical description,  biographical  anecdote,  ecclesiastical  history,  the  an- 
cient and  the  modern,  fact  and  fiction,  are  strangely  jumbled  together. 
So  far  as  his  efforts  have  been  exerted  to  plead  the  cause  of  the  dis- 
tressed inhabitants  of  those  valleys,  whose  privations  and  sufferings 
arising  from  the  invasion  of  their  country  by  the  French  armies  during 
the  late  war,  we  can  easily  imagine  to  be  great,  he  is  entitled  to  our  re- 
spect and  gratitude.  But  in  his  attempt  to  identify  the  present  race  of 
the  Vaudois  with  their  predecessors,  "  The  meek  confessors  of  Pied- 
mont," lie  has  totally  failed.  In  fact,  had  he  properly  understood  the 
character  of  the  ancient  Waldensian  churches,  we  can  have  no  concep- 
tion that  he  would  have  entertained  any  wish  to  become  their  advocate. 
And  as  it  may  probably  save  others  from  falling  into  similar  blunders, 
I  shall  close  this  Preface  with  laying  before  the  reader  a  brief  sketch 
of  what  they  were. 


XXIV  PREFACE  TO  THE    FIFTH  EDITION. 

In  the  first  place,  they  were  dissenters — protestant  dissenters  - — dis- 
senters upon  principle,  not  only  from  the  church  of  Rome,  but  also 
from  all  national  establishments  of  religion. — They  existed  by  mere 
toleration  from  the  civil  government — they  acknowledged  no  earthly  po- 
tentate as  head  of  the  church  ;  they  absolutely  protested  against  every 
thing  of  the  kind. — They  had  no  Book  of  Common  Prayer — no  Liturgy, 
no  thirty-nine  articles  to  guard  them  from  error,  heresy,  or  schism.- — 
They  had  no  reverend  gentlemen — no  privileged  order  of  clergymen, 
paid  or  pensioned  for  discharging  the  duties  of  the  pastoral  office  among 
them.  They  paid  particular  respect  to  their  Lord's  words ;  "Be  ye 
not  called  Rabbi,  for  one  is  your  Master,  even  Christ  and  all  ye  are 
brethren  :  And  call  no  man  your  father  upon  earth,  for  one  is  your 
Father  which  is  in  heaven :  Neither  be  ye  called  masters,  for  one  is 
your  Master  even  Christ :  but  he  that  is  greatest  among  you  shall  be 
your  servant."  They  brought  up  their  children  in  the  nurture  and  ad- 
monition of  the  Lord ;  but  they  neither  sprinkled  nor  immersed  them, 
under  the  notion  of  administering  Christian  baptism — they  were,  in  a 
word,  so  many  distinct  churches  of  antip,edobaptists, 

Islington,  Sept.  25th,  1825, 


HEQLQGIO:^ 
INTROfircflON. 


The  rise  and  progress  of  the  Christian  religion, — its  influence  on 
every  state  and  kingdom  by  which  it  lias  been  embraced, — and  the 
amelioration  of  the  condition  of  the  human  race,  through  its  means, 
by  the  conversion  of  rude  barbarians  to  a  degree  of  improvement  un- 
known to  classic  ages, — all  concur  to  render  an  impartial  account  of 
it,  almost  as  interesting  to  the  philosopher  and  the  politician  as  it  is  to 
the  sincere  disciple  of  the  Saviour. 

The  history  now  offered  to  the  public  has,  however,  been  compiled 
with  a  more  direct  and  special  view  to  the  information  of  the  latter 
class  of  readers  than  of  either  of  the  former ;  and  it  may  not  be  without 
its  use,  before  we  enter  immediately  on  the  subject  itself,  to  pause,  and 
take  a  cursory  view  of  the  actual  state  of  the  world  in  the  age  in  which 
the  gospel  dispensation  had  its  commencement.  Christianity  claims 
an  heavenly  origin,  and  professes  to  have  conferred,  and  indeed  still  to 
confer,  blessings  on  mankind  to  which  no  other  religion  has  any  pre- 
tensions. What,  from  age  to  age,  it  is  doing  for  ourselves,  few  of  us 
need  to  be  told :  but  without  reverting  to  the  condition  of  our  species 
at  the  time  of  its  first  promulgation,  and  distinctly  marking  its  progress 
in  the  subversion  of  the  idolatrous  rites  and  absurd  superstitions  of 
Paganism,  we  can  never  appreciate,  as  we  ought  to  do,  the  extent  of 
those  benefits  which  have  resulted  from  the  introduction  and  establish- 
ment of  this  divine  institution  in  the  world.  It  appears  highly  desira- 
ble therefore,  by  way  of  introduction  to  the  following  work,  that  the 
reader  be  presented  with  a  sketch  of  the  general  state  of  the  world  at 
the  time  of  the  Saviour's  birth ;  and  that  his  attention  be  also  particu- 
larly called  to  the  state  of  the  Jewish  nation  at  the  same  interesting 
period. 


PART    I. 

a  view  of  the  state  of  the  world  in  general  at  the  time  of 
Christ's  birth. 

The  inspired  historians,  who  have  narrated  the  life  and  actions  of 
the  Lord  Jesus  Christ,  have  particularly  specified  the  time  of  his  birth, 
as  being  under  the  reign  of  the  Roman  Emperor  Augustus,  and  when 
1 


2  State  of  the  World  in  general 

Herod  tiic  Great  was  king  of  Judea.*  At  this  period  the  Roman  em- 
pire was  in  the  zenith  of  its  extent  and  power ;  that  military  people 
having  reduced  the  greatest  part  of  the  habitable  earth  under  the  do- 
minion of  its  arms ;  and  even  the  land  of  Judea,  once  so  renowned  as 
the  kingdom  over  which  David  and  Solomon  had  swayed  the  royal  scep- 
tre, had  sunk  into  a  province  of  this  mighty  empire. 

The  ancient  Roman  empire  was  at  this  epoch  of  the  world  a  most 
magnificent  object,  It  extended  from  the  river  Euphrates  in  the  east, 
to  the  Atlantic  or  western  ocean;  that  is,  in  length  more  than  three 
thousand  miles.  In  breadth  too,  it  was  more  than  two  thousand;  and 
the  whole  included  above  sixteen  hundred  thousand  square  miles. 
This  vast  extent  of  territory  was  divided  into  provinces;  and  they 
comprised  the  countries  called  Spain,  Gaul  (since  France),  the  greater 
part  of  Britain,  Italy,  Rhffitia,  Noricum,  Pannonia,  Dalmatia,  Mcesia, 
Dacia,  Thrace,  Macedonia,  Greece,  Asia  Minor,  Syria,  Phoenicia, 
Palestine,  Egypt,  Africa,  and  the  Mediterranean  Sea,  with  its  islands 
and  colonies.  This  extended  territory  lay  between  the  twenty-fourth 
and  fifty-sixth  degrees  of  northern  latitude,  which  was  certainly  the 
most  eligible  part  of  the  temperate  zone,  and  it  produced  in  general  all 
the  conveniences  and  luxuries  of  life. t 

From  the  days  of  Ninus,  who  lived  about  three  hundred  years  after 
the  flood,  to  those  of  Augustus  Caesar,  was  a  period  of  two  thousand 
years  ;  in  which  interval,  various  empires,  kingdoms,  and  states,  had 
gradually  arisen  and  succeeded  each  other.  The  Assyrian  or  Baby- 
lonian empire  may  be  said  to  have  taken  the  lead.  It  not  only  had 
the  precedence  in  point  of  time,  but  it  was  the  cradle  of  Asiatic  ele- 
gance and  arts,  and  exhibited  the  first  examples  of  that  refinement  and 
luxury  which  have  distinguished  every  subsequent  age  in  the  annals 
of  the  east.  But  that  gigantic  power  gave  place  to  the  empire  of  the 
Medes  and  Persians,  which  itself,  in  process  of  time,  yielded  to  the 
valour  of  the  Greeks;  while  the  empire  of  Greece,  so  renowned  for 
splendour  in  arts  and  arms,  had  sunk  under  the  dominion  of  Imperial 
Rome,  who  thus  became  mistress  of  all  the  civilized  world. 

I\'ome  is  said  to  have  owed  her  dominion  as  much  to  the  manners  as 
to  the  arms  of  her  citizens.  Whenever  the  latter  had  subdued  a  par- 
ticular territory,  they  prepared  to  civilize  it.  They  transferred  into 
each  of  the  conquered  countries  their  laws,  maimers,  arts,  sciences, 
and  literature.  The  advantages  that  resulted  from  the  bringing  of  so 
many  different  nations  into  subjection  under  one  people,  or  to  speak 
more  properly,  under  one  man,  were  no  doubt,  in  many  respects,  con- 
siderable. For  by  this  means  the  people  of  various  countries,  alike 
strangers  to  each  other's  language,  manners,  and  laws,  became  asso- 
ciated together  in  amity  and  enjoyed  reciprocal  intercourse.  By  Ro- 
man magnificence,  which  spared  no  expense  to  render  the  public  roads 
commodious  to  travellers,  an  easy  access  was  given  to  parts  the  most 
distant  and  remote.     Literature  and  the  arts  became  generally  diffused, 

*   Luke  ii.  1      Matt.  ii.  1. 

|  Rollin's  Roman  History. — Hook's  ditto. — and  Gibbon's  Decline  and  Fall  of 
the  Roman  Empire. 


at  the  Birth  of  Christ.  3 

and  the  cultivation  of  them  extended  even  to  countries  that  had  pre- 
viously formed  no  other  scale  by  which  to  estimate  the  dignity  of  man, 
than  that  of  corporeal  vigour,  or  muscular  strength.  In  short,  men  that 
had  hitherto  known  no  other  rules  of  action,  or  modes  of  life,  than 
those  of  savage  and  uncultivated  nature,  had  now  before  them  the 
example  of  a  polished  nation,  and  were  gradually  instructed  by  their 
conquerors  to  form  themselves  after  it.  These  things  deserve  mention, 
because,  as  they  contributed  in  some  measure  to  facilitate  the  propaga- 
tion of  the  gospel  by  the  labours  of  the  apostles,  they  may  conse- 
quently be  entitled  to  rank  among  those  concurring  events  which  con- 
stituted the  period  of  our  Lord's  advent  "the  fulness  of  time." 

The  subjects  of  the  Roman  empire,  at  this  period,  have  been  esti- 
mated at  about  one  hundred  and  twenty  millions  of  persons,  and  divided 
into  three  classes,  namely,  Citizens,  Provincials,  and  Slaves.  The 
first  class  enjoyed  ample  liberty  and  were  entitled  to  peculiar  immu- 
nities ;  the  second  had  only  the  shadow  of  liberty  without  any  consti- 
tutional freedom ;  while  the  last  were  entirely  dependant  on  the  arbi- 
trary will  of  their  masters,  who,  as  best  suited  their  purpose,  either 
enfranchised,  or  oppressed,  or  barbarously  punished  and  destroyed 
them.  Enthusiastic  in  the  cause  of  liberty  themselves,  the  Romans 
studied  the  most  prudent  methods  of  rendering  the  provinces  of  the 
empire  insensible  to  the  yoke  that  was  imposed  on  them.  They 
treated  willing  captives  with  commendable  liberality;  and  used  the 
conquered  countries  with  that  moderation  which  evinced  that  their 
leading  object  was,  not  the  destruction  of  mankind,  but  the  increase  of 
the  empire.  They  colonized  foreign  countries  with  Romans,  who 
introduced  agriculture,  arts,  sciences,  learning,  and  commerce.  Having 
made  the  art  of  governing  a  particular  branch  of  study,  they  excelled 
in  it  above  all  the  inhabitants  of  the  globe.  Their  history,  indeed, 
exhibits  wise  councils,  prudent  measures,  equitable  laws ;  and  all 
classes  of  men  are  represented  to  us  as  conducting  themselves  so  as  to 
command  the  admiration  of  posterity. 

Having  thus  briefly  glanced  at  the  state  of  civilization  which  pre- 
vailed in  the  Roman  empire  at  the  date  of  the  Christian  aera  we  shall 
dismiss  the  subject,  in  order  to  examine  more  particularly  its  condition 
with  regard  to  morals  and  religion ;  for  it  is  with  these  that  the  history 
of  the  Christian  church  is  more  especially  concerned.  And  that  we 
may  have  a  more  enlarged  and  distinct  view  of  the  matter,  it  may  be 
profitable  for  us  to  go  back  in  our  inquiries,  and  take  a  rapid  glance  of 
the  state  of  the  Gentile  world  from  a  much  earlier  period.  The  prophet 
Isaiah,  rapt  in  prophetic  vision,  and  transported  to  that  distant  age  when 
God  should  perform  the  mercy  promised  to  the  fathers,  breaks  out  into 
the  following  sublime  strains  :  "  Behold  darkness  shall  cover  the  earth, 
and  gross  darkness  the  people :  but  the  Lord  shall  arise  upon  thee,  and 
his  glory  shall  be  seen  upon  thee."*  Much  has  been  said  of  late  re- 
specting the  sufficiency  of  reason  to  direct  the  human  mind  in  its  pursuit 
of  the  chief  good,  or  of  the  knowledge  of  the  true  character  of  God  and 
of  obedience  to  his  will :  the  inquiry  on  which  we  are  entering  may 

*  Isaiah  lx.  2,  3. 


4  State  of  the  World  in  general 

possibly  serve  to  evince  how  far  such  representations  are  entitled  to 
regard,  and  perhaps  tend  to  prove  the  truth  of  the  apostle's  assertion, 
that  "  the  world  by  wisdom  knew  not  God."* 

Our  knowledge  of  the  state  of  any  of  those  nations  which  were  situ- 
ated beyond  the  confines  of  the  Roman  empire,  is  necessarily  very  im- 
perfect and  obscure,  arising  from  the  paucity  of  their  historical  monu- 
ments and  writers.  We  have  sufficient  light,  however,  to  perceive  that 
the  eastern  nations  were  distinguished  by  a  low  and  servile  spirit,  prone 
to  slavery  and  every  species  of  abject  humiliation  ;  whilst  those  towards 
the  north,  prided  themselves  in  cherishing  a  warlike  and  savage  dispo- 
sition, that  scorned  even  the  restraint  of  a  fixed  habitation,  and  placed 
its  chief  gratification  in  the  liberty  of  roaming  at  large  through  scenes 
of  devastation,  blood,  and  slaughter.  A  soft  and  feeble  constitution 
both  of  body  and  mind,  with  powers  barely  adequate  to  the  cultivation 
of  the  arts  of  peace,  and  chiefly  exercised  in  ministering  at  the  shrine 
of  voluptuous  gratification,  may  be  considered  as  the  characteristic  trait 
of  the  former:  a  robust  and  vigorous  corporeal  frame,  animated  with  a 
glowing  spirit  that  looked  with  contempt  on  life,  and  every  thing  by 
which  its  cares  are  soothed,  that  of  the  latter. 

The  minds  of  the  people  inhabiting  these  various  countries,  were 
fettered  by  superstitions  of  the  most  degrading  nature.  Though  the 
sense  of  a  Supreme  Being,  from  whom  all  things  had  their  origin,  and 
whose  decrees  regulate  the  universe,  had  not  become  wholly  extinct; 
yet  in  every  nation  a  general  belief  prevailed,  that  all  things  were  sub- 
ordinate to  an  association  of  powerful  spirits,  who  were  called  gods,t 
and  whom  it  was  incumbent  on  every  one,  who  wished  for  a  happy 
and  prosperous  course  of  life,  to  worship  and  conciliate.  One  of  these 
deities  was  supposed  to  excel  the  rest  in  dignity,  and  to  possess  a  super- 
eminent  authority,  by  which  the  tasks  or  offices  of  the  inferior  ones 
were  allotted,  and  the  whole  of  the  assembly,  in  a  certain  degree,  di- 
rected and  governed.  His  rule,  however,  was  not  conceived  to  be  by 
any  means  arbitrary ;  neither  was  it  supposed  that  he  could  so  far  in- 
vade the  provinces  of  the  others,  as  to  interfere  with  their  particular 
functions  ;  and  hence  it  was  deemed  necessary  for  those  who  would 
secure  the  favour  of  heaven,  religiously  to  cultivate  the  patronage  of 
every  separate  deity,  and  assiduously  to  pay  that  homage  to  each  of 
them  which  was  respectively  his  due. 

Every  nation,  however,  did  not  worship  the  same  gods,  but  each  had 
its  peculiar  deities,  differing  from  those  of  other  countries,  not  only  in 
their  names,  but  in  their  nature,  their  attributes,  their  actions,  and  other 
respects :  nor  is  there  any  just  foundation  for  the  supposition  which 
some  have  adopted,  that  the  gods  of  Greece  and  Rome  were  the  same 
with  those  worshipped  by  the  Germans,  the  Syrians,  the  Arabians,  the 
Persians,  the  Egyptians,  and  others.  The  Greeks  and  Romans,  in- 
deed, pretended  that  the  deities  which  they  acknowledged  were  equally 
reverenced  in  every  other  part  of  the  world ;  and  it  might  probably  be 


f  Hence  the  apostle's  expression,   "  there  are,  that  are  called,  lords  many  and 
gods  many."     1  Cor.  viii.  5. 


at  the  Birth  of  Christ.  5 

the  case  with  most  nations,  that  the  gods  of  other  countries  were  held 
in  a  sort  of  secondary  reverence,  and  perhaps,  in  some  instances,  pri- 
vately worshipped ;  but  it  is  certain  that  each  country  had  its  appro- 
priate deities,  and  that  to  neglect  or  disparage  the  established  worship 
of  the  state  was  always  considered  as  an  offence  of  the  most  atrocious 
kind.* 

This  diversity  of  deities  and  religions  worship  seldom  generated  ani- 
mosity :  for  each  nation  readily  conceded  to  others  the  right  of  forming 
their  own  opinions,  and  of  judging  for  themselves  in  religious  matters  ; 
and  they  left  them,  both  in  the  choice  of  their  deities  and  mode  of  wor- 
shipping them,  to  be  guided  by  whatever  principles  they  might  think 
proper  to  adopt.  Those  who  were  accustomed  to  regard  this  world  in 
the  light  of  a  commonwealth,  divided  into  several  districts,  over  each  of 
which  a  certain  order  of  deities  presided,  could  with  an  ill-grace  assume 
the  liberty  of  forcing  other  nations  to  discard  their  own  favourite  deities, 
and  receive  in  their  stead  the  same  objects  of  adoration  with  themselves. 
It  is  certain  that  the  Romans  were  extremely  jealous  of  introducing  any 
new  divinities,  or  of  making  the  least  change  in  the  public  religion ; 
yet  the  citizens  were  never  denied  the  privilege  of  individually  con- 
forming to  any  foreign  mode  of  worship,  or  of  manifesting,  by  the  most 
solemn  acts  of  devotion,  their  veneration  for  the  gods  of  other  countries.t 

The  principal  deities  of  most  nations  consisted  of  heroes  renowned 
in  antiquity,  emperors,  kings,  founders  of  cities,  and  other  illustrious 
persons,  whose  eminent  exploits,  and  the  benefits  they  had  conferred 
on  mankind,  were  treasured  up  and  embalmed  in  the  breasts  of  poste- 
rity, by  whose  gratitude  they  were  crowned  with  divine  honours  and 
raised  to  the  rank  of  gods.  And  in  no  other  respects  were  the  heathen 
deities  supposed  to  be  distinguished  beyond  the  human  species,  than 
by  the  enjoyment  of  power  and  an  immortal  existence.  And  to  the 
worship  of  divinities  of  this  description  was  joined  in  many  countries, 
that  of  some  of  the  noblest  and  most  excellent  parts  of  the  creation;  the 
luminaries  of  heaven  in  particular,  the  sun,  the  moon,  and  the  stars,  in 
whom,  as  the  effects  of  their  influence  was  always  perceptible,  an  in- 
telligent mind  was  supposed  to  reside.  The  superstitious  practices  of 
some  countries  were  carried  to  an  almost  endless  extreme :  mountains, 
rivers,  trees,  the  earth,  the  sea  and  the  winds,  even  the  diseases  of  the 
body,  the  virtues  and  the  vices  (or  rather  certain  tutelary  genii,  to 
whom  the  guardianship  and  care  of  all  these  things  was  conceived  to 
belong)  were  made  the  object  of  adoration,  and  had  divine  honours 
regularly  paid  to  them. 

Buildings  of  the  most  superb  and  magnificent  kind,  under  the  names 
of  temples,  fanes,  &c.  were  raised  and  dedicated  by  the  people  of  almost 
every  country  to  their  gods,  with  the  expectation  that  the  divinities 
would  condescend  to  make  these  sumptuous  edifices  the  places  of  their 
own  immediate  residence.  They  were  not  all  open  to  the  public,  for 
some  of  them  were  confined  to  the  exercise  of  private  devotion ;  but 
those  of  either  description  were  internally  ornamented  with  images  of 

*  See  Bishop  Warburton's  Divine  Legation,  Book  II.  Sect.  6. 
f  See  Divine  Legation  of  Moses,  Warburton's  Works,  Vol.  II.  Edit.  8vo.  1811. 
1* 


6  State  of  the  World  in  general 

their  deities,  and  furnished  with  altars  and  the  requisite  apparatus  for 
offering  sacrifice.  The  statues  were  supposed  to  be  animated  by  the 
deities  whom  they  represented :  for  though  the  worshippers  of  gods, 
such  as  have  now  been  described,  must,  in  a  great  measure,  have  relin- 
quished every  dictate  of  reason,  they  were  not  willing  to  appear  by  any 
means  so  destitute  of  every  principle  of  common  sense,  as  to  pay  their 
adoration  to  a  mere  idol  of  metal,  or  wood,  or  stone ;  they  always  main- 
tamed  that  their  statues,  when  properly  consecrated,  were  filled  with 
the  presence  of  those  divinities  whose  impress  they  bare.* 

The  religious  homage  paid  to  these  deities,  consisted  chiefly  in  the 
frequent  performance  of  various  rites  ;  such  as  the  offering  up  of  victims 
and  sacrifices,  accompanied  by  prayers  and  other  ceremonies.  The  sa- 
crifices and  offerings  were  different,  according  to  the  nature  and  attri- 
butes of  the  gods  to  whom  they  were  addressed.  Brute  animals  were 
commonly  devoted  to  this  purpose;  but  in  some  nations  of  a  more  sav- 
age and  ferocious  character,  the  horrible  practice  of  sacrificing  human 
victims  prevailed.  And  it  has  been  remarked  by  the  learned  Bishop 
Warburton,  that  the  attributes  and  qualities  assigned  to  their  gods,  al- 
ways corresponded  with  the  nature  and  genius  of  the  government  of  the 
country.  If  this  was  gentle,  benign,  compassionate  and  forgiving,  good- 
ness and  mercy  were  considered  as  most  essential  to  the  deity;  but  if 
severe,  inexorable,  captious  or  unequal,  the  very  gods  Avere  supposed 
to  be  tyrants  ;  and  expiations,  atonements,  lustrations,  and  bloody  sacri- 
fices, then  composed  the  system  of  religious  worship.  In  the  words 
of  the  Poet, 

"  Gods  partial,  changeful,  passionate,  unjust, 
Whose  attributes  were  rage,  revenge,  or  lust  ; 
Such  as  the  souls  of  cowards  might  conceive, 
And,  form'd  like  tyrants,  tyrants  would  believe. "f 

Of  the  prayers  of  Pagan  worshippers,  whether  we  regard  the  matter 
or  the  mode  of  expression,  it  is  impossible  to  speak  favourably :  they 
were  not  only  destitute,  in  general,  of  every  thing  allied  to  the  spirit  of 
piety,  but  were  sometimes  framed  expressly  for  the  purpose  of  obtain- 
ing the  countenance  of  heaven  to  the  vilest  undertakings.  Indeed  the 
greater  part  of  their  religious  observances  were  of  an  absurd  and  ridicu- 
lous kind,  and  in  many  instances  strongly  tinctured  with  the  most  dis- 
graceful barbarism  and  obscenity.  Their  festivals  and  other  solemn 
days  were  polluted  by  a  licentious  indulgence  in  every  species  of  libi- 
dinous excess  :  and  on  these  occasions,  they  were  not  prohibited  even 
from  making  their  consecrated  places,  the  supposed  mansions  of  their 
gods,  the  scenes  of  vile  and  beastly  gratification.^ 

The  care  of  the  temples,  together  with  the  superintendence  and  di- 
rection of  all  religious  ordinances,  was  committed  to  a  class  of  men 
bearing  the  title  of  priests  or  Jlamens.  It  belonged  to  the  province  of 
these  ministers  to  see  that  the  ancient  and  customary  honours  were 
paid  to  the  publicly  acknowledged  deities,  and  that  a  due  regard,  was 

*  Arnobius  adv.  Gentes,  lib.  6.     Augustin  dc  C/'vifate,  lib.  8. 

f  Pope's  Kssay  on  Man.     See  Warb'urton's  Works,  Vol.  I.  p.  309. 

t  See  the  Treatise  of  Philo-Judxus  de  Cherubim,  p.  155. 


at  the  Birth  of  Christ.  7 

manifested  in  every  other  respect  for  the  religion  of  the  state.  These 
were  their  ordinary  duties  ;  but  superstition  ascribed  to  them  functions 
of  a  far  more  exalted  nature.  It  considered  them  rather  in  the  light  of 
intimate  and  familiar  friends  of  their  gods,  than  in  that  of  officiating 
ministers  of  their  altar  ;  and  consequently  attributed  to  them  the  highest 
degree  of  sanctity,  influence,  and  power.  With  the  minds  of  the  peo- 
ple thus  prepossessed  in  their  favour,  it  could  not  be  very  difficult  for 
an  artful  and  designing  set  of  men,  possessed  of  a  competent  share  of 
knowledge,  to  maintain  a  system  of  spiritual  dominion  of  the  most  ab- 
solute and  tyrannical  kind. 

Besides  the  public  worship  of  the  Pagan  deities,  several  nations,  such, 
for  instance,  as  the  Persians,  the  Greeks,  the  Egyptians,  the  Indians 
and  some  others,  had  recourse  to  a  dark  and  concealed  species  of  wor- 
ship, under  the  name  of  mysteries.  None  were  admitted  to  see  or 
participate  of  these  mysteries,  but  such  as  had  approved  themselves 
worthy  of  that  distinction  by  their  fidelity  and  perseverance  in  the  prac- 
tice of  a  long  course  of  initiatory  forms.  The  votaries  were  enjoined, 
on  peril  of  instant  death,  to  observe  the  most  profound  secrecy  respect- 
ing every  thing  that  passed  :*  a  circumstance  which  alone  sufficiently 
accounts  for  the  difficulty  that  we  find  in  obtaining  any  information 
respecting  the  nature  of  these  recluse  practices,  and  for  the  discordant 
and  contradictory  opinions  concerning  them,  that  are  to  be  found  in  the 
writings  of  various  authors  both  ancient  and  modern.  According  to  the 
learned  Warburton,  each  of  the  Heathen  deities,  besides  the  worship 
paid  to  him  in  public,  had  a  secret  worship,  which  was  termed  the 
mysteries  of  the  god.  These,  however,  were  not  performed  in  every 
place  where  he  was  publicly  worshipped,  but  only  where  his  chief  resi- 
dence was  supposed  to  be.  AVe  learn  from  Herodotus,  Diodorus,  and 
Plutarch,  that  these  mysteries  were  first  invented  in  Egypt,  from  whence 
they  spread  into  most  countries  of  Europe  and  Asia.  In  Egypt  they 
were  celebrated  to  the  honour  of  Isis  and  Osiris  ;  in  Asia  to  Mythras  ; 
in  Samothrace  to  the  mother  of  the  gods ;  in  Boeotia  to  Bacchus ;  in  the 
isle  of  Cyprus  to  Venus;  in  Crete  to  Jupiter;  in  Athens  to  Ceres  and 
Proserpine  ;  and  in  other  places  to  other  deities  of  an  incredible  number. 
The  most  noted  of  these  mysteries  were  the  Orphic,  those  in  honour 
of  Bacchus,  the  Eleusinian,  the  Samothracian,  the  Cabiri,  and  the  My- 
thraic.  But  the  Eleusinian  mysteries,  which  were  statedly  celebrated 
by  the  people  of  Athens,  at  Eleusis,  a  town  of  Attica,  in  honour  of 
Ceres  and  her  daughter  Proserpine,  in  process  of  time  supplanted  all 
the  rest,  for  according  to  the  testimony  of  Zosimus,  "  These  most  holy 
rites  ivere  then  so  extensive,  as  to  take  in  the  whole  race  of  mankind." 
This  sufficiently  accounts  for  the  fact,  that  ancient  writers  have  spoken 
more  of  the  Eleusinian  mysteries  than  of  any  other.  They  all,  never- 
theless, proceeded  from  one  fountain,  consisted  of  similar  rites,  and  are 
supposed  to  have  had  the  same  object  in  view. 

We  are  informed  by  the  same  learned  prelate,  Warburton,  that  the 
general  object  of  these  mysteries  was,  by  means  of  certain  shows  and 


Elms 


Clarkson's  Discourses  on  the  Liturgies,    Sect.  IV.    Meursius   de  Mysieriis 
siniis,  and  Warburton's  Divine  Legation,  Book  II.  Sect.  IV. 


8  State  of  the  World  in  general 

representations,  accompanied  with  hymns,  to  impress  the  senses  and 
imaginations  of  the  initiated  with  the  belief  of  the  doctrines  of  religion, 
according  to  the  views  of  them  which  the  inventors  of  the  mysteries 
entertained.     And  in  order  that  the  mystic  exhibitions  might  make  the 
deeper  impressions  on  the  initiated,  they  were  always  performed  in  the 
darkness  of  the  night.     The  mysteries  were  divided  into  two  classes, 
the  lesser  and  the  greater :  the  former  were  intended  for  the  common 
people — the  latter  for  those  in  higher  stations  and  of  more  cultivated 
understandings.     But  if  the  design  of  these  mysteries  really  was,  as 
some  have  conjectured,  to  impress  the  minds  of  the  initiated  with  just 
notions  of  God,  of  providence,  and  of  a  future  state,  it  is  demonstrable 
that  they  must  have  been  grossly  perverted  from  their  original  intent. 
Bishop  Warburton,  who  stiffly  contends  for  this  high  honour  in  their 
primary  institutions,  is  obliged  to  admit  that  the  orgies  of  Bacchus,  and 
the  mysteries  of  the  mother  of  the  gods,  and  of  Venus,  and  of  Cupid, 
being  celebrated  in  honour  of  deities  who  were  supposed  to.  inspire 
and  to  preside  over  the  sensual  appetites,  it  was  natural  for  the  initiated 
to  believe  that  they  honoured  these  divinities  when  they  committed  the 
vicious  actions  of  which  they  were  the  patrons.     He  further  acknow- 
ledges, that  the  mysteries  of  these  deities  being  performed  during  noc- 
turnal darkness,  or  in  gloomy  recesses,  and  under  the  seal  of  the  greatest 
secrecy,  the  initiated  indulged  themselves  on  these  occasions,  in  all  the 
abominations  with  which  the  object  of  their  worship  was  supposed  to 
be    delighted.     In  fact,  the  enormities    committed  in  celebrating  the 
mysteries  of  these  impure  deities  ultimately  became  so  intolerable,  that 
their  rites  were  proscribed  in  various  countries,  as  those  of  Bacchus 
were  at  Rome.*     And  from  this  short  account  of  the  matter,  we  may 
learn  how  properly  the  apostle  Paul  denominated  the  boasted  Heathen 
mysteries,  "  the  unfruitful  works  of  darkness"  Eph.  v.   11. — Works 
unproductive  of  any  good  either  to  those  who  performed  them,  or  to 
society  :  and  how  very  properly  he  prohibited  Christians  from  joining 
in  or  "  having  any  fellowship  with  them  ;"  because  the  things  that 
were  done  in  them,  under  the  seal  of  secrecy,  were  such  as  it  was  even 
base  to  mention,  ver.  12.     Warburton  assures  us,  that  while  all  the 
other  mysteries    became    exceedingly  corrupt,    through   the    folly  or 
wickedness  of  those  who  presided  at  their  celebration,  and  gave  occa- 
sion to  many  abominable  impurities,  by  means  of  which  the  manners 
of  the  Heathens  were  entirely  vitiated,  the  Eleusinian  mysteries  long 
preserved  their  original  purity.     But  at  last  they  also,  yielding  to  the 
fate  of  all  human  institutions,  partook  of  the  common  depravity,  and 
had  a  very  pernicious  influence  on  the  morals  of  mankind.     In  propor- 
tion therefore  as  the  gospel  made  its  progress  in  the  world,  the  Eleu- 
sinian mysteries  themselves  fell  into  disrepute ;   and,  together  with  all 
the  other  Pagan  solemnities,  were  at  length  suppressed.! 


*  Livy's  Roman  History,  Book  xxix. 
■\  Kollin's  Jlncient  History,  Vol.  V. 


at  the  Birth  of  Christ. 


THE  RELIGION  OF  THE  GREEKS  AND  ROMANS. 

At  the  time  of  the  birth  of  Christ,  the  religion  of  Rome,  or  to  speak 
more  properly,  the  established  superstition  of  the  empire,  had  been 
received,  together  with  its  government  and  laws,  by  a  great  part  of  the 
then  known  world.  Much  of  this  system  of  superstition  had  been  bor- 
rowed from  the  Greeks  ;  and  hence  the  propriety  of  classing  the  reli- 
gion of  the  two  people  under  one  bead.  There  was,  however,  a  dif- 
ference between  the  two,  and  in  some  points  rather  material.  The 
framers  of  the  Grecian  system  seem  to  have  admitted  the  existence  of 
one  supreme,  intelligent,  great  first  cause,  the  author  of  every  thing,  visi- 
ble and  invisible,  and  the  supreme  governor  of  the  world  ;  but  they  did 
not  think  it  either  necessary  or  proper  to  impart  this  idea  to  the  multitude, 
whose  gross  conceptions  they  thought  might  be  amused  by  a  variety 
of  fabulous  tales,  and  whose  hopes  and  fears  would  be  more  excited  by 
a  plurality  of  deities  than  by  the  unity  of  an  over-ruling  power.  The 
divinities  first  introduced  in  consequence  of  this  opinion,  were  the  sun, 
and  the  principal  planets,  to  which  were  soon  added  the  elements  of 
fire,  air,  earth  and  water.  These  fictitious  deities  were  invested  with 
the  human  form,  and  all  the  passions  incident  to  human  nature  were 
attributed  to  them.  The  fabricated  tales  of  their  adventures,  compre- 
hended an  indulgence  of  the  most  vicious  propensities  and  the  perpe- 
tration of  enormous  crimes.  The  Greeks  adored  Jupiter  as  at  the  head 
of  the  celestial  association,  the  protector  of  mankind,  and  the  governor 
of  the  universe ;  while  their  philosophers,  who  appear  in  general  to 
have  been  atheists,  by  this  personage  typified  the  higher  region  of  the 
air  ;  and  by  his  wife  (Juno)  the  lower  atmosphere  diffused  between  the 
heavens  and  the  sea.  And  whilst  the  common  people  paid  homage  to 
Cybele,  as  the  mother  of  the  gods,  the  more  refined  part  of  the  nation 
intended  nothing  more  than  the  earth  by  that  object  of  worship.  Fire 
was  deified,  and  the  great  body  of  water  had  also  its  divine  representa- 
tive. Apollo  was  the  sun,  and  the  moon  was  his  sister,  Artemis,  or 
Diana.  Thus  by  the  fertile  imagination  of  the  Greeks,  their  deities 
were  gradually  multiplied  to  a  remarkable  excess ;  indeed  the  poet 
Hesiod,  swells  the  amount  to  thirty  thousand  !  According  to  their 
mythology,  all  parts  of  nature  teemed  with  divine  agents,  and  a  system 
which  it  must  be  owned  was  in  some  respects  elegantly  fanciful,  was 
characterized,  under  other  views,  by  features  of  the  grossest  absurdity. 
Worship  was  originally  offered  to  their  deities  in  the  open  air,  in 
groves,  or  upon  eminences  ;  but  the  Greeks,  in  the  progress  of  their 
superstition,  were  led  to  believe  that  their  deities  would  be  better  pleased 
with  the  erection  of  buildings  peculiarly  devoted  to  their  service ;  and 
temples,  at  first  simple  and  unadorned,  afterwards  magnificent  and 
sumptuous,  were  the  fruits  of  their  opinion.  Of  the  extent  to  which 
this  point  was  ultimately  carried,  we  have  indeed  a  striking  instance  in 
the  case  of  the  temple  of  Diana,  at  Ephesus,  the  length  of  which, 
Pliny  tells  us,  was  425  feet,  and  in  breadth  220.  It  was  supported  by 
107  pillars,  each  of  them  60  feet  high.  This  magnificent  structure  was 
erected  at  the  expense  of  all  Asia,  and  250  years  were  spent  in  finishing 


10  State  of  the  World  in  general 

it.  At  first  these  temples  were  without  images  ;  but  in  process  of  time 
wooden  figures  of  their  gods  were  exhibited  for  public  reverence. 
Stone  or  marble  Avas  soon  deemed  preferable  for  this  use  ;  metals  of 
various  kinds  were  also  adopted ;  and  the  rudeness  of  early  fabrication 
was  succeeded  by  elegant  workmanship. 

Sacrifices  formed  an  essential  part  of  the  superstitious  worship  of  the 
Greeks,  as  well  as  of  the  Romans.  Grateful  respect  for  the  favours 
conferred  on  them  by  their  imaginary  deities, — the  desire  of  averting 
their  anger  after  the  commission  of  any  offence, — and  an  eagerness  to 
secure  their  blessing  on  a  projected  enterprise,  were  the  inducements 
to  these  oblations.  Herbs  were  the  earliest  offerings,  and  it  was  usual 
to  burn  them  that  the  smoke  might  ascend  towards  heaven.  Barley, 
and  cakes  made  of  that  grain,  were  afterwards  substituted  for  ordinary 
herbs  ;  and  ultimately  some  of  the  most  useful  animals  were  immolated 
at  their  altars,*  upon  which  also  milk,  oil,  and  wine  were  poured. 
Those  who  served  at  the  altar  were  required  to  prepare  themselves, 
by  abstaining  even  from  lawful  pleasures  for  one  or  more  preceding 
days  ;  and  all  who  entered  the  temples,  on  the  occasions,  dipped  their 
hands  into  consecrated  water.  When  the  people  were  assembled  about 
the  altar,  the  priest  sprinkled  them  with  holy  water,  and  offered  up  a 
short  prayer  for  them :  he  next  examined  the  victim,  to  ascertain  its 
freedom  from  defects  or  blemishes  ;  prayer  was  then  resumed  ;  frankin- 
cense was  strewed  upon  the  altar;  hymns  were  sung;  the  animal  Avas 
killed  Avith  ceremonious  precision ;  pieces  of  its  flesh  Avere  offered  and 
burnt  as  first  fruits,  and  the  principal  devotees  carried  off  the  rest. 

The  religious  system  Avhich  Romulus  planted  on  the  banks  of  the 
Tiber,  corresponded  pretty  much  Avith  that  of  Greece  as  above  describ- 
ed. A  multiplicity  of  divine  beings,  graciously  superintending  human 
affairs,  formed  the  prevailing  creed.  All  the  deities  had  priests  and 
ministers,  sacrifices  and  oblations.  The  augurs,  or  soothsayers,  in 
Avhose  art  or  imposture  the  founder  of  Rome  excelled,  Avere  considered 
as  an  important  and  necessary  part  of  the  establishment.  Each  tribe 
had  one  of  these  pretended  prophets,  who  announced  the  Avill  of  the 
gods  with  regard  to  any  future  enterprise,  from  an  observance  of  the 
flight  or  the  noise  of  birds,  from  the  feeding  of  poultry,  the  movement 
of  beasts,  and  other  appearances.  The  high  priest  and  his  associates 
not  only  regulated  the  public  Avorship,  but  acted  as  judges  in  all  cases 
Avhich  had  any  reference  to  religion,  and  exercised  a  censorial  and 
authoritative  jurisdiction  over  inferior  ministers. 

The  sacrifices  in  Avhich  the  different  priests  officiated  did  not  agree  in 
every  particular  ;  but  the  following  usages  and  ceremonies  Avere  the  most 
prevalent.  "When  a  sacrifice  was  intended,  a  solemn  procession  was  made 
to  the  temple  of  some  deity.  In  the  first  place  a  prceco,  or  public 
cryer,  called  the  attentton  of  the  people  to  the  pious  Avork :  then 
appeared  the  flute-players  and  harpers,  performing  in  their  best  man- 
ner. The  victims  followed,  Avearing  Avhite  fillets,  Avith  their  horns  gilt. 
As  soon  as  the  priest  reached  the  altar,  he  prayed  to  the  gods,  implor- 
ing pardon  for  his  sins,  and  a  blessing  upon  his  country.    Having  com- 

*  See  Acts  xiv.  11—13. 


at  the  Birth  of  Christ.  1 1 

manded  all  impure  and  vicious  persons  to  withdraw,  he  threw  grain, 
meal,  and  frankincense  upon  the  heads  of  the  animals,  and  poured  wine 
between  the  horns  of  each  ;  and,  having  first  scored  them  on  the  back, 
he  gave  orders  to  his  attendants  to  slay  them.  The  entrails  were  closely 
inspected,  and  from  their  particular  appearance,  omens  were  deduced, 
or  inferred,  supposing  the  gods  to  intimate  their  will  by  such  minutiae 
to  sagacious  and  devout  observers.  Some  portions  of  the  flesh  were 
then  placed  upon  the  altar,  for  the  gratification  of  that  deity  to  whose 
honour  the  temple  had  been  reared — the  remainder  was  divided  among 
the  attendant  votaries. 

What  has  been  now  said  of  the  superstition  of  the  ancient  Romans, 
refers  particularly  to  the  manner  of  conducting  their  Avorship  in  the 
city  of  Rome,  but  similar  arrangements  prevailed  in  the  provinces;  and 
in  our  own  country  there  were  twenty-eighty?amm<s,  or  Pagan  priests, 
according  to  the  number  of  the  cities,  and  three  arch-flamins ;  namely, 
one  at  London,  a  second  at  York,  and  a  third  at  Caerleon.  But  to  enter 
into  a  more  particular  detail  of  these  things  would  carry  me  beyond  the 
limits  of  this  prefatory  discourse  ;  suffice  it  therefore  to  say,  that  the 
whole  originated  in  the  vulgar  superstitions  of  the  most  remote  ages  of 
Paganism,  and  it  would  be  difficult  to  say,  which  part  was  Trojan, 
which  Egyptian,  or  which  Chaldean.  The  Romans  in  general  knew 
the  whole  to  be  an  imposition,  and  many  of  them  ridiculed  the  pre- 
tence that  the  institution  was  divine ;  and  perhaps  the  subject  cannot 
be  more  fitly  and  aptly  expressed  than  it  has  been  by  Mr.  Gibbon,  in 
the  following  words  :  "  The  various  modes  of  worship  which  prevailed 
in  the  Roman  world,  were  all  considered  by  the  people  as  equally  true; 
by  the  philosopher  as  equally  false  ;  and  by  the  magistrate  as  equally 
useful.  And  thus  toleration  produced  not  only  mutual  indulgence,  but 
even  religious  concord."* 


THE  RELIGION  OF  THE  INDIANS,  EGYPTIANS,  PERSIANS,  AND  CELTS. 

In  reviewing  the  various  systems  of  Polytheism  which  prevailed  at 
that  time,  those  which  were  cultivated  by  the  Indians,  the  Persians,  the 
Egyptians,  and  the  Celts,  are  entitled  to  distinguished  notice.  Of  these 
the  Indians  and  Celts  are  chiefly  remarkable  for  having  selected  for  the 
object  of  their  adoration  a  set  of  ancient  heroes  and  leaders,  whose  me- 
mory so  far  from  being  rendered  illustrious  by  their  virtues,  had  de- 
scended to  posterity  disgraced  and  loaded  with  vice  and  infamy.  Both 
these  classes  of  men  believed  that  the  souls  of  men  survived  the  disso- 
lution of  their  bodies  ;  the  former  conceiving  that  all  of  them,  without 
distinction,  entered  at  death  into  other  bodies  on  this  earth  ;  while  the 
latter,  on  the  contrary,  considering  immortality  to  be  the  reward  which 
heaven  bestows  on  valour  alone,  supposed  that  the  bodies  of  the  brave, 
after  being  purified  by  fire,  again  became  the  receptacles  of  their  souls, 
and  that  the  heroes  thus  renewed  were  received  into  the  council  and 
society  of  the  gods.     Authority  of  the  most  despotic  kind  was  com- 

*  Decline  and  Fall  of  the  Roman  Empire,  Vol.  I.  ch.  ii. 


12  State  of  the  World  in  general 

mitted  to  their  priests  by  the  people  of  either  country.  Their  official 
duties  were  not  restricted  to  the  administration  of  the  concerns  of  re- 
ligion, but  extended  to  the  enacting  of  laws,  and  the  various  other  de- 
partments of  civil  government. 

In  describing  the  religion  of  the  Egyptians,  we  must  distinguish  be- 
tween the  general  religion  of  the  country,  and  the  practice  of  particular 
provinces  or  districts.     The  liberty  which  every  city  and  province  en- 
joyed of  adopting  what  deities  it  preferred,  and  of  worshipping  them 
under  any  forms  which  the  inhabitants  might  think  proper  to  institute, 
necessarily  gave  rise  to  a  great  variety  of  private  systems.     In  the 
choice  of  their  public  or  national  gods,  no  sort  of  delicacy  was  mani- 
fested ;  the   greater  part  of  them  being  indiscriminately  composed  of 
mortals  renowned  in  history  for  their  virtues,  and  others  distinguished 
alone  by  the  enormity  of  their  crimes  ;   such  were  Osiris,  Seraphis, 
Typhon,  Isis,  and  others.     With  the  worship  of  these  was  joined  that 
of  the  constellations,  the  sun,  the  moon,  the  dog-star,  animals  of  almost 
every  kind,  certain  sorts  of  plants,  &c.  &c.     "Whether  the  religion  of 
the  state,  or  that  which  was  peculiar  to  any  province  or  city  be  consi- 
dered, it  will  be  found  equally  remote  in  its  principles  from  every  thing 
liberal,  dignified,  or  rational.     Some  parts  were  ridiculous  in  the  ex- 
treme, and  the  whole  in  no  small  degree  contaminated  by  a  despicable 
baseness  and  obscenity.     In  fact  the  religion  of  the  Egyptians  was  so 
remarkably  distinguished  by  absurd  and   disgraceful  traits,  that  it  was 
made  the  subject  of  derision  even  by  those  whose  own  tenets  and  prac- 
tice were  by  no  means  conspicuous  for  wisdom.  The  Egyptian  priests 
had  a  sacred  code  peculiarly  their  own,  founded  on  principles  very  dif- 
ferent from  those  which  characterized  the  popular   superstition,    and 
which  they  studiously  concealed  from  the  prying  eye  of  the  public,  by 
wrapping  it  up  in  hieroglyphical  characters,  the  meaning  and  power  of 
which  were  only  known  to  themselves. 

The  Persians  derived  their  religious  system  from  Zoroaster.  The 
leading  principle  of  their  religion  was,  that  all  things  are  derived  from 
two  common  governing  causes  :  the  one  the  author  of  all  good,  the 
other  of  all  evil :  the  former  the  source  of  light,  of  mind,  and  of  spiri- 
tual intelligence ;  the  latter  that  of  darkness  and  matter  with  all  its 
grosser  incidents.  Between  these  two  powerful  agents  they  supposed 
a  constant  war  to  be  carried  on.  Those,  however,  who  taught  upon 
this  system,  did  not  all  explain  it  in  the  same  way,  or  deduce  the  same 
conclusions  from  it :  hence  uniformity  was  destroyed  and  various  sects 
originated.  The  most  intelligent  part  of  the  Persians  maintained  that 
there  was  one  supreme  God,  to  whom  they  gave  the  name  of  Mythra, 
and  that  under  him  were  two  inferior  deities,  the  one  called  Oromasdes, 
the  author  of  all  good  ;  the  other  Jlriman,  the  cause  of  all  evil.  The  com- 
mon people,  who  equally  believed  in  the  existence  of  a  supreme  being, 
under  the  title  of  Mythra,  appear  to  have  confounded  him  with  the 
sun,  which  was  the  object  of  their  adoration  ;  and  it  is  probable,  that 
with  the  two  inferior  deities  they  joined  others  of  whom  little  or  nothing 
is  now  known. 

None  of  these  various  systems  of  religion  appear  to  have  contributed 
in  any  degree  towards  a  reformation  of  manners,  or  exciting  a  respect 


at  the  Birth  of  Christ.  13 

for  virtue  of  any  kind.  The  gods  and  goddesses  who  were  held  up  as 
ohjects  of  adoration  to  the  multitude,  instead  of  presenting  examples  of 
excellence  for  their  imitation,  stood  forth  to  public  view  the  avowed 
authors  of  the  most  flagrant  and  enormous  crimes.  The  priests  took 
no  sort  of  interest  in  regulating  the  public  morals  ;  neither  directing  the 
people  by  their  precepts,  nor  inviting  them  by  exhortation  and  example 
to  the  pursuit  of  what  is  lovely  and  of  good  report:  on  the  contrary, 
they  indulged  themselves  in  the  most  unwarrantable  licentiousness, 
maintaining  that  the  whole  of  religion  was  comprised  in  performing  the 
rites  and  ceremonies  instituted  by  their  ancestors,  and  that  every  species 
of  sensual  gratification  was  freely  allowed  by  their  deities  to  those  who 
regularly  ministered  to  them  in  this  way.  The  doctrine  of  the  immor- 
tality of  the  soul,  and  of  a  future  state  of  rewards  and  punishments, 
was  but  little  understood,  and  of  course  only  very  partially  acknow- 
ledged. Hence  at  the  period  when  Christ  appeared,  any  notions  of 
this  kind  found  little  or  no  acceptance  among  the  Greeks  and  Romans, 
but  were  regarded  in  the  light  of  old  wives'  fables,  fit  only  for  the 
amusement  of  women  and  children.  No  particular  points  of  belief  re- 
specting the  immortality  of  the  soul  being  established  by  their  public 
standards  of  religion,  every  one  was  at  liberty  to  avow  what  opinion  he 
pleased  on  that  subject. 

It  can  excite  no  reasonable  surprise,  therefore,  that  under  the  influ- 
ence of  such  circumstances,  the  state  of  society  should  have  become  in 
the  highest  degree  vicious  and  depraved.  The  lives  of  men  of  every 
class,  from  the  highest  to  the  lowest,  were  spent  in  the  practice  of  the 
most  abominable  and  flagitious  vices.  Even  crimes,  the  horrible  turpi- 
tude of  which  was  such,  that  decency  forbids  the  mention  of  them, 
were  openly  practised  with  the  greatest  impunity.  Should  the  reader 
doubt  of  this,  he  may  be  referred  to  Lucian  among  the  Greek  authors, 
and  to  Juvenal  and  Persius  among  the  Roman  poets — or  even  to  the 
testimony  of  the  apostle  Paul,  in  the  first  chapter  of  his  Epistle  to  the 
Romans.  In  the  writings  of  Lucian,  for  instance,  he  will  find  the  most 
unnatural  affections  and  detestable  practices  treated  of  at  large,  and  with 
the  utmost  familiarity,  as  things  of  ordinary  and  daily  occurrence.  And 
'when  we  turn  our  attention  to  those  cruel  and  inhuman  exhibitions 
which  are  well  known  to  have  yielded  the  highest  gratification  to  both 
the  Greeks  and  Romans,  the  two  most  polished  nations  of  the  world — 
the  savage  conflicts  of  the  gladiators  in  the  circus  ;  when  we  cast  an 
eye  on  the  dissoluteness  of  manners  by  which  the  walks  of  private  life 
were  polluted  ;  the  horrible  prostitution  of  boys,  to  which  the  laws  op- 
posed no  restraint ;  the  liberty  of  divorce  which  belonged  to  the  wife  as 
well  as  the  husband ;  the  shameful  practice  of  exposing  infants,  and 
procuring  abortions  ;  the  multiplicity  of  stews  and  brothels,  many  of 
which  were  consecrated  to  their  deities  ;  when  we  reflect  on  these  and 
various  other  excesses,  to  the  most  ample  indulgence  in  which  the 
laws  opposed  no  restraint ;  who  can  forbear  putting  the  question,  that, 
if  such  were  the  people  distinguished  above  all  others  by  the  excellency 
of  their  laws,  and  the  superiority  of  their  attainments  in  literature  and 
arts,  what  must  have  been  the  state  of  those  nations  who  possessed 
2 


14  State  of  the  TVorld  in  general 

none  oi  those  advantages,  but  were  governed  solely  by  the  impuk 
and  dictates  of  rude  and  uncultivated  nature  ! 


VIEW  OF  THE  DIFFERENT  SYSTEMS  OF  GENTILE  PHILOSOPHY. 

At  the  time  of  Christ's  appearance  upon  earth,  there  were  two  species 
of  philosophy  that  generally  prevailed  throughout  the  civilized  world; 
the  one  that  of  Greece,  the  other  what  is  usually  termed  the  Oriental. 
The  philosophy  of  the  Greeks  was  not  confined  to  that  nation,  for  its 
principles  were  embraced  by  all  such  of  the  Romans  as  aspired  to  any 
eminence  of  wisdom.  The  Oriental  philosophy  prevailed  chiefly  in 
Persia,  Chaldea,  Syria,  Egypt,  and  other  eastern  countries.  Both  these 
species  of  philosophy  were  split  into  various  sects,  but  with  this  dis- 
tinction, that  those  which  sprang  from  the  Oriental  system  all  proceeded 
on  one  common  principle,  and  of  course  had  many  similar  tenets,  though 
they  might  differ  as  to  some  particular  inferences  and  opinions  :  whilst 
those  to  which  the  philosophy  of  Greece  gave  rise,  were  divided  in 
opinion  respecting  the  elements  or  first  principles  of  wisdom,  and  were 
consequently  widely  separated  from  each  other  in  the  whole  course  of 
their  discipline.  The  apostle  Paul  is  generally  supposed  to  have  ad- 
verted to  each  of  these  systems— to  that  of  Greece,  in  Coloss.  ii.  8, 
and  to  the  Oriental,  in  1  Tim.  i.  4.  ch.  iv.  7.  and  vi.  20. — in  all  which 
places,  he  strongly  warns  Christians  to  beware  of  blending  the  doctrines 
of  either  with  the  simple  gospel  of  Jesus  Christ.  Happy  had  it  been 
for  the  Christian  church,  could  they  have  taken  the  admonition  which 
was  thus  given  them  by  the  apostle;  but  vain  and  presumptuous  man 
could  not  rest  satisfied  with  "  the  truth  as  it  is  in  Jesus" — the  wisdom 
that  leads  to  eternal  life,  as  it  came  pure  from  above  ;  but  must  exercise 
his  ingenuity  in  fruitless  attempts  to  reconcile  it ;  first  of  all  with  the 
principles  of  the  Oriental  philosophy,  and  afterwards  to  many  of  the 
dogmas  of  the  Grecian  sects. 

The  Greek  philosophers,  whose  doctrines  were  also  much  cultivated 
by  the  Romans,  may  be  divided  into  two  classes:  the  first  compre- 
hended those  whose  tenets  struck  at  the  root  of  all  religion — a  species 
of  Atheists,  who,  while  they  professed  to  support  and  recommend  the 
cause  of  virtue,  in  reality  nourished  the  interests  of  vice,  giving  colour 
to  almost  every  kind  of  criminality  :  the  other  was  composed  of  such  as 
acknowledged  the  existence  of  a  Deity,  whom  it  was  the  duty  of  men 
to  worship  and  obey,  and  who  inculcated  an  essential  and  eternal  dis- 
tinction between  good  and  evil,  virtue  and  vice,  but  who  nevertheless 
subverted  these  just  principles,  by  connecting  with  them  various  notions 
absurd  or  trifling  in  their  nature.  Under  the  first  of  these  classes  may 
be  ranked  the  disciples  of  Epicurus,  and  those  who  passed  under  the 
name  of  Academics. 

The  Epicureans  maintained  that  the  universe  arose  out  of  a  fortuitous 
concurrence  of  atoms  ;  that  the  gods,  whoso  existence  they  hesitated 
absolutely  to  deny,  were  totally  indifferent  and  unconcerned  about  all 
Human  affairs,  or  rather  entirely  unacquainted  with  them;  that  our  souls 


at  the  Birth  of  Christ.  1 5 

are  born  and  die ;  that  all  things  depend  on  and  are  determined  by  ac- 
cident ;  that  in  every  thing  voluptuous  gratification  was  to  be  sought 
after  as  the  chief  good  ;  and  even  virtue  itself  was  only  to  be  pursued, 
inasmuch  as  it  might  minister  at  the  shrine  of  pleasure.  The  votaries 
of  a  system  like  this,  which  indeed  included  nearly  all  the  children  of 
prosperity,  the  rich,  the  noble,  and  the  powerful,  naturally  studied  to 
pass  their  lives  in  one  continued  round  of  luxurious  enjoyment.  The 
only  restraint  they  imposed  on  themselves  arose  out  of  a  desire  to  avoid, 
at  all  times,  such  an  excessive  or  immoderate  addictedness  to  pleasure 
as  might  generate  disease,  or  tend  in  any  other  shape  to  abridge  the  ca- 
pacity for  future  indulgence. 

The  Academics,  though  they  affected  to  be  influenced  by  wiser  prin- 
ciples than  the  former,  yet  entertained  maxims  of  an  equally  lax  and 
pernicious  tendency  with  them.  They  were  nearly  allied  to  the  Scep- 
tics ;  in  fact,  the  main  distinction  lay  in  this, — that  whereas  the  Scep- 
tics contended  that  nothing  should  be  assented  to,  but  every  thing  made 
the  subject  of  dispute  ;  the  Academics,  on  the  contrary,  maintained  that 
our  judgments  should  acquiesce  in  all  things  which  bear  the  appearance 
of  truth,  or  which  may  be  considered  in  the  light  of  probabilities.  But 
as  they  were  always  undetermined  respecting  what  constituted  the  sort 
of  jjiubcibilhy  to  which  a  wise  man  should  assent,  their  doctrines  con- 
tributed, no  less  than  that  of  the  Sceptics,  to  render  every  thing  vague 
and  unsettled.  To  make  it,  as  they  did,  a  matter  of  doubt  and  uncer- 
tainty, whether  the  gods  existed  or  not ;  whether  the  soul  was  perish- 
able or  immortal;  whether  virtue  was  preferable  to  vice,  or  vice  to  vir- 
tue ;  was  certainly  nothing  less  than  to  undermine  the  fundamental 
principles  of  religion  and  morality.  The  Academic  system  of  philoso- 
phy fell  into  such  disrepute  as  to  be,  at  one  time,  quite  neglected  and 
utterly  lost;  but  Cicero  revived  it  at  Rome,  a  little  before  the  birth  of 
Christ;  and  so  much  weight  was  attached  to  his  example  and  authority, 
that  it  was  soon  embraced  by  all  who  aspired  to  the  chief  honours  of 
the  state. 

The  Peripatetics  belonged  to  the  other  class  of  philosophers,  for 
they  acknowledged  the  existence  of  a  God,  and  the  obligations  of  mora- 
lity ;  yet  their  tenets  were  not  much  calculated  to  inspire  a  reverence 
for  the  one,  or  a  love  for  the  other.  The  doctrine  which  Aristotle, 
their  great  master,  taught,  gave  to  the  Deity  an  influence  not  much  be- 
yond that  of  the  moving  principle  in  a  piece  of  machinery.  He  indeed 
considered  him  to  be  of  an  highly  refined  and  exalted  nature,  happy  in 
the  contemplation  of  himself,  but  entirely  unconscious  of  what  was 
passing  here  below ;  confined  from  all  eternity  to  the  celestial  world, 
and  instigating  the  operations  of  nature  rather  from  necessity  than  from 
volition  or  choice.  In  a  deity  of  this  description,  differing  but  little 
from  the  god  of  the  Epicureans,  there  surely  was  nothing  that  could 
reasonably  excite  either  love,  respect,  or  fear.  It  is  difficult  to  ascertain 
precisely  what  were  the  sentiments  of  this  class  of  philosophers  re- 
specting the  immortality  of  the  soul ;  but  it  may  fairly  be  asked,  Could 
the  interests  of  religion  or  morality  be  in  any  shape  effectually  promoted 
by  teachers  like  these,  who  denied  the  superintendence  of  divine  provi- 


1  (}  State  of  the  World  in  general 

dence,  and  insinuated,  in  no  very  obscure  terms,  a  disbelief  of  the  soul's 
future  existence? 

The  Stoics  assigned  to  the  Deity  somewhat  more  of  majesty  and 
influence,  than  the  disciples  of  Aristotle.  They  did  not  limit  his  func- 
tions merely  to  the  regulating  of  the  clouds,  and  the  numbering  of  the 
stars ;  but  conceived  him  to  animate  every  part  of  the  universe  with 
his  presence,  in  the  nature  of  a  subtle,  active,  penetrating  fire.  They 
regarded  his  connexion  with  matter,  however,  as  the  effect  of  necessity, 
and  supposed  his  will  to  be  subordinate  to  the  immutable  decrees  of 
fate ;  hence  it  Avas  impossible  for  him  to  be  considered  as  the  author 
either  of  rewards  to  the  virtuous,  or  of  punishment  to  the  wicked.  The 
Stoics  denied  the  immortality  of  the  soul,  and  thus  deprived  mankind 
of  the  strongest  motive  to  a  wise  and  virtuous  course  of  life.  In  short, 
the  moral  discipline  of  the  Stoics  may  be  compared  to  a  body  of  a  fair 
and  imposing  external  appearance,  but  which,  on  closer  examination,  is 
found  destitute  of  those  essential  parts  which  alone  can  give  it  either 
energy  or  excellence. 

The  Platonists  seem,  of  all  the  Grecian  philosophers,  to  have  made 
the  highest  advances  in  knowledge,  and  the  nearest  approach  to  true 
wisdom.  Yet  the  system  of  Plato  had  its  defects.  He  considered 
the  Deity  as  supreme  governor  of  the  uihveioc,  a  being  uf  the  highest 
wisdom  and  power,  and  totally  unconnected  with  any  material  sub- 
stance. The  souls  of  men  he  conceived  to  proceed  from  this  pre-emi- 
nent source;  and,  as  partaking  of  its  nature,  to  be  incapable  of  death. 
His  system  gave  the  strongest  encouragement  to  virtue,  and  equally  dis- 
countenanced vice,  by  holding  out  to  mortals  the  prospect  of  a  future 
state  of  rewards  and  punishments.  Yet  after  all,  his  notions  of  the 
Deity  were  very  contracted,  since  he  never  ascribes  to  him  the  attributes 
of  infinity,  immensity,  ubiquity,  omnipotence,  omniscience,  but  sup- 
poses him  to  be  confined  within  certain  limits,  and  that  the  direction  of 
human  affairs  was  committed  to  a  class  of  inferior  spiritual  agents,  whom 
he  termed  da?mons.  This  notion  of  ministering  daemons,  as  well  as 
those  points  of  doctrine  which  relate  to  the  origin  and  condition  of  the 
human  soul,  greatly  disfigured  the  morality  of  Plato  ;  inasmuch  as  they 
tend  to  generate  superstition,  and  to  confirm  men  in  the  practice  of  wor- 
shipping a  number  of  inferior  deities.  His  doctrine,  moreover,  that  the 
soul,  during  its  continuance  in  the  body,  was  in  a  state  of  imprisonment, 
and  that  we  ought  to  endeavour,  by  means  of  contemplation,  to  set  it 
free,  and  restore  it  to  an  alliance  with  the  divine  nature,  had  a  perni- 
cious tendency,  in  prompting  persons  of  weak  minds  to  withdraw  a 
proper  degree  of  attention  from  the  body  and  the  concerns  of  this  life, 
and  to  indulge  in  the  dreams  and  fancies  of  a  disordered  imagination. 

The  Eclectics,  were  a  sect  of  philosophers  that  took  their  leading 
principles  from  the  system  of  Plato.  They  considered  almost  every 
tiling  which  he  had  advanced  respecting  the  Deity,  the  soul,  the  world, 
and  the  demons,  as  indisputable  axioms,:  on  which  account  they  were 
regarded  by  many  as  altogether  Platonists.  Indeed  this  title,  so  far 
from  being  disclaimed,  was  rather  affected  by  some  of  them,  and  parti- 
cularly by  those  who  joined  themselves  to  Ammonius  Sacca,  another 
celebrated  patron  of  the  Eclectic  philosophy.     Yet  with  the  doctrines 


at  the  Birth  of  Christ.  17 

held  by  Plato,  they  were  freely  intermixed  the  most  approved  maxims 
of  the  Pythagoreans,  the  Stoics,  the  Peripatetics,  and  the  Oriental  phi- 
losophers ;  taking  due  care,  however,  to  admit  none  that  were  in  oppo- 
sition to  the  tenets  of  their  favourite  guide  and  instructer. 


OF  THE  ORIENTAL  PHILOSOPHY. 


It  is  a  subject  of  much  regret  among  the  learned,  that  the  Greek 
writers,  to  whom  we  are  chiefly  indebted  for  our  knowledge  of  the 
ancient  history  of  philosophy,  have  taken  so  little  pains  to  inform  pos- 
terity concerning  the  opinions  which,  during  the  time  that  the  Greek 
sects  flourished,  were  taught  in  other  countries,  particularly  in  Egypt 
and  Asia.  It  is  owing  to  this,  that  the  documents  which  have  hitherto 
come  to  light  relating  to  the  Oriental  philosophy  are  so  few,  and  con- 
sequently our  knowledge  on  the  subject  so  imperfect.  Some  insight, 
however,  into  its  nature  and  principles  may  be  obtained  from  what  has 
been  handed  down  to  us,  respecting  the  tenets  of  several  of  the  earlier 
sects  that  sprang  up  in  the  Christian  church. 

The  Oriental  philosophy,  as  a  peculiar  system  of  doctrines  concern- 
ing the  divine  nature,  is  said  to  have  originated  in  Chaldea,  or  Persia; 
from  whence  it  passed  through  Syria,  Asia  Minor,  and  Egypt;  and 
mixing  with  other  systems,  formed  many  different  sects.  There 
seems  also  to  be  sufficient  ground  for  referring  the  formation  of  the 
leading  doctrines  of  this  philosophy  into  a  regular  system  to  Zoroaster, 
whose  name  the  followers  of  this  doctrine  prefixed  to  some  of  their 
spurious  books,  and  whose  system  is  fundamentally  the  same  with  that 
which  was  subsequently  adopted  by  the  Asiatic  and  Egyptian  philoso- 
phers. 

The  mixture  of  Platonic  notions  which  is  found  in  the  Asiatic  philo- 
sophy, as  well  as  of  Oriental  doctrines  among  the  later  Platonists, 
may  be  easily  accounted  for,  from  the  intercourse  which  subsisted  be- 
tween the  Alexandrian  and  Asiatic  philosophers,  after  the  schools  of 
Alexandria  were  established.  From  that  time,  many  Asiatics  who 
were  addicted  to  the  study  of  philosophy,  doubtless  visited  Alexandria, 
and  became  acquainted  with  the  then  popular  doctrines  of  Plato  ;  and 
by  blending  these  with  their  own,  formed  an  heterogeneous  mass  of 
opinions,  which  in  its  turn  mixed  with  the  systems  of  the  Alexandrian 
schools.  This  union  of  Oriental  and  Grecian  philosophy  was  further 
promoted  by  the  dispersion  of  the  philosophers  of  Alexandria,  in  the 
reign  of  Ptolemy  Physcon  :  many  of  whom,  to  escape  from  tyranny, 
fled  into  Asia,  and  opened  schools  in  various  places. 

It  is  supposed  to  have  been  at  the  time  when  the  Platonic  philoso- 
phers of  Alexandria  visited  the  Eastern  schools,  that  certain  professors 
of  the  Oriental  philosophy,  prior  to  the  existence  of  the  Christian 
heresies,  borrowed  from  the  Greeks  the  name  of  Gnostics,  to  express 
their  pretensions  to  a  more  perfect  knowledge  of  the  Divine  Nature 
than  others  possessed.  The  Pagan  origin  of  this  appellation  is  sup- 
posed to  be  plainly  intimated  by  the  apostle  Paul  in  two  passages  of 
2* 


18  State  of  the  World  in  general 

his  writings  ;  in  one  of  which  he  cautions  Timothy  against  "  the  oppo- 
sition of  false  science,"  (1  Tim.  vi.  20,)  and  in  the  other  warns  the 
Colossians  not  to  be  imposed  upon  by  a  "  vain  and  deceitful  philoso- 
phy," framed  according  to  human  tradition,  and  the  principles  of  the 
world,  and  not  according  to  the  doctrine  of  Christ. — Coloss.  ii.  8.  But 
whatever  may  be  thought  concerning  the  name,  there  is  little  room  left 
to  doubt,  that  the  tenets,  at  least,  of  the  Gnostics,  existed  in  the  East- 
ern schools  long  before  the  rise  of  the  Gnostic  sects  in  the  Christian 
church  under  Basilides,  Valentine,  and  others  ;  consequently  must  have 
been  imported  or  derived  by  the  latter  from  the  former.  The  Oriental 
doctrine  of  Emanation  seems  frequently  alluded  to  in  the  New  Testa- 
ment, as  hath  been  already  observed,  and  in  terms  which  cannot  so 
properly  be  applied  to  any  other  dogmas  of  the  Jewish  sects. 

The  Oriental  philosophers,  though  divided  into  a  great  variety  of 
sects,  seem  to  have  been  generally  agreed  in  believing  matter  to  be  the 
cause  of  all  evil,  though  they  were  much  divided  in  opinion  as  to  the 
particular  mode  or  form  under  which  it  ought  to  be  considered  as  such. 
They  were  unanimous  in  maintaining  that  there  had  existed  from  all 
eternity  a  divine  nature,  replete  with  goodness,  intelligence,  Avisdom, 
and  virtue,  a  light  of  the  most  pure  and  subtle  kind  diffused  throughout 
all  space,  of  whom  it  was  impossible  for  the  mind  of  man  to  form  an 
adequate  conception.  Those  who  were  conversant  with  the  Greek 
language  gave  to  this  pre-eminent  being  the  name  of  Bu&oj,  (Buthos) 
in  allusion  to  the  vastness  of  his  excellence,  which  they  deemed  it  be- 
yond the  reach  of  human  capacity  to  comprehend.  The  space  which 
he  inhabits  they  named  tfX^wfxec,  (Pleroma)  but  occasionally  the  term 
aiwv  [Axon  or  (Eon)  was  applied  to  it.  This  divine  nature,  they  ima- 
gined, having  existed  for  ages  in  solitude  and  silence,  at  length,  by 
the  operation  of  his  own  omnipotent  will,  begat  of  himself  two  minds 
or  intelligences  of  a  most  excellent  and  exalted  kind,  one  of  either  sex. 
By  these,  others  of  a  similar  nature  were  produced  ;  and  the  faculty  of 
propagating  their  kind  being  successively  communicated  to  all,  a  class 
of  divine  beings  was  in  time  generated,  respecting  whom  no  difference 
of  opinion  seems  to  have  existed,  except  in  regard  to  their  number ; 
some  conceiving  it  to  be  more  and  others  less.  The  nearer  any  one 
of  this  celestial  family  stood  in  affinity  to  the  one  grand  parent  of  all, 
the  closer  were  they  supposed  to  resemble  him  in  nature  and  perfec- 
tion ;  the  farther  they  were  removed,  the  less  were  they  accounted  to 
partake  of  his  goodness,  wisdom,  or  any  other  attribute.  Although 
every  one  of  them  had  a  beginning,  yet  they  were  all  supposed  to  be 
immortal,  and  not  liable  to  any  change ;  on  which  account  they  were 
termed  aiwvej,  that  is,  immortal  beings  placed  beyond  the  reach  of  tem- 
poral vicissitudes  or  injuries.* 

*  The  Greek  term  htm  {Man)  properly  signifies,  indefinite  or  eternal  dura- 
tion,  as  opposed  to  that  which  is  finite  or  temporal.  It  was  however  metonymi- 
cally  used  for  sueh  natures  as  are  in  themselves  unchangeable  and  immortal.  That 
it  was  commonly  applied  in  this  sense,  even  by  the  Greek  philosophers,  at  the 
time  of  Christ's  birth,  is  plain  from  Arrian,  who  uses  it  to  describe  a  nature  the 
reverse  of  ours,  superior  to  frailty,  and  liable  to  no  vicissitudes.  There  was 
therefore  nothing  strange  or  unusual  in  the  application  of  this  term,  by   the 


at  the  Birth  of  Christ.  19 

Beyond  that  vast  expanse  refulgent  with  everlasting  light,  which  was 
considered  as  the  immediate  habitation  of  the  Deity,  and  of  those  na- 
tures which  had  been  generated  from  him,  these  philosophers  placed 
the  seat  of  matter  ;  where,  according  to  them,  it  had  lain  from  all  eter- 
nity, a  rude,  undigested,  opaque  mass,  agitated  by  turbulent  irregular 
motions  of  its  own  provoking  ;  and  nurturing,  as  in  a  seed-bed,  the  rudi- 
ments of  vice  and  every  species  of  evil.  In  this  state  it  was  found  by 
a  genius,  or  celestial  spirit  of  the  higher  order,  who  had  been  either 
driven  from  the  abode  of  Deity  for  some  offence,  or  commissioned  by 
him  for  the  purpose  ;  and  who  reduced  it  into  order,  and  gave  it  that  ar- 
rangement and  fashion  which  the  universe  now  bears.  Those  who 
spake  the  Greek  tongue  were  accustomed  to  refer  to  the  Creator  of 
the  world  by  the  name  of  Demiurgus.  Matter  received  its  inhabitants, 
both  man  and  other  animals,  from  the  same  hand  that  had  given  to  it 
disposition  and  symmetry. 

Its  native  darkness  was  also  illuminated  by  this  creative  spirit  with 
a  ray  of  celestial  light,  either  secretly  stolen,  or  imparted  through  the 
bounty  of  the  Deity.  He  likewise  communicated  to  the  bodies  he  had 
formed,  and  which  would  otherwise  have  remained  destitute  of  reason 
and  uninstructed,  except  in  what  relates  to  mere  animal  life,  particles 
of  the  divine  essence,  or  souls  of  a  kindred  nature  to  the  Deity.  When 
all  things  were  thus  completed,  Demiurgus,  revolting  against  the  Great 
First  Cause  of  all  things,  the  all-wise  and  omnipotent  God,  assumed  to 
himself  the  exclusive  government  of  this  new  state,  which  he  appor- 
tioned out  into  provinces  or  districts  ;  bestowing  the  administration  and 
command  over  them  on  a  number  of  genii,  or  spirits  of  inferior  degree, 
who  had  been  his  associates  and  assistants. 

Man  therefore,  whilst  he  continued  in  this  world,  was  supposed  to 
be  compounded  of  two  principles,  acting  in  direct  opposition  to  each 
other  ; — an  earthly,  corrupt,  or  vitiated  body — and  a  soul  partaking  of 
the  Deity,  being  derived  from  the  region  of  purity  and  light.  The 
soul,  or  ethereal  part,  being  through  its  connexion  with  the  body,  con- 
fined as  it  were  within  a  prison  of  matter,  was  constantly  exposed  to 
the  danger  of  becoming  involved  in  ignorance,  and  acquiring  every  sort 
of  evil  propensity,  from  the  impulse  and  contagion  of  the  vitiated  mass 
by  which  it  was  enveloped.  But  the  Deity,  touched  with  compassion 
for  the  hapless  state  of  those  captive  minds,  was  ever  anxious  that  the 
means  of  escaping  from  this  darkness  and  bondage,  into  liberty  and 
light,  should  be  extended  to  them ;  and  had,  accordingly,  at  various 
times,  sent  amongst  them  teachers,,  endowed  with  wisdom,  and  filled 
with  celestial  light,  who  might  communicate  to  them  the  principles  of 
true  religion,  and  thus  instruct  them  in  the  way  by  which  deliverance 
was  to  be  obtained  from  their  wretched  and  forlorn  state.  Demiurgus, 
however,  and  his  associates,  unwilling  to  resign  any  part  of  that  domi- 
nion, of  whose  sweets  they  were  now  become  so  sensible,  or  to  relin- 
quish the  divine  honours  which  they  had  usurped,  set  at  work  every 
engine  to  obstruct  the  Deity  ;  and  not  only  tormented  and  slew  the  mes- 

Gnostics,  to  beings  of  a  celestial  nature,  liable  to  neither  accident  nor  change. 
Indeed  the  term  is  used  by  the  ancient  fathers  of  the  purer  class,  to  denote  the 
angels  in  general,  good  as  well  as  bad. 


20  State  of  the  World  in  general 

sengers  of  heaven,  but  endeavoured,  by  means  of  superstition  and  sen- 
sual attractions,  to  root  out  and  extinguish  every  spark  of  celestial 
truth.  The  minds  that  listened  to  the  calls  of  the  Deity,  and  who  hav- 
ing renounced  obedience  to  the  usurped  authorities  of  this  world,  con- 
tinued steadfast  in  the  worship  of  the  great  First  Parent,  resisting  the 
evil  propensities  of  the  corporeal  frame,  and  every  incitement  to  illicit 
gratification,  were  supposed,  on  the  dissolution  of  their  bodies,  to  be 
directly  borne  away,  pure,  atrial,  and  disengaged  from  every  thing  gross 
or  material,  to  the  immediate  residence  of  God  himself;  whilst  those 
who,  notwithstanding  the  admonitions  they  received,  had  persisted  in 
paying  divine  honours  to  him  who  was  merely  the  fabricator  of  the 
world,  and  his  associates,  worshipping  them  as  gods,  and  suffering 
themselves  to  be  enslaved  by  the  lusts  and  vicious  impulses  to  which 
they  were  exposed  from  their  alliance  with  matter,  were  denied  the 
hope  of  exaltation  after  death,  and  could  only  expect  to  migrate  into 
new  bodies,  suited  to  their  base,  sluggish,  and  degraded  condition. 
When  the  grand  work  of  setting  free  all  these  mind  or  souls  should  be 
accomplished,  God,  it  was  supposed,  would  dissolve  the  fabric  of  this 
lower  world ;  and  having  once  more  confined  matter,  with  all  its  con- 
tagious influence,  within  its  original  limits,  would  throughout  all  future 
ages  live  in  consummate  glory,  and  reign  surrounded  by  kindred  spirits, 
as  he  did  before  the  foundation  of  the  world. 

The  moral  discipline  deduced  from  this  system  of  philosophy,  by 
those  who  embraced  it,  was  by  no  means  of  an  uniform  cast,  but  dif- 
fered widely  in  its  complexion  according  to  their  various  tempers  and 
inclinations.  Such,  for  instance,  as  were  naturally  of  a  morose  dispo- 
sition, maintained  that  the  great  object  of  human  concern  should  be  to 
invigorate  the  energies  of  the  mind,  and  to  quicken  and  refine  its  per- 
ceptions, by  abstracting  it  as  much  as  possible  from  every  thing  gross 
or  sensual.  The  body,  on  the  contrary,  as  the  source  of  every  depraved 
appetite,  was,  according  to  them,  to  be  reduced  and  brought  into  sub- 
jection by  hunger,  thirst,  and  every  other  species  of  mortification,  and 
neither  to  be  supported  by  flesh  or  wine,  nor  indulged  in  any  of  those 
gratifications  to  which  it  is  naturally  prone ;  in  fact,  a  constant  self- 
denial  was  to  be  rigorously  observed  in  every  thing  which  might  con- 
tribute either  to  the  convenience  or  pleasantness  of  life  ;  so  that  the 
material  frame  being  thus  by  every  means  weakened  and  brought  low, 
the  celestial  spirit  might  the  more  readily  escape  from  its  contagious 
influence  and  regain  its  native  liberty.  Hence  it  was  that  the  Mani- 
chseans,  the  Marcionitcs,  the  Encraitites,  and  others,  passed  their  lives 
in  one  continued  course  of  austerity  and  mortification.  On  the  other 
hand,  those  who  were  constitutionally  inclined  to  voluptuousness  and 
vicious  indulgence,  found  the  means  of  accommodating  the  same  prin- 
ciples to  a  mode  of  life  that  admitted  of  the  free  and  uncontrolled  gra- 
tification of  all  their  inclinations.  The  essence  of  piety  and  religion, 
they  said,  consisted  in  a  knowledge  of  the  Supreme  Being,  and  main- 
taining a  mental  intercourse  and  association  with  him.  Whoever  had 
become  an  adept  in  these  attainments,  and  from  the  habitual  exercise  of 
contemplation,  had  acquired  the  power  of  keeping  the  mind  abstracted 
from  every  thing  corporeal,  was  no  longer  to  be  considered  as  affected 


at  the  Birth  of  Christ.  21 

by,  or  answerable  for,  the  impulses  and  actions  of  the  body,  and  con- 
sequently could  be  under  no  necessity  to  control  its  inclinations,  or 
resist  its  propensities.  Hence  the  dissolute  lives  of  the  Carpocratians 
and  others,  who  assumed  the  liberty  of  doing  whatever  pleased  them ; 
and  maintained  that  the  practice  of  virtue  was  not  enjoined  by  the 
Deity,  but  imposed  on  mankind  by  that  power  whom  they  regarded 
as  the  prince  of  this  world,  the  maker  of  the  universe. 

From  this  concise  review  of  the  state  of  the  Gentile  world  at  the 
time  of  Christ's  appearance  on  earth,  the  inferences  to  be  deduced,  are, 
it  is  presumed,  sufficiently  obvious.  Mankind  had  been  furnished  with 
abundant  experience  of  what  reason  and  philosophy,  in  their  highest 
state  of  cultivation,  could  do,  in  the  way  of  directing  the  human  mind 
to  the  attainment  of  virtue  and  happiness  :  and  what  was  the  result? 
The  very  wisest  among  them  were  bewildered  in  fruitless  speculations 
about  the  nature  of  the  chief  good,  and  equally  so  about  the  way  of 
attaining  it.  Some  of  them,  indeed,  admitted  that  it  consisted  in  vir- 
tue; but  then  if  we  inquire  wherein  they  supposed  virtue  to  consist, 
we  shall  find  their  notions  as  discordant  and  undefined  as  their  ideas 
of  happiness  itself  were  vague  and  desultory.  Aristotle  made  the 
existence  of  virtue  to  depend  upon  the  possession  of  an  abundance  of 
the  good  things  of  this  world  ;  and  even  laid  it  down  as  a  principle, 
that  "  without  the  gifts  of  fortune,  virtue  is  not  sufficient  for  happiness, 
but  that  a  wise  man  must  be  miserable  in  poverty  and  sickness." 
Diogenes,  from  whose  pride  and  stoical  austerity  one  might  have  ex- 
pected sentiments  of  a  different  nature,  maintained  that  a.  poor  old  man 
was  the  most  miserable  thing  in  life.  Even  Plato,  the  great  precep- 
tor of  Aristotle,  taught  his  followers  that  happiness  comprehended  the 
possession  of  wisdom,  health,  good  fortune,  honour,  and  riches  ;  and 
maintained  that  the  man  who  enjoyed  all  these  must  be  perfectly  happy. 
Zeno  and  his  followers  held  it  as  a  principle,  that  all  crimes  were  equal. 
Thales,  the  founder  of  the  Ionian  sect,  being  asked  how  he  thought  a 
man  might  bear  affliction  with  the  greatest  ease,  answered,  "By  seeing 
his  enemies  in  a  worse  condition."  Epicurus  had  no  notion  of  justice 
but  as  it  was  profitable,  and  the  consequence  was  that  the  morals  of  his 
followers  were  proverbially  scandalous  ;  for  though  their  master  taught 
that  happiness  consisted  in  virtue,  he  made  virtue  itself  to  consist  in 
following  nature,  and  thus  he  eventually  led  his  disciples  into  such 
gross  immorality,  that,  according  to  their  manner  of  life,  virtue  and 
voluptuousness  seemed  to  be  convertible  terms  with  them  :  and  ever 
since,  an  Epicure  is  a  title  appropriate  to  every  character  in  which 
excess  and  sensual  indulgence  are  found  to  meet. 

Such  was  the  hopeless  and  forlorn  condition  into  which  the  human 
race  had  sunk,  and  such  the  wretched  aspect  of  the  Heathen  or  Gen- 
tile world,  at  the  time  of  the  Messiah's  appearance  upon  earth.  The 
Greeks  and  Romans  had  civilized  the  world ;  philosophy  had  done  its 
utmost;  literature,  and  arts,  and  the  sciences  in  every  department,  had 
been  cultivated  to  the  highest  perfection ;  but  what,  under  all  these 
advantages,  was  the  real  condition  of  our  species  in  reference  to  man's 
highest  end  and  aim,  the  knowledge  of  the  true  God  and  the  duties 
which  he  owes  him — the  actual  state  of  religion  and  morals  ?  We  have 


22  State  of  the  World  in  general 

it  strikingly  described  by  the  great  apostle  of  the  Gentiles.  "  They 
walked  in  the  vanity  of  their  mind ;  having  the  understanding  darken- 
ed, being  alienated  from  the  life  of  God  through  the  ignorance  that  was 
in  them,  because  of  the  blindness  of  the  heart ;  and  being  past  feeling, 
they  had  given  themselves  over  unto  lasciviousness,  to  work  all  unclean- 
ness,  with  greediness  ; — they  were  without  hope,  and  without  God  in 
the  world." — Eph.  ii.  12,  and  ch.  iv.  17,  18.* 


PART    II. 

OX  THE  STATE  OF  THE  JEWISH  NATION  AT  THE  PERIOD  OF  THE  BIRTH  OF 
CHRIST. 

The  privileges  which  the  Jews  at  this  time  enjoyed  above  all  other 
nations,  were  many  and  distinguished;  but  in  enumerating  them,  the 
apostle  Paul  lays  the  principal  stress  upon  their  being  favoured  with  a 
divine  revelation,  to  guide  them  in  matters  of  the  highest  importance 
to  their  present  and  everlasting  happiness : — they  had  the  oracles  of 
God  in  their  hands ;  the  writings  of  Moses  and  the  prophets,  those 
holy  men  of  God  who  spake  as  they  were  moved  by  the  Holy  Spirit.t 
Yet  with  these  incalculable  advantages,  the  condition  of  the  people  in 
general  was  not  much  superior  to  that  of  the  Gentiles. 

The  civil  government  of  Judea,  at  the  time  of  Christ's  birth,  was 
vested  in  the  hands  of  a  Roman  stipendiary,  named  Herod  the  Great ; 
— a  title  to  which  he  could  have  no  pretensions,  except  from  the  mag- 
nitude of  his  vices.  Nature,  it  is  true,  had  not  withheld  from  him  the 
talents  requisite  for  a  lofty  and  brilliant  course  of  life ;  but  such  was 
his  jealous  disposition,  such  the  ferocity  of  his  temper,  his  devoted- 
ness  to  luxury,  pomp,  and  magnificence  so  madly  extravagant,  and  so 
much  beyond  his  means ;  in  short,  so  extensive  and  enormous  was  the 
catalogue  of  his  vices,  that  he  became  an  object  of  utter  detestation  to 
the  afflicted  people  over  whom  he  swayed  the  kingly  sceptre.  Instead 
of  cherishing  and  protecting  his  subjects,  he  appears  to  have  made 
them  sensible  of  his  authority  merely  by  oppression  and  violence ;  so 
that  they  complained  to  the  Emperor  Augustus,  at  Rome,  of  his  cru- 
elties, declaring  they  had  suffered  as  much  as  if  a  wild  beast  had  reigned 
over  them  ;  and  Eusebius  affirms,  that  the  cruelty  of  this  nefarious  des- 
pot far  surpassed  whatever,  had  been  represented  in  tragedy!  Herod  was 
not  ignorant  of  the  hatred  which  he  had  drawn  upon  himself,  but  to 
soften  its  asperity  he  became  a  professed  devotee  to  the  Jewish  religion, 
and  at  a  vast  expense  restored  their  temple,  which  through  age  had 
fallen  into  decay ;  but  the  effect  of  all  this  was  destroyed  by  his  still 
conforming  to  the  manners  and  habits  of  those  who  worshipped  a  plu- 
rality of  gods  ;  and  so  many  things  were  countenanced  in  direct  opposi- 

*  See  Brcckeh's  History  of  Philosophy,  translated  by  Dr.  Enfield ;— and  Mo- 
shetm's  Commentaries  <„i  the  affairs  of  the' Christians  before  the  time  of  Constantine 
the  Great,  translated  bu  R.  S.  Vidal,  Vol.  I.  Introd.  ch.  i. 

f  Rom.  iii,  2,  and 2  Pet. i. 21. 


at  the  Birth  of  Christ.  23 

tion  to  the  Jewish  religion,  that  the  hypocrisy  of  the  tyrant's  professions 
were  too  manifest  to  admit  of  a  doubt. 

On  the  death  of  Herod,  the  government  of  Judea  was  divided  by 
the  Emperor  Augustus  amongst  his  three  surviving  sons.  Archelaus, 
the  elder  of  the  three,  was  appointed  governor  of  Judea,  Idumoea,  and 
Samaria,  under  the  title  of  Ethnareh.  Antipas  presided  over  Galilee 
and  Perce  a;  whilst  Batanea,  Trachonitis,  Auranitis,  with  some  of  the 
neighbouring  territory,  were  assigned  to  Philip.  The  two  latter,  from 
their  having  a  fourth  part  of  the  province  of  Judea  allotted  to  each, 
were  styled  Tetrarchs.  Archelaus,  who  inherited  all  the  vices  of  his 
father,  with  but  few  of  his  better  qualities,  completely  exhausted  the 
patience  of  the  Jews  ;  and  by  a  series  of  the  most  injurious  and  oppres- 
sive acts,  drove  them,  in  the  tenth  year  of  his  reign,  to  lay  their  com- 
plaints before  the  emperor  Augustus,  who.  after  investigating  the  merits 
of  the  case,  deposed  the  Ethnareh,  and  banished  him  to  Vienne  in 
Gaul. 

On  the  expulsion  of  Archelaus,  the  greater  part  of  Palestine,  or  Judea, 
was  reduced  by  the  Roman  government  into  the  form  of  a  province, 
and  placed  under  the  superintendence  of  a  governor,  who  was  subject 
to  the  control  of  the  president  of  Syria.     It  is  probable  that  this  ar- 
rangement at  first  met  with  the  ready  concurrence  of  the  Jews,  who,  on 
the  death  of  Herod,  had  petitioned  Augustus  that  the  distinct  regal 
government  might  no  longer  be  continued  to  them,  but  that  their  country 
might  be  received  under  his  own  immediate  protection,  and  treated  as 
a  part  of  the  Roman  empire.     The  change,  however,  instead  of  pro- 
ducing an  alleviation  of  misery  to  this  unhappy  people,  brought  with  it 
an  intolerable  increase  of  their  calamities.     For,  independent  of  the 
avarice  and  injustice  of  the  governors,  to  which  there  were  no  bounds, 
it  proved  an  intolerable  grievance  to  them,  who  considered  their  nation 
to  be  God's  pecidiar  people,  that  they  should  be  obliged  to  pay  tribute 
to  a  heathen,  and  an  enemy  of  the  true  God,  like  Caesar,  and  live  in 
subjection  to  those  who  worshipped  false  deities.     Add  to  which,  that 
the  extortion  of  the  publicans,  who  after  the  Roman  manner  were  en- 
trusted with  the  collection  of  the  revenue,  and  for  whose  continual  and 
flagrant  abuses  of  authority  it  was  seldom  possible  to  obtain  any  sort 
of  redress,  became  a  subject  of  infinite  dissatisfaction  and  complaint. 
And,  to  crown  the  whole,  the  constant  presence  of  their  governors,  sur- 
rounded as  they  were  by  a  multitude  of  foreign  attendants  of  all  de- 
scriptions, and  protected  by  a  Roman  military  guard,  quartered  with 
their  eagles  and  various  other  ensigns  of  superstition,  in  the  centre  of 
Jerusalem,  their  holy  city,  kept  the  sensibility  of  the  Jews  continually 
on  the  rack,  and  excited  in  their  minds  a  degree  of  indignation  bordering 
on  fury.     They  naturally  considered  their  religion  to  be  disgraced  and 
insulted  by  these  innovations — their  holy  places  defiled — and  in  fact 
themselves,  with  all  that  they  held  sacred,  polluted  and  brought  into 
contempt.     To  these  causes,  are  to  be  attributed  the  frequent  tumults, 
factions,  seditions,  and  murders,  by  which  it  was  well  known  that 
these  unfortunate  people  accelerated  their  own  destruction. 

If  any  vestige  of  liberty  or  happiness  could  have  been  possessed  by 
a  people  thus  circumstanced,  it  was  effectually  cut  off  by  those  who 


24  State  of  the  World  in  general 

held  the  second  place  in  the  civil  government  under  the  Romans,  and 
the  sons  of  Herod,  and  who  also  had  the  supreme  direction  in  every 
thing  pertaining  to  religion,  namely,  the  chief  priests  and  the  seventy 
elders,  of  whom  the  Sanhedrim  or  national  council  was  composed. 
Josephus  tells  us,  that  the  high  priests  were  the  most  abandoned  of 
mortals,  and  that  they  generally  obtained  their  dignified  stations  either 
through  the  influence  of  money,  or  court  sycophancy;  and  that  they 
shrank  from  no  species  of  criminality  that  might  contribute  to  support 
them  in  the  possession  of  an  authority  thus  iniquitously  purchased. 
Under  a  full  conviction  of  the  precarious  tenure  on  which  they  held 
their  situation,  it  became  a  leading  object  of  their  concern,  to  accumu- 
late, either  by  fraud  or  force,  such  a  quantity  of  wealth,  as  might  en- 
able them  to  gain  the  rulers  of  the  state  over  to  their  interest,  and  drive 
away  all  competitors,  or  else  yield  them,  when  deprived  of  their  dignity, 
the  means  of  living  at  their  ease  in  retirement. 

The  Sanhedrim,  or  national  council,  being  composed  of  men  who 
differed  in  opinion  respecting  some  of  the  most  important  points  of  re- 
ligion, nothing  like  a  general  harmony  was  to  be  found  among  its 
members :  on  the  contrary,  having  adopted  the  principles  of  various 
sects,  they  allowed  themselves  to  be  carried  away  by  all  the  prejudice 
and  animosity  of  party ;  and  were  too  often  more  intent  on  the  indul- 
gence of  private  pique,  than  studious  of  advancing  the  cause  of  reli- 
gion, or  promoting  the  public  welfare.  A  similar  depravity  prevailed 
among  the  ordinary  priests,  and  the  inferior  ministers  of  religion.  The 
common  people,  instigated  by  the  shocking  examples  thus  held  out  to 
them,  by  those  whom  they  were  taught  to  consider  as  their  guides, 
precipitated  themselves  into  every  species  of  vicious  excess  ;  and  giving 
themselves  up  to  sedition  and  rapine,  appeared  alike  to  defy  the  ven- 
geance, both  of  God  and  man. 

There  were,  at  that  time,  two  prevailing  systems  of  religion  in  Pa- 
lestine, the  Jewish  and  the  Samaritan  ;  and  what  contributed  not  a  little 
to  the  calamities  of  the  Hebrew  nation,  the  followers  of  each  of  these 
regarded  those  of  the  other  persuasion  with  the  most  virulent  and  im- 
placable hatred,  mutually  venting  their  rancorous  animosity  in  the  direst 
.  curses  and  imprecations.  The  nature  of  the  Jewish  religion  may  be 
collected  from  the  books  of  the  Old  Testament ;  but  at  the  time  of 
Christ's  appearance,  it  had  lost  much  of  its  original  beauty  and  excel- 
lence, and  was  corrupted  by  errors  of  the  most  flagrant  kind,  that  had 
crept  in  from  various  sources.  The  public  worship  of  God  was  indeed 
still  continued  in  the  temple  of  Jerusalem,  with  all  the  rites  of  the 
Mosaic  institution;  and  their  festivals  never  failed  to  draw  together  an 
immense  concourse  of  people  at  the  stated  seasons ;  nor  did  the  Ro- 
mans ever  interfere  to  prevent  those  observances.  In  domestic  life  also, 
the  ordinances  of  the  law  were  in  general  punctually  attended  to ;  but 
it  is  manifest,  from  the  evidence  adduced  by  various  learned  men,  that 
even  in  the  service  of  the  temple  itself,  numerous  ceremonies  and  ob- 
servances, drawn  from  the  religious  worship  of  heathen  nations,  had 
been  introduced  and  blended  with  those  of  divine  institution ;  and  that, 
in  addition  to  superstitions  like  these  of  a  public  nature,  many  erroneous 
principles,  probably  brought  from  Babylon  and  Chaldea,  by  the  ances- 


at  the  Birth  of  Christ.  25 

tors  of  the  people  at  their  return  from  captivity,  or  adopted  by  the  in- 
considerate multitude,  in  conformity  to  the  example  of  their  neighbours 
the  Greeks,  the  Syrians,  and  the  Egyptians,  were  cherished  and  acted 
on  in  private. 

The  opinions  and  sentiments  of  the  Jews  respecting  the  Deity,  the 
divine  nature,  the  angels,  daemons,  the  souls  of  men,  their  duties,  and 
similar  subjects,  appear  to  have  been  far  less  extravagant,  and  formed 
on  more  rational  grounds,  than  those  of  any  other  nation  or  people. 
Indeed,  it  was  scarcely  possible  that  they  should  wholly  lose  sight  of 
that  truth,  in  the  knowledge  of  which  their  fathers  had  been  instructed 
through  the  medium  of  revelation  ;  especially  as  this  instruction  was 
rendered  habitual  to  them,  even  at  a  tender  age,  by  hearing,  reading, 
and  studying  the  writings  of  Moses  and  the  prophets.  In  all  their 
cities,  towns,  and  villages,  and  indeed  throughout  the  empire,  wherever 
any  considerable  number  of  Jews  resided,  a  sacred  edifice,  which  they 
called  a  synagogue,  was  erected,  in  which  it  was  customary  for  the 
people  regularly  to  assemble,  for  the  purposes  of  prayer  and  praise,  and 
hearing  the  law  publicly  read  and  expounded.  In  most  of  the  larger 
towns,  there  were  also  schools  established,  in  which  young  persons 
were  initiated  in  the  first  principles  of  religion,  as  well  as  instructed  in 
the  liberal  arts. 

But  though  the  Jews  certainly  entertained  many  sentiments  more 
rational  and  correct  than  their  neighbours — sentiments  which  they  had 
adopted  from  their  own  Scriptures — yet  they  had  gradually  incorpo- 
rated with  them  so  large  a  mixture  of  what  was  fabulous  and  absurd,  as 
nearly  to  deprive  the  truth  of  all  its  force  and  energy.  Hence  the  many 
pointed  rebukes  which  Jesus  Christ  gave  to  the  Scribes  and  Pharisees, 
the  prime  leaders  of  religion  in  his  day ;  telling  them  that  they  taught 
for  doctrines  the  commandments  of  men,  and  that  they  had  made  the 
divine  law  void  through  their  traditions.*     Their  notions  of  the  nature 

*  The  Jews  acknowledge  two  laws,  which  they  believe  to  have  been  delivered 
to  Moses  on  Mount  Sinai  :  of  which  one  was  immediately  committed  to  writing 
in  the  text  of  the  Pentateuch,  and  the  other  is  said  to  have  been  handed  down 
from  generation  to  generation,  for  many  ages,  by  oral  tradition.  From  the  time 
of  Moses  to  the  days  of  Rabbi  Jehuda,  no  part  of  the  oral  law  had  ever  been  com- 
mitted to  writing  for  public  perusal.  In  every  generation  the  president  of  the 
Sanhedrim,  or  the  prophet  of  his  age,  for  his  own  private  use,  is  said  to  have 
written  notes  of  the  traditions  which  he  had  heard  from  his  teachers,  but  he 
taught  in  public  only  from  word  of  mouth  :  and  thus  each  individual  wrote  for 
himself  an  exposition  of  the  law  and  the  ceremonies  it  enjoined,  according  to 
what  he  had  heard.  Thus  things  were  situated  till  the  days  of  Rabbi  Jehuda. 
He  observed,  that  the  students  of  the  law  were  gradually  diminishing,  that  diffi- 
culties and  distresses  were  multiplying,  that  the  kingdom  of  impiety  was  increas- 
ing in  strength  and  extending  itself  over  the  world,  while  the  people  of  Israel 
were  driven  to  the  ends  of  the  earth.  Fearing  lest,  in  these  circumstances,  the 
traditions  would  be  forgotten  and  lost,  he  collected  them  all,  arranged  them  un- 
der distinct  heads,  and  formed  them  into  a  methodical  code  of  traditional  law. 
Of  this  book,  entitled  the  Mishna,  copies  were  speedily  multiplied  and  exten- 
sively circulated  ;  and  the  Jews  at  large  received  it  with  the  highest  veneration. 
See  Mr.  Allen's  Modem  Judaism ,-  ch.  iii.  p.  22 — 36,  where  the  reader  will  find 
numerous  quotations  from  the  Rabbi's  showing  how  this  (supposed)  oral  law  is 
by  them  extolled  above  the  written  law  of  Moses — just  as  the  Papists  in  later  ages 
have  made  void  the  doctrine  of  Christ  and  his  apostles  by  the  traditions  of  the 
fathers. 

3 


26  State  of  the  World  in  general 

of  God,  are  supposed  to  have  been  closely  allied  to  the  oriental  philo- 
sophy on  that  subject,  while  to  the  prince  of  darkness,  and  his  asso- 
ciates and  agents,  they  attributed  an  influence  over  the  world  and  the 
human  race  so  predominant  as  scarcely  to  leave  a  superior  degree  of 
power  even  to  the  Deity  himself.  Of  various  terrific  conceits,  founded 
upon  this  notion,  one  of  the  principal  was,  that  all  the  evils  and  cala- 
mities which  befal  the  human  race,  were  to  be  considered  as  originating 
with  this  prince  of  darkness  and  his  ministering  spirits,  who  had  their 
dwelling  in  the  air,  and  were  scattered  throughout  every  part  of  the 
universe.  Their  notions  also,  and  manner  of  reasoning  respecting  an- 
gels, or  ministers  of  divine  Providence,  were  nearly  allied  to  those 
maintained  by  the  Babylonians  or  Chaldaeans,  as  may  be  readily  per- 
ceived by  those  who  will  give  themselves  the  trouble  to  investigate  the 
subject. 

But  on  no  one  point  were  the  sentiments  of  the  Jews  of  that  day, 
more  estranged  from  the  doctrine  that  was  taught  by  their  prophets, 
than  on  that  which  regarded  the  character  of  their  Messiah.  The 
greatest  part  of  the  Jewish  nation  were  looking  with  eager  desire  for 
the  appearance  of  the  deliverer  whom  God  had  promised  to  their  fathers. 
But  their  hopes  were  not  directed  to  such  an  one  as  the  Scriptures  de- 
scribed :  they  expected  not  a  spiritual  deliverer,  to  rescue  them  from 
the  bondage  of  sin  and  Satan,  and  to  bestow  upon  them  the  blessings 
of  salvation,  the  forgiveness  of  sins,  peace  with  God,  the  adoption  of 
children  inlo  his  family,  and  the  hope  of  an  eternal  inheritance  in  the 
world  to  come ;  they  looked  for  a  mighty  warlike  leader,  whose  talents 
and  prowess  might  recover  for  them  their  civil  liberty.  Fondly  dream- 
ing of  a  temporal  kingdom  for  their  Messiah,  their  carnal  minds  were 
so  riveted  under  the  dominion  of  this  master  prejudice,  that,  in  general, 
their  hearts  were  blinded  to  the  real  scope  of  the  law  and  the  prophets. 

It  is  abundantly  manifest  from  the  New  Testament  Scriptures,  that 
at  the  time  of  Christ's  appearance,  the  Jews  were  divided  into  various 
sects,  widely  differing  in  opinion  from  each  other,  not  merely  on  sub- 
jects of  smaller  moment,  but  also  on  those  points  which  enter  into  the 
very  essence  of  religion.  Of  the  Pharisees  and  Sadducees,  the  two 
most  distinguished  of  these  sects,  both  in  number  and  respectability, 
mention  is  made  in  the  writings  of  the  evangelists  and  apostles.  Jose- 
phus,  Philo,  and  others,  speak  of  a  third  sect,  under  the  title  of  the 
Essenes;  and  it  appears  from  more  than  one  authority,  that  several 
others  of  less  note  were  to  be  found  among  them.  The  evangelist 
Matthew  notices  the  Herodians;  a  class  of  men  who,  it  seems  highly 
probable,  had  espoused  the  cause  of  the  descendants  of  Herod  the  Great, 
and  contended  that  they  had  been  unjustly  deprived  of  the  greater  part 
of  Palestine  by  the  Romans.  Josephus  makes  mention  also  of  another 
sect,  bearing  the  title  of  Philosophers ;  composed  of  men  of  the  most 
ferocious  character,  and  founded  by  Judas,  a  Galilean — a  strenuous  and 
undaunted  assertor  of  the  liberties  of  the  Jewish  nation,  who  maintained 
that  the  Hebrews,  the  favourite  people  of  heaven,  ought  to  render  obe- 
dience to  God  alone,  and  consequently  were  continually  stimulating  one 
another  to  throw  off  the  Roman  yoke  and  assert  their  national  indepen- 
dence. 


at  the  Birth  of  Christ.  27 

The  Pharisees,  the  Sadducees,  and  the  Essenes,  the    three   most 
powerful  of  the  Jewish  sects,  were  cordially  united  in  sentiment  respect- 
ing all  those  fundamental  points  which  constituted  the  basis  of  the  Jew- 
ish religion.     All  of  them,   for  instance,  rejected  with  detestation  the 
notion  of  a  plurality  of  gods,  and  would  acknowledge  the  existence  of 
but  one  almighty  power,  whom  they  regarded  as  the  Creator  of  the 
Universe,  and  believed  to  be  endowed  with  the  most  absolute  perfec- 
tion and  goodness.  They  were  equally  agreed  in  the  opinion,  that  God 
had  selected  the  Hebrews  from  amongst  all  the  other  nations  of  the 
earth  as  his  peculiar  people,  and  had  bound  them  to  himself  by  an  un- 
changeable and  everlasting  covenant.     With  the  same  unanimity,  they 
maintained  the  divine  mission  of  Moses;  that  he  was  the  ambassador 
of  heaven,  and  consequently  that  the  law  delivered  at  Mount  Sinai,  and 
promulgated  by  his  ministry,  was  of  divine  original.     It  was  also  the 
general  belief  among  them,  that  in  the   books  of  the  Old  Testament 
were  contained  ample  instructions  respecting  the  way  of  salvation  and 
eternal  happiness  ;    and  that  whatever  principles  or  duties  were  incul- 
cated  in   those  writings,  must  be   reverently  received  and  implicitly 
obeyed.     But  an  almost  irreconcilable  difference  of  opinion,  and  the 
most  vehement  disputes,  prevailed  among  them,  respecting  the  original 
source  or  fountain  from  whence  all  religion  was  to  be  deduced.     Both 
the  Sadducees  and  Essenes  rejected  with  disdain  the  oral  law,  to  which 
the  Pharisees,  however,  paid  the  greatest  deference.    And  the  interpre- 
tation of  the  written  law,  yielded  still  further  ground  for  acrimonious 
contention.     The  Pharisees  maintained  that  the  law  as  committed  to 
writing  by  Moses,  and  likewise  every  other  part  of  the  sacred  volume, 
had  a  two-fold  sense  or  meaning ;  the  one  plain  and  obvious  to  every 
reader,  the  other  abstruse  and  mystical.     The  Sadducees,  on  the  con- 
trary, would  admit  of  nothing  beyond  a  simple  interpretation  of  the 
words,  according  to  their  strict  literal  sense.     The  Essenes,  or  at  least 
the  greater  part  of  them,  differing  from  both  of  these,  considered  the 
words  of  the  law  to  possess  no  force  or  power  whatever  in  themselves, 
but  merely  to  exhibit  the  shadows  or  images  of  celestial  objects,  of  vir- 
tues, and  of  duties.     So  much  dissension  and  discord  respecting  the 
rule  of  religion,  and  the  sense  in  which  the  divine  law  ought  to  be  un- 
derstood, could  not  fail  to  produce  a  great  diversity  in  the  forms  of  reli- 
gious worship,  and  naturally  tended  to  generate  the  most  opposite  and 
conflicting  sentiments  on  subjects  of  a  divine  nature. 

The  Pharisees,  in  point  of  number,  riches,  authority,  and  influence, 
took  precedence  of  all  the  Jewish  sects.  And  as  they  constantly  mani- 
fested an  extraordinary  display  of  religion,  in  an  apparent  zeal  for  the 
cultivation  of  piety  and  brotherly  love,  and  by  an  affectation  of  superior 
sanctity  in  their  opinions,  manners,  and  dress,  the  influence  which  they 
possessed  over  the  minds  of  the  people  was  unbounded  ;  insomuch 
that  they  may  be  almost  said  to  have  given  whatever  direction  they 
pleased  to  publie  affairs.  It  is  unquestionable,  however,  that  the  reli- 
gion  of  the  Pharisees  was,  for  the  most  part,  founded  in  consummate 
hypocrisy  ;  and  that  in  reality,  they  were  generally  the  slaves  of  every 
vicious  appetite;  proud,  arrogant,  and  avaricious,  consulting  only  the 
gratification  of  their  lusts,  even  at  the  moment  of  their  professing  them- 


28  State  of  the  World  in  general 

selves  to  be  engaged  in  the  service  of  their  Maker.  These  odious  fea- 
tures in  the  character  of  the  Pharisees,  drew  upon  them  the  most 
pointed  rebukes  from  our  Lord  and  Saviour  ;  with  more  severity  indeed 
than  he  bestowed  on  the  Sadducees,  who  although  they  had  departed 
widely  from  the  genuine  principles  of  religion,  yet  did  not  impose  up- 
on mankind  by  a  pretended  sanctity,  or  devote  themselves  with  insatia- 
ble greediness  to  the  acquisition  of  honours  and  riches.  The  Pharisees 
admitted  the  immortality  of  the  soul,  the  resurrection  of  the  body,  and 
of  a  future  state  of  rewards  and  punishments.  They  admitted,  to  a  cer- 
tain extent,  the  free  agency  of  man;  but  beyond  that,  they  supposed  his 
actions  to  be  controlled  by  the  decrees  of  fate.  These  points  of  doc- 
trine, however,  seem  not  to  have  been  understood  or  explained  by  all 
the  sect  in  the  same  way,  neither  does  it  appear  that  any  great  pains 
were  taken  to  define  and  ascertain  them  Avith  accuracy  and  precision, 
or  to  support  them  by  reasoning  and  argument. 

The  Sadducees,  if  we  may  credit  the  testimony  of  Josephus  con- 
cerning them,  were  a  sect  much  inferior  in  point  of  number  to  that  of 
the  Pharisees,  but  composed  entirely  of  persons  distinguished  for  their 
opulence  and  prosperity.  He  also  represents  those  who  belonged  to  it. 
as  wholly  devoid  of  the  sentiments  of  benevolence  and  compassion  to- 
wards others  :  whereas  the  Pharisees,  according  to  him,  were  ever 
ready  to  relieve  the  wants  of  the  indigent  and  afflicted.  He  further  de- 
scribes them  as  fond  of  passing  their  lives  in  one  uninterrupted  course 
of  ease  and  pleasure ;  insomuch  that  it  was  with  difficulty  they  could 
be  prevailed  on  to  undertake  the  duties  of  the  magistracy,  or  a»y  other 
public  function.  Their  leading  tenet  was,  that  all  our  hopes  and  fears 
terminate  with  the  present  life;  the  soul  being  involved  in  one  common 
fate  with  the  body,  and,  like  it,  liable  to  perish  and  be  annihilated. 
Upon  this  principle,  it  was  very  natural  for  them  to  maintain,  that  obe- 
dience to  the  divine  law  would  be  rewarded  by  the  Most  High  with 
length  of  days,  and  an  abundance  of  the  good  things  of  this  life,  such 
as  honours,  distinctions,  and  riches  ;  whilst  the  violaters  of  it  would, 
in  like  manner,  find  their  punishment  in  the  temporary  sufferings  and 
afflictions  of  the  present  time.  The  Sadducees,  therefore,  always  con- 
nected the  favour  of  heaven  with  a  state  of  worldly  prosperity,  and  could 
not  regard  any  as  virtuous,  or  the  friends  of  heaven,  but  the  fortunate 
and  happy ;  they  had  no  bowels  of  compassion  for  the  poor  and  the 
miserable;  their  desires  and  hopes  centered  in  a  life  of  leisure,  ease, 
and  voluptuous  gratification — for  such  is  precisely  the  character  which 
Josephus  gives  us  of  them.  And,  indeed,  it  appears  to  be  counte- 
nanced by  the  inspired  writings — especially  if,  as  is  now  generally 
admitted  by  the  learned,  our  Lord,  in  the  parable  of  the  rich  man  and 
Lazarus,  (Luke,  ch.  xvi.)  designed,  in  the  person  of  the  former,  to 
delineate  the  principles  and  manner  of  life  of  a  Sadducee.  Considering 
the  parable  in  this  point  of  view,  we  cannot  fail  to  see  great  force  and 
beauty  in  it,  which  do  not  appear  upon  any  other  hypothesis.  That 
the  rich  man  was  a  Jew  is  evident,  from  his  terming  Abraham  his 
fathtr  ;  and  his  request  that  the  latter  would  send  Lazarus  to  his  father's 
house,  for  the  purpose  of  converting  his  brethren  to  a  belief  of  the  soul's 
immortality,  and  the  certainty  of  a  future  state  of  rewards  and  punish- 


at  the  Birth  of  Christ.  29 

ments,  is  convincing  evidence  that  during  his  life-time  he  had  imagined 
that  the  soul  would  perish  with  the  body,  and  had  treated  with  deri- 
sion the  doctrine  maintained  by  the  Pharisees  respecting  the  happiness 
or  misery  of  a  future  state ;  and  that  the  brethren  whom  he  had  left 
behind,  entertained  similar  sentiments — sentiments  which  decidedly 
mark  them  as  the  votaries  of  that  impious  system  to  which  the  Saddu- 
cees  Avere  devoted. 

The  Essenes,  though  not  particularly  mentioned  by  the  writers  of 
the  New  Testament,  existed  as  a  sect  in  the  days  of  our  Lord,  arid  are 
frequently  spoken  of  by  Josephus,  who  divides  them  into  two  branches ; 
the  one  characterized  by  a  life  of  celibacy,  dedicated  to  the  instruction 
and  education  of  the  children  of  others  ;  whilst  the  other  thought  it  pro- 
per to  marry,  not  so  much  with  a  view  to  sensual  gratification,  as  for 
the  purpose  of  propagating  the  human  species.  Hence  they  have  been 
distinguished  by  some  writers  into  the  practical  and  the  theoretical 
Essenes. 

The  practical  Essenes  were  distributed  in  the  cities  and  throughout 
the  countries  of  Syria,  Palestine,  and  Egypt.  Their  bond  of  associa- 
tion embraced  not  merely  a  community  of  tenets,  and  a  similarity  of 
manners  and  particular  observances,  like  that  of  the  Pharisees  or  the 
Sadducees  ;  but  it  extended  also  to  an  intercommunity  of  goods.  Their 
demeanor  was  sober  and  chaste  ;  and  their  mode  of  "life  was,  in  every 
other  respect,  subjected  to  the-strictest  regulations,  and  submitted  to  the 
superintendence  of  governors,  whom  they  appointed  over  themselves. 
The  whole  of  their  time  was  devoted  to  labour,  meditation  and  prayer  ; 
and  they  were  most  sedulously  attentive  to  the  calls  of  justice  #nd  hu- 
manity, and  every  moral  duty.  In  common  with  the  rest  of  the  Jews, 
they  believed  in  the  unity  of  God ;  but  from  some  of  their  institutes,  it 
appears  that  they  entertained  a  reverence  for  the  sun ;  probably,  consi- 
dering that  grand  luminary  as  a  deity  of  an  inferior  order,  or  perhaps 
regarding  him  as  the  visible  image  of  the  Supreme  Being.  They  sup- 
posed the  souls  of  men  to  have  fallen,  by  a  disastrous  fate,  from  the 
regions  of  purity  and  light,  into  the  bodies  which  they  occupy  ;  during 
their  continuance  in  which,  they  considered  them  to  be  confined,  as  it 
were,  within  the  walls  of  a  loathsome  dungeon.  For  this  reason,  there- 
fore, they  did  not  believe  in  the  resurrection  of  the  body :  although  it 
was  their  opinion  that  the  soul  would  be  rewarded  or  punished&in  a 
future  state  according  to  its  deserts.  They  cultivated  great  abstinence, 
allowing  themselves  but  little  bodily  nourishment  or  gratification,  from 
an  apprehension  that  the  immortal  spirit  might  be  thereby  encumbered 
and  weighed  down.  It  was  their  endeavour,  too,  by  constant  medita- 
tion, to  withdraw  the  mind  as  much  as  possible  from  the  contagious  in- 
fluence of  the  corrupt  mass  by  which  it  was  unhappily  enveloped. 
The  ceremonies,  or  external  forms,  which  were  enjoined  in  the  law 
of  Moses  to  be  observed  in  the  worship  of  God,  were  totally  disregard- 
ed by  many  of  the  Essenes  ;  it  being  their  opinion  that  the  words  of 
Moses  were  to  be  understood  in  a  mysterious  and  recondite  sense,  and 
not  according  to  their  literal  meaning.  Others  of  them,  indeed,  so  far 
conformed  as  to  offer  sacrifices,  but  they  did  this  at  home ;  for  they 
were   wholly  averse  from  the   rites  which  it  was  necs-wsary  for  those 


30  State  of  the  World  in  general 

to  observe  who  attended  the  temple  worship.  Upon  the  whole,  it 
does  not  seem  an  improbable  conjecture,  that  the  doctrine  and  discipline 
of  the  Essenes  arose  out  of  an  ill-judged  attempt  to  make  the  principles 
of  the  Jewish  religion  accord  with  some  tenets  which  they  had  fond- 
ly imbibed  from  the  Oriental  philosophy,  of  which  we  have  already 
treated. 

Though  the  practical  Essenes  were  very  much  addicted  to  supersti- 
tion, society  derived  no  inconsiderable  benefit  from  their  labour,  and 
the  strictness  of  their  morals.  Those  of  the  theoretical  class,  however, 
seem  to  have  set  scarcely  any  bounds  whatever  to  their  silly  extrava- 
gance. Although  they  professed  themselves  to  be  Jews,  and  were  de- 
sirous to  be  considered  as  the  disciples  of  Moses,  they  were  almost 
entirely  strangers  to  the  Mosaic  discipline.  Renouncing  employment 
of  every  description,  and  all  worldly  possessions,  they  withdrew  them- 
selves into  solitary  places,  and  there  dispersed  about  in  separate  cells, 
passed  the  remnant  of  their  days  without  engaging  in  any  kind  of  bodily 
labour,  and  neither  offering  sacrifices,  nor  observing  any  other  external 
form  of  religious  worship.  In  this  state  of  seclusion  from  the  world 
and  its  concerns,  they  studied  to  reduce  and  keep  the  body  low,  by 
allowing  it  nothing  beyond  the  most  slender  subsistence,  and,  as  far  as 
possible,  to  detach  and  disengage  the  soul  from  it  by  perpetual  contem- 
plation, so  that  the  immortal  spirit  might,  in  defiance  of  its  corporeal 
imprisonment,  be  kept  constantly  aspiring  after  its  native  liberty  and 
light,  and  be  prepared,  immediately  on  the  dissolution  of  the  body,  to 
re-ascend  to  those  celestial  regions  from  whence  it  originally  sprang. 
Conformably  to  the  practice  of  the  Jews,  the  theoretical  Essenes  were 
accustomed  to  hold  a  solemn  assembly  every  seventh  day.  On  these 
occasions,  after  hearing  a  sermon  from  their  president,  and  offering  up 
their  prayers,  it  was  usual  for  them  to  feast  together, — if  that  can  in- 
deed be  called  a  feast,  which  was  restricted  to  a  mutual  participation  of 
salt  and  bread  and  water.  This  repast  is  said  to  have  been  followed  by 
a  sacred  dance,  which  was  continued  throughout  the  whole  night,  until 
the  dawn  appeared.  At  first  the  men  and  women  danced  in  two  sepa- 
rate parties  ;  but  at  length,  their  minds,  according  to  their  own  account, 
kindling  with  a  sort  of  divine  ecstasy,  the  two  companies  joined  in  one, 
mutually  striving,  by  various  shouts  and  songs  of  the  most  vehement 
kind,  accompanied  with  the  most  extravagant  motions  and  gesticula- 
tions of  the  body,  to  manifest  the  fervent  glow  of  that  divine  love  with 
which  they  professed  to  be  enflamed.  To  such  an  extent  of  folly  may 
men  be  led  by  the  spirit  of  enthusiasm,  and  in  consequence  of  their  en- 
tertaining erroneous  principles  respecting  the  Deity,  and  the  origin  of 
the  human  soul ! 

As  to  the  moral  doctrine  of  these  sects  of  the  Essenes,  as  well  as 
'that  of  the  Pharisees  and  Sadducecs,  into  which  the  Jewish  people 
were  divided,  it  cannot  be  considered  as  having  in  any  degree  contri- 
buted towards  promoting  the  interests  of  virtue  and  genuine  piety.  The 
Pharisees,  as  was  frequently  objected  to  them  by  Christ,  who  knew 
their  hearts,  were  destitute  of  the  love  of  God  and  their  neighbour,  the 
essential  principles  of  righteousness — they  were  hypocritical  in  their 
acts  of  worship — proud  and  self-righteous — harsh  and  uncharitable  in 


at  the  Birth  of  Christ.  31 

their  judgment  of  others — while  they  made  the  divine  law  void  through 
their  traditions.  They  paid  little  or  no  regard  to  inward  purity  or 
sanctity  of  mind,  but  studied  by  all  possible  means  to  attract  the  eyes 
of  the  multitude  towards  them,  by  an  ostentatious  solemnity  of  carriage, 
and  the  most  specious  external  parade  of  piety  and  brotherly  love.  They 
were  continually  straining  and  perverting  the  most  important  precepts 
of  the  divine  law  ;  whilst  at  the  same  time,  they  enforced  an  unreserved 
obedience  to  ordinances  which  were  of  mere  human  institution.  The 
Sadducees  regarded  all  those  persons  as  righteous,  who  strictly  con- 
formed themselves  to  the  ritual  observances  prescribed  in  the  law  of 
Moses,  and  that  did  no  injury  to  any  of  the  Jewish  nation,  from  whom 
they  had  received  none.  And  as  their  principles  forbade  men  to  look 
forward  to  a  future  state  of  rewards  and  punishments,  and  placed  the 
whole  happiness  of  man  in  the  possession  of  riches  and  in  sensual  gra- 
tification, they  naturally  tended  to  generate  and  encourage  an  inordinate 
love  of  money,  a  brutal  insensibility  to  the  calls  of  compassion,  and  a 
variety  of  other  vices  equally  pernicious  and  degrading  to  the  human 
mind.  The  Essenes  laboured  under  the  influence  of  a  depressing 
superstition  ;  so  that,  whilst  they  were  scrupulously  attentive  to  the  de- 
mands of  justice  and  equity  in  regard  to  others,  they  appear  to  have 
altogether  overlooked  the  duties  which  men  owe  to  themselves.  Those 
of  them  who  were  distinguished  by  the  name  of  Therapeutic,  or  theo- 
retical Essenes,  were  a  race  of  men  who  resigned  themselves  entirely 
to  the  dictates  of  the  most  egregious  fanaticism  and  folly.  They  would 
engage  in  no  sort  of  business  or  employment  on  their  own  account;  nor 
would  they  be  instrumental  in  forwarding  the  interests  of  others.  In 
short,  they  appear  to  have  considered  themselves  as  released  from  every 
bond  by  which  human  society  is  held  together,  and  at  liberty  to  act  in 
direct  opposition  to  almost  every  principle  of  moral  discipline. 

It  cannot  therefore  excite  any  reasonable  surprise  that,  owing  to  the 
various  causes  which  we  have  thus  enumerated,  the  great  mass  of  the 
Jewish  people  were,  at  the  period  of  the  birth  of  Jesus  Christ,  sunk  in 
the  most  profound  ignorance  as  to  divine  things  ;  and  the  nation,  for 
the  most  part,  devoted  to  a  flagitious  and  dissolute  course  of  life.  That 
such  was  the  miserable  state  of  degradation  into  which  this  highly 
privileged  people  had  fallen,  is  incontestibly  proved  by  the  history  of 
our  Lord's  life,  and  the  tenour  of  his  discourses  and  conversations 
which  he  condescended  to  address  to  them.  Hence  his  comparison  of 
the  teachers  among  them  to  blind  guides,  who  professed  to  instruct 
others  in  a  way  with  which  they  were  totally  unacquainted  themselves  ; 
and  the  multitude  to  a  flock  of  lost  sheep,  wandering  without  a  shep- 
herd.     Matt.  xv.  14.     John  ix.  39.     Matt.  x.  6.  and  ch.  xv.  24. 

In  addition  to  what  has  been  already  said  respecting  the  sources  of 
error  and  corruption  among  the  Jews,  we  have  still  further  to  remark, 
that,  at  the  time  of  Christ's  appearance,  numbers  among  them  had  im- 
bibed the  principles  of  the  Oriental  philosophy  respecting  the  origin  of 
the  world,  and  were  much  addicted  to  the  study  of  a  mystical  sort  of 
learning  to  which  they  gave  the  name  of  Cabbala* 

*  For  a  very  ingenious  and  interesting  account  of  the  Cabbala,  the  reader  is 
referred  to  Mr.  Allen's  Modem  Judaism,  ch.  v.  p.  65. 


HISTORY 


THE     CHRISTIAN    CHURCH. 


CHAPTER  I. 


A  VIEW  OF  THE  RISE  AND  PROGRESS  OF  CHRISTIANITY,  FROM  THE  BIRTH 
OF  JESUS  CHRIST  TO  THE  CLOSE  OF  THE  FIRST  CENTURY. 


SECTION  I. 

FROM  THE  BIRTH  TO  THE  DEATH  OF  CHRIST. 

The  kingdom  of  the  Messiah  forms  an  important  article  in  the  writ- 
ings of  the  Hebrew  prophets.  Those  holy  men  who,  from  time  to 
time,  were  raised  up  to  exercise  their  ministry  in  the  Jewish  church, 
had  foretold  the  advent  of  this  illustrious  personage,  and  described,  in 
the  most  glowing  colours,  the  majesty  of  his  character,  the  extent  and 
perpetuity  of  his  empire,  the  blessings  of  his  government,  and  the  hap- 
piness which  his  subjects  should  enjoy  under  his  mild  and  gentle  reign. 
Accordingly,  the  chosen  tribes,  throughout  successive  ages,  anticipated 
his  appearance  with  eager  expectation.* 

It  was  a  custom  among  the  eastern  monarchs,  when  entering  upon 
an  expedition,  to  send  harbingers  before  them  to  announce  their  ap- 
proach, and  prepare  for  their  reception.  Isaiah  had  taught  the  Jews  to 
expect  that  such  also  should  be  the  case  with  their  promised  Messiah  ; 
that  he  should  be  preceded  by  "  the  voice  of  one  crying  in  the  wilder- 
ness, Prepare  ye  the  way  of  the  Lord,  make  straight  in  the  desert  a 
highway  for  our  God.  Every  valley  shall  be  exalted,  and  every  moun- 
tain and  hill  shall  be  made  low,  and  the  crooked  shall  be  made  straight, 
and  the  rough  places  plain ;  and  the  glory  of  the  Lord  shall  be  reveal- 
ed, and  all  flesh  shall  see  it  together,  for  the  mouth  of  Jehovah  hath 
spoken  it."t 

In  conformity  with  this  prediction,  the  sacred  historian  informs  us 
that  the  joyful  intelligence  of  the  Messiah's  immediate  appearance  was 

2  Sam.  vii.  11 — 16.     Psal.  ii.  8.  and  xxii.  27.  and  lxxii.  passim,  and  lxxxix. 
19 — 36.     Isa.  ix.  6,  7.  and  chap.  xi.  1 — 9.  chap.  lx.     Jer.  xxiii.  5,  6.  chap,  xxxiii. 
15.  adjinem.     Dan.  ii.  44.  and  chap.   vii.  14. 
f  Isa.  xl.  3. 


36  History  of  the  Christian  Church. 

announced,  in  the  fifteenth  year  of  the  reign  of  the  Roman  emperor 
Tiberius,  by  the  preaching  of  John  the  Baptist  in  the  wilderness  of 
Judea.* 

The  leading  object  of  John's  ministry  was  to  proclaim  the  kingdom 
of  heaven  at  hand;  in  virtue  of  which  he  called  upon  all  who  heard 
him,  to  repent  and  to  be  baptized  for  the  remission  of  their  sins  ; 
whilst  the  testimony  that  he  bore  to  the  character  of  his  divine  Master, 
was  the  most  honourable  that  can  be  conceived. t 

The  Jewish  Sanhedrim,  hearing  of  his  fame,  sent  to  interrogate  him, 
whether  he  were  the  promised  Messiah;  and  if  not,  to  inform  them 
what  he  professed  himself  to  be.  John  immediately  directed  their  at- 
tention to  the  prophecy  of  Isaiah,  declaring  that  he  was  merely  the 
herald  of  his  Sovereign — "  the  voice  of  one  crying  in  the  wilderness, 
Prepare  ye  the  way  of  Jehovah." — That  there  stood  among  them,  one 
whom  they  knew  not,  whose  character  was  infinitely  more  dignified 
than  his  own — one  who,  though  he  came  after  him,  was  preferred  be- 
fore him,  and  so  much  his  superior,  that  he  considered  himself  not 
worthy  to  loose  even  the  latchet  of  his  shoe.J 

When  Jesus  had  attained  the  age  of  thirty,  the  period  of  life  at 
which  the  priests  entered  upon  their  ministrations  in  the  temple,  and 
was  about  to  commence  his  public  ministry,  he  was  solemnly  inau- 
gurated in  his  sacred  office  by  means  of  the  ordinance  of  baptism,  ad- 
ministered by  the  hands  of  his  fore-runner.  Impressed  with  senti- 
ments of  the  most  profound  veneration  for  his  Lord,  John  hesitated, 
saying,  "  I  have  need  to  be  baptized  of  thee,  and  comest  thou  to  me?" 
Jesus,  however,  reminded  him,  that  there  was  a  necessity  for  this — 
that  his  baptism  was  to  serve  as  an  emblematical  figure  of  the  manner 
in  which  he  was  to  accomplish  the  work  of  human  redemption:  for  as 
in  baptism  the  individual  is  buried  under,  and  raised  again  from  the 
water,  even  so  it  became  him  to  fulfil  all  righteousness,  by  dying  for 
the  sins  of  his  people,  and  rising  again  for  their  justification.  This  be- 
ing, accordingly,  transacted  in  a  figure,  the  evangelist  informs  us,  that 
"  the  heavens  were  opened,  and  the  Spirit  of  God  descending  like  a 
dove,  alighted  upon  Jesus,  and  a  voice  was  heard  from  heaven,  declar- 
ing, "  This  is  my  beloved  Son,  in  whom  I  am  well  pleased. "§ 

The  ministry  of  Jesus,  which  continued  during  a  period  of  three 
years,  was  restricted  to  the  benefit  of  the  Jewish  nation.  The  writer 
of  the  Acts  of  the  Apostles  sums  it  up  in  two  words,  "  He  did  and 
taught."||  He  went  about  all  Galilee  "  teaching  in  their  synagogues, 
and  preaching  the  gospel  of  the  kingdom,  healing  all  manner  of  sickness 
and  all  manner  of  disease  among  the  people. "^f  His  doctrine  compre- 
hended the  nature  and  perfections  of  God — the  misery  of  fallen  man — a 
declaration  of  his  own  character  as  the  Son  of  God  and  promised 
Messiah — the  design  of  his  mission  into  this  world,  which  was  to  seek 
and  save  the  lost,  to  give  his  life  a  ransom  for  many,  and  call  sinners 
to  repentance — the  immortality  of  the  soul — the  resurrection  from  the 
dead— the  certainty  of  a  future  state  of  rewards  and  punishments — that 

*  Luke  iii.  1.  f  Mat.  iii.  1.  *  John  i.  19—27. 

§  Mat.  iii.  13— 17.  |  Acts  i.  1.  U  Matt.  iv.  53. 


The  Ministry  of  Jesus  Christ.  37 

he  was  appointed  of  God  to  judge  the  world  in  righteousness  at  the 
last  day ;  and,  finally,  the  gracious  promise,  that  whosoever  believeth 
the  divine  testimony  concerning  himself  shall  not  perish,  but  have 
everlasting  life.* 

In  his  doctrine  he  rescued  the  moral  law  from  the  false  glosses 
imposed  upon  it  by  the  Scribes  and  Pharisees  ;  unfolded  its  spiritual- 
ity and  extent,  as  requiring  perfect  love  to  God  and  man  ;  and  enforced 
its  indispensable  obligation  upon  all  men  as  the  rule  of  their  correspon- 
dence with  God  ;  declaring  that  he  himself  came  not  to  abrogate  or  an- 
nul one  tittle,  but  to  fulfil  its  utmost  requirements,  by  his  own  obedi- 
ence and  conformity  thereunto,  and  adopting  it  as  the  unalterable  law 
of  his  kingdom,  which  is  to  regulate  the  conduct  of  his  disciples  to  the 
end  of  time.t 

The  fame  of  this  divine  teacher  soon  spread  "  throughout  all  Sy- 
ria, and  "multitudes  of  people  from  Galilee,  from  Deeapolis,  from  Je- 
rusalem, from  all  parts  of  Judea,  and  even  from  beyond  Jordan,  resort- 
ed to  him  to  hear  his  discourses  and  be  healed  of  their  infirmities. "± 
The  miracles  which  he  wrought  from  time  to  time,  were  the  fullest  at- 
testation of  his  mission  that  could  possibly  be  given;  for  they  demon- 
strated that  "  God  was  with  him."§  They  were  performed  at  his  word, 
in  an  instant,  on  persons  both  near  and  at  a  distance;  they  were  done 
by  him  in  the  most  public  and  open  manner — at  Jerusalem  and  in  every 
part  of  Judea  and  Galilee— in  cities,  in  villages,  in  synagogues,  in  pri- 
vate houses,    in  the  public  streets,  and  in  the  high-ways,  in  the  fields, 
and  in  the  wilderness— upon  Jews  and  Gentiles— before   Scribes  and 
Pharisees  and  rulers  of  the  synagogues— not  only  when  he  was  attend- 
ed by  few  persons,  but  when  surrounded  by  great  multitudes— and  in 
a  word,  before  men  of  every  diversity  of  character.     They  were   in 
themselves  of  such  a  nature  as  to  bear  the  strictest  examination,  and 
they  had  every  thing  about  them  which  could  possibly  distincmish  them 
from  the  delusions  of  enthusiasm,  and  the  artifices  of  imposture.     Ac- 
cordingly we  find  him  appealing  to  them  with  all  the  confidence  of  an 
upright  mind,  fully  impressed  with  a  consciousness  of  their  truth  and 
reality.     The  appeal   was   short,   simple,  and  decisive.     He  seldom 
reasoned  on  either  their  nature  or  design,  but  generally  pointed  to  them 
as  plain   and  indubitable  facts,   which  spake  their  own  meanino-  and 
carried  with  them  their  own  authority.     They  were  too  publico  be 
suspected  of  imposture  ;  and  being  the  objects  of  sense,  they  were  se- 
cured against  the  charge  of  enthusiasm.      They  had  no  disguise,  and 
were,  in  a  variety  of  instances,  of  such  a  nature  as  to  preclude  the  very 
possibility  of  collusion.     They  were  performed  m  the  midst  of  his 
bitterest  enemies,  and   were  so  palpable  and  certain  as  to  extort  from 
them   the  acknowledgment,  that  "  this  man  doth  many  miracles;  if  we 
let  him  thus  alone,  all  men  will  believe  on  him."|| 

An  inattentive  reader  of  the  evangelic  history  would  be  led  to  con- 
clude, from  the  accounts  that  are  given  us  of  the  multitudes  who  fol- 

*  John  iv.  24.  ch.  iii.3— 19.  Matt.  xvi.  26.  John  v.  27-29.   Mark  xvi.  15,  16, 

I  «m  •    ,V-  J1,  VU-  *  Matt  iv"  24>  25-  §  Acts  x.  38. 

I  White's  Sermons  at  Bampton's  Lectures. 

4 


38  History  of  the  Christian  Church. 

lowed  Jesus,  that  the  number  of  his  disciples  was  immense.  But  we 
have  frequent  intimations  of  the  fallacy  of  implicitly  trusting  to  appear- 
ances in  these  things.  Were  we  to  consider  only  the  interesting  nature 
of  his  doctrine,  the  wisdom  and  energy  with  which  it  was  delivered, 
and  the  stupendous  works  of  supernatural  power  by  which  it  was 
accompanied — the  little  success  that  attended  it,  must  have  ever  remained 
a  source  of  perplexity  to  us  ;  but  the  problem  is  solved  by  admitting 
the  scriptural  account  of  the  depravity  of  the  human  mind,  its  aliena- 
tion from  God,  and  its  natural  enmity  against  his  truth.  The  reception 
which  the  Messiah  was  to  meet  with,  had  been  described  by  an  ancient 
prophet  in  these  remarkable  Avords,  "  AVho  hath  believed  our  report, 
and  to  whom  is  the  arm  of  the  Lord  revealed  ?" — And  the  event  justi- 
fied the  prediction.  Some  k\v  indeed,  and  those  chiefly  from  among 
the  inferior  ranks  in  life,  believed  on  him  as  the  hope  of  Israel,  and 
found  in  him  all  their  salvation  and  desire  ;  and  while  his  claims  of 
being  the  Messiah  were  generally  set  at  naught  by  their  countrymen, 
they  could  say,  "  Lord,  to  whom  shall  we  go  ?  thou  hast  the  words  of 
eternal  life;  and  we  believe  and  are  sure,  that  thou  art  the  Christ,  the 
Son  of  the  living  God."' 

From  among  these  latter,  Jesus  selected  twelve  whom  he  named 
apostles,  and  whom  he  qualified  and  sent  forth  to  preach  the  doctrine 
of  his  kingdom,  and  to  cure  diseases ;  and  sometime  afterwards  he 
appointed  seventy  others  also  to  labour  in  his  vineyard.  These  he  sent 
forth,  two  and  two,  into  every  city  and  place  to  which  he  himself  would 
come,  as  his  heralds,  announcing  his  approach,  and  calling  all  descrip- 
tions of  persons  to  repent  and  believe  the  gospel.t 

It  appears  from  the  testimony  of  ancient  historians,  that  about  the 
time  of  Christ's  appearing,  the  Jews  anxiously  expected  him  as  the 
great  deliverer  and  chief  ornament  of  their  nation  ;  and  even  among  the 
heathens  an  opinion  was  at  that  time  prevalent,  probably  derived  from 
the  Hebrew  prophets,  that  a  prince  of  unparalleled  glory  was  to  arise 
in  Judea,  who  was  to  found  a  kind  of  universal  monarchy.;):  But  in  the 
humble  appearance  of  Jesus  of  Nazareth,  the  Jews  found  nothing  that 
corresponded  to  the  expectations  they  entertained  on  this  subject. 
Their  vain  hearts,  like  those  of  the  generality  of  men  in  all  ages,  were 
so  intoxicated  with  the  admiration  of  worldly  pomp,  that  that  was  the 
only  greatness  for  which  they  had  any  relish  ;  and  hence  they  formed 
a  picture  of  him,  who  was  the  desire  of  all  nations,  very  unlike  the 
original.  Nor  was  the  doctrine  which  he  inculcated  more  suited  to 
their  taste,  than  his  personal  appearance  answered  to  their  expecta- 
tions. For,  while  they  fostered  the  presumptuous  imagination,  that  in 
virtue  of  the  privileges  they  enjoyed  as  God's  covenanted  people,  and 
especially  as  being  the  descendants  of  Abraham,  they  had  a  peculiar 
claim  to  the  Divine  favour  and  to  all  the  blessings  of  their  Messiah's 
kingdom,  both  Jesus  and  his  forerunner  boldly  attacked  this  master- 
prejudice,  and  evinced  the  futility  of  every  such  plea.  They  were  now 
called  upon  to  give  up  the  erroneous  sentiments  which  they  entertained 

*  John  vi.  68,  69.  f  Luke  x.  1—16. 

\  Suetonius  in  vita  Vespasian),  ch.  1.     Taciti  Hist.  1.  v.  cap.  13. 


The  Ministry  of  Jesus  Christ.  39 

respecting  their  own  characters,  the  way  of  acceptance  with  God,  and 
the  nature  and  blessings  of  their  Messiah's  reign,  on  pain  of  incurring 
eternal  ruin.  For  whereas  they  expected  eternal  life  as  the  reward  of 
their  Jewish  privileges,  or  of  their  own  personal  righteousness,  they 
were  now  taught,  that  God  so  loved  the  world  as  to  give  his  only  be- 
gotten Son,  that  whosoever  believeth  in  him  should  not  perish,  but 
have  everlasting  life ;  that  the  Son  of  God  came  to  be  lifted  up  upon 
the  cross,  as  the  antitype  of  the  brazen  serpent  which  Moses  elevated 
in  the  wilderness,  that  whosoever,  not  of  the  Jews  only,  but  among  the 
Gentiles  also,  believed  in  him,  should  not  perish,  but  obtain  eternal 
life. 

And,  with  regard  to  the  nature  of  the  Messiah's  kingdom  the  doc- 
trines of  Jesus  were  equally  at  variance  with  their  fondest  hopes  ;  for, 
while  they  ardently  longed  for  the  accomplishment  of  the  promises 
which  God  had  made  unto  their  fathers  by  the  prophets,  they  seemed 
in  general  to  have  had  no  other  object  in  view  than  the  establishment 
of  a  temporal  monarchy,  like  the  other  kingdoms  of  this  world,  though 
doubtless  much  surpassing  them  in  all  its  extent  and  splendour.  Ac- 
cordingly, being  interrogated  by  their  leaders  "  when  the  kingdom  of 
God  should  come,"  Jesus  perceived  the  mistake  of  their  hearts,  and 
to  correct  it,  told  them  that  "  the  kingdom  of  God  cometh  not  Avith 
observation" — that  is,  it  did  not  at  all  resemble  the  kingdoms  of  this 
world — it  was  not  to  strike  the  senses  of  men  by  the  glare  of  worldly 
grandeur ;  for  as  it  is  wholly  spiritual,  consisting  in  righteousness,  peace, 
and  joy  in  the  Holy  Ghost,  he  added,  "  the  kingdom  of  God  is  within 
you."t  So  also  when  he  spake  to  them  concerning  their  bondage  to 
sin  and  vassalage  to  Satan,  the  god  of  this  world,  with  the  necessity  of 
being  set  free  from  this  spiritual  tyranny  before  they  could  participate 
of  the  liberty  of  the  sons  of  God,  they  resented  it  as  the  highest  insult 
that  could  be  offered  them;  "We  are  Abraham's  seed,"  say  they, 
"and  were  never  in  bondage  to  any  man;  how  sayest  thou,  ye  shall  be 
made  free.  "J 

If  we  keep  in  view  these  false  principles  by  which  the  minds  of  the 
Jewish  people  were  led  astray,  the  invincible  obstinacy  of  their  preju- 
dices, and  the  contrariety  of  the  doctrine  and  character  of  Jesus  thereto, 
we  shall  cease  to  wonder  at  the  issue  to  which  matters  were  ultimately 
reduced  between  them.  When  he  avowed  himself  to  be  the  Son  of 
God,  and  claimed  equality  with  the  Most  High,  they  resisted  his  pre- 
tensions and  accused  him  of  blasphemy.  And  when  he  acknowledged 
his  regal  character,  they  charged  him  with  treason  against  the  Roman 
government.  On  these  grounds  they  demanded  his  death,  and  "  the 
voice  of  them  and  the  chief  priests  prevailed. "§ 

It  cannot  be  necessary  to  pursue  this  part  of  the  narrative  in  detail, 
since  the  result  must  be  familiar  to  every  Christian.  "  They  that 
dwelt  at  Jerusalem  and  their  rulers,  because  they  knew  him  not,  nor 
yet  the  voices  of  the  prophets  which  were  read  every  Sabbath-day, — 
they  fulfilled  them  in  condemning  him;  and  though  they  found  no 
cause  of  death  in  him,  yet  desired  they  Pilate  that  he  should  be  slain ; 

*  John  iii.  16,  17.      f  Luke  xvii.  20,  21.     $  John  viii.     §  Luke  xxiii.  23. 


40  History  of  the  Christian  Church. 

and  when  they  had  fulfilled  all  that  was  written  of  him,  they  took  him 
down  from  the  tree  and  laid  him  in  a  sepulchre.     But  God  raised  him 

FROM  THE  DEAD."* 


SECTION  II. 


THE  SUBJECT  CONTINUED. 

FROM  THE  RESURRECTION  OF  CHRIST  TO  THE  PROMULGATION  OF  THE  GOS- 
PEL AMONG  THE  GENTILES. 

The  resurrection  of  Jesus  is  an  article  of  such  importance  in  the 
system  of  Christianity,  that,  like  the  key-stone  in  the  arch  of  the  build- 
ing, it  is  emphatically  that  which  supports  the  whole  superstructure. 
"  If  Christ  be  not  risen,"  says  the  apostle,  "  then  is  our  preaching  vain, 
and  your  faith  is  also  vain :  yea,  and  we  are  found  false  witnesses  of 
God."t  That  the  Messiah  should  rise  again  from  the  dead,  was  an 
event  clearly  predicted  in  ancient  prophecy  ;}  and  Jesus  himself  repeat- 
edly foretold  both  the  fact  of  his  rising,  and  the  day  on  which  it  should 
happen,  not  only  to  his  disciples  but  to  his  enemies  also,  and  even  rest- 
ed the  evidence  of  his  divine  mission  upon  that  event.§  Of  the  truth 
and  certainty  of  his  resnrrRO.tinn,  Ihpn,  the  apostles  were  witnesses,  and 
they  were  every  way  qualified  for  substantiating  the  fact.  "  He  was 
seen  by  them  alive,  after  his  crucifixion.  It  was  not  one  person,  but 
many  who  saw  him.  They  saw  him  not  only  separately  but  together, 
not  only  by  night  but  by  day,  not  at  a  distance  but  near,  not  once  only 
but  several  times.  They  not  only  saw  him  but  touched  him,  conversed 
with  him,  ate  with  him,  examined  his  person  to  remove  their  doubts. "[| 
— 4>He  showed  himself  alive  to  them  after  his  passion  by  many  infalli- 
ble signs,  being  seen  of  them  forty  days,"  during  which  time  "he 
spake  to  them  concerning  the  kingdom  of  God,"^[  which  they  were  to 
be  employed  in  setting  up  in  the  world. 

To  qualify  them  for  this  vast  achievement  he  had  promised  to  pour 
down  upon  them  the  Holy  Spirit,  the  promise  of  the  Father,  and  di- 
rected them  to  wait  at  Jerusalem  until  they  were  endued  with  power 
from  on  high.  When  thus  fitted  for  their  work,  they  were  enjoined  to 
"  go  and  teach  all  nations,"  or  proclaim  to  them  the  glad  tidings  of  sal- 
vation, to  baptize  all  who  believed  the  gospel,  and  then  further  to  in- 
struct them  in  all  his  commands.**  In  doing  this,  they  were  to  be  wit- 
nesses for  him  both  in  Jerusalem  and  in  all  Judea,  and  in  Samaria,  and 
unto  the  uttermost  parts  of  the  earth.tt    Thus  having  delivered  to  them 

•  Acts  xiii.  27—30.  f  1  Cor.  xv.  14—19. 

\  Psal.  ii.     Psal.  xvi.  10, 11.     Isa.  liii.  10.— 12. 

§See  Matt.  xvi.  21.  and  xvii.  23.  and  xx.  19.  alsoxii.  38.  John  ii.  18— :20.  and 
X.  17.  and  viii.  28.  also  Matt.xxvii    53. 

||  Paley'a  Evidences  of  Christianity,  vol.  ii.  ch.  8.  If  Acts  i.  3. 

""  Luke  xxiv.  19.— Acts  i.  4.       '     ff  Matt,  xxviii.  19,  20.     Mark  xvi.  16. 


Effusion  of  the  Holy  Spirit.  41 

Iiis  last  injunctions,  he  led  them  out  as  far  as  Bethany,  where  he  lifted 
up  his  hands  and  blessed  them,  and  while  engaged  in  the  very  act  of 
benediction,  he  was  parted  from  them  and  carried  up  into  heaven,  a 
cloud  receiving  him  out  of  their  sight.* 

When  the  seventh  Sabbath  from  the  passover  was  completely  ended, 
and  the  next  day  or  first  day  of  the  week  fully  come,  that  is,  fifty  days 
after  Christ's  resurrection,  and  ten  days  after  his  ascension,  the  apostles, 
with  the  hundred  and  twenty  disciples,  were  all  assembled  together  with 
one  accord,  agreeably  to  their  stated  practice.!  "  And  suddenly  there 
came  a  sound  from  heaven  as  of  a  rushing  mighty  wind,  and  it  filled  all 
the  house  where  they  were  sitting.  And  there  appeared  unto  them 
cloven  tongues,  like  as  of  fire,  sitting  upon  each  of  them ;  and  they 
were  all  filled  with  the  Holy  Ghost,  and  began  to  speak  with  other 
tongues  as  the  Spirit  gave  them  utterance. "J 

Such  is  the  account  given  to  us  by  the  Spirit  of  inspiration  concern- 
ing this  extraordinary  interposition  of  heaven,  and  the  effects  which  it 
produced  upon  the  apostles  were  certainly  of  the  most  stupendous  kind. 
For,  it  is  evident,  that  a  flood  of  light  now  broke  in  upon  their  minds, 
as  it  were  instantaneously,  instructing  them  in  the  meaning  of  the  pro- 
phetical writings,  far  beyond  what  they  had  hitherto  attained ;  removing 
the  films  of  prejudice  which  clouded  their  understandings,  and  leading 
them  into  just  views  of  the  spiritual  and  heavenly  nature  of  their  Lord's 
kingdom.  Upon  many  occasions,  during  his  personal  intercourse  with 
them,  they  had  discovered  strong  prejudices  in  favour  of  a  worldly 
kingdom,  and  slowness  of  heart  to  believe  all  that  the  prophets  had 
written :  and  even  when  their  Lord  had  risen  from  the  dead,  and  was 
about  to  ascend  into  heaven,  they  asked  him,  "  Wilt  thou  at  this  time 
restore  again  the  kingdom  to  Israel ?"§  But  the  illumination  which 
now  filled  their  minds,  removed  their  ignorance,  rectified  their  misap- 
prehensions, and  conformed  their  views  to  the  scope  of  all  the  prophets, 
as  well  as  to  the  doctrine  which  they  had  received  from  the  lips  of 
Christ  himself. 

It  is  also  manifest  that  this  effusion  of  the  Holy  Spirit  had  an  amaz- 
ing effect  upon  the  apostles  in  animating  them  with  a  spirit  of  power, 
magnanimity,  and  zeal  in  their  master's  service.  While  he  was  yet 
with  them,  we  may  trace  in  their  history  numerous  marks  of  timidity 
and  weakness  under  the  anticipation  of  danger.  Such  were  their  ef- 
forts to  prevent  his  going  into  Judea:  and  their  forsaking  him  at  the 
time  of  his  apprehension ;  on  which  occasion,  it  is  recorded  that  they 
all  forsook  him  and  fled ;  even  Peter,  the  most  intrepid  among  them, 
denied  that  he  knew  him.  But  what  a  revolution  took  place  in  their 
conduct  in  this  respect  after  the  day  of  pentecost.  We  behold  them 
inspired  with  fortitude  and  resolution  to  declare  their  testimony  before 
magistrates  and  rulers,  regardless  of  personal  danger,  and  even  "  re- 
joicing that  they  were  counted  worthy  to  suffer  shame  for  his  sake." 

But  the  most  astonishing  effect  of  all  was,  that  they  were  hereby 
qualified  for  speaking  various  languages  which  they  had  never  learned, 

*  Lukexxiv.  50,  51.— Acts  i.  8.     f  John  xx.  19—26.    Acts  ii.  1.   1  Cor.  xvi.  1,  2. 
t  Acts  ii.  2—4.  §  Acts  i.  6. 

4* 


42  History  of  the  Christian  Church. 

thus  making  known  their  message  to  men  of  all  nations  under  heaven, 
and  confirming  its  truth  by  performing  such  miraculous  works  as  were 
an  evident  indication  that  God  was  with  them.  This  indeed  was  in 
perfect  consistency  with  Christ's  promise  to  them  when  he  said,  "  In 
my  name  shall  they  cast  out  devils  ;  they  shall  speak  with  new  tongues ; 
they  shall  take  up  serpents  ;  and  if  they  drink  any  deadly  thing  it  shall 
not  hurt  them ;  they  shall  lay  hands  on  the  sick,  and  they  shall  re- 
cover." An  occurrence  so  remote  from  the  common  course  of  nature, 
we  may  readily  suppose,  would  produce  an  astonishing  sensation  upon 
those  who  were  witnesses  of  it.  The  sudden  ability  of  so  many  rude 
and  illiterate  Galileans,  to  speak  perfectly  in  all  languages — to  express 
themselves  with  propriety  and  force,  so  as  not  only  to  be  clearly  un- 
derstood, but  to  impress  the  consciences  of  the  hearers,  was  a  pheno- 
menon which  carried  with  it  a  proof  of  Divine  interposition  too  incon- 
testible  to  admit  of  a  rational  doubt.  Those  who  first  observed  it  spake 
of  it  to  others,  and  a  rumour  spread  abroad.  Jerusalem  was  at  the 
moment  the  resort  of  Jews  and  Jewish  proselytes  dispersed  throughout 
the  various  parts  of  the  Roman  empire,  and  multitudes  had  come  from 
different  countries  to  celebrate  the  feast.  The  promiscuous  throng,  who 
were  collected  by  so  strange  a  report,  and  had  been  accustomed  to  dif- 
ferent languages,  were  therefore  greatly  astonished  to  hear  them  declare, 
each  one  in  his  own  tongue,  the  wonderful  works  of  God.  AVhile 
some  expressed  their  surprise  at  this,  others  ascribed  it  to  the  effects  of 
wine.  This  weak  and  perverse  slander  was,  however,  immediately 
refuted  by  the  apostle  Peter,  who,  standing  up  with  the  other  eleven 
apostles,  lifted  up  his  voice  and  said  unto  them  : — "  Ye  men  of  Judea, 
and  all  ye  that  dwell  at  Jerusalem,  be  this  known  unto  you,  that  these 
are  not  drunken  as  ye  suppose,  seeing  it  is  but  the  third  hour  of  the 
day* — but  this  is  that  which  is  spoken  by  the  prophet  Joel."t  He 
then  quotes  the  words  of  Jehovah  in  which  he  had  promised  to  pour 
out  his  Spirit  upon  all  flesh — attended  with  the  most  awful  denuncia- 
tions against  those  who  should  despise  it,  but  with  a  gracious  promise 
of  salvation  to  all  that  should  call  upon  the  name  of  the  Lord.  The 
illustration  of  this  remarkable  prophecy,  and  its  application  to  what 
was  now  obvious  to  all  their  senses,  paved  the  way  for  the  apostle's 
drawing  their  attention  to  the  great  subject  of  his  ministry,  the  death 
and  resurrection  of  Jesus  of  Nazareth,  whom  they  had  taken  and  by 
wicked  hands  had  crucified  and  slain. 

The  Holy  Spirit  gave  energy  to  this  doctrine.  Like  a  torrent,  it 
bore  down  all  the  vain  imaginations  and  presumptuous  reasonings  by 
which  the  minds  of  his  hearers  were  fortified ;  it  reached  conviction  to 
their  consciences  ;  so  that,  like  men  frantic  with  despair,  they  ciied  out 
in  the  anguish  of  their  hearts,  "  Men  and  brethren,  what  shall  we 
do  ?"  To  persons  reduced  to  this  extremity,  conscious  that  they  had 
been  imbruing  their  hands  in  the  blood  of  the  Son  of  God,  how  un- 
speakably welcome  must  have  been  the  words  of  the  apostle,  "  Repent, 
and  be  baptized  every  one  of  you  in  the  name  of  Jesus  Christ  for  the 
.remission  of  sins,  and  ye  shall  receive  the  Holy  Ghost;   for  the  pro- 

*  Corresponding  to  our  nine  in  the  morning'.  f  Acts  ii.  14 — 16. 


The  Church  at  Jerusalem.  43 

mise  is  to  you  and  your  children,  and  to  all  that  are  afar  off,  even  to  ag 
many  as  the  Lord  our  God  shall  call."* 

This  divine  declaration  of  mercy,  to  men  in  the  situation  of  these 
convicted  Jews,  pricked  to  the  heart  with  a  consciousness  of  their  guilt 
and  overwhelmed  with  despair,  must  have  heen  like  life  from  the  dead. 
Three  thousand  of  them  joyfully  received  the  apostle's  doctrine,  were 
baptized,  and  the  same  day  added  to  the  number  of  disciples  that  already 
existed  in  Jerusalem. 

And  here  we  contemplate  the  beginning  of  the  establishment  of 
Christ's  kingdom  in  the  world  ;  or,  which  is  the  same  thing,  the  erec- 
tion of  the  first  Christian  church.  But  before  proceeding  further,  it 
may  not  be  improper  to  pause,  and  endeavour  to  trace  out  a  concise 
description  of  it  in  a  few  leading  particulars. 

When  Jesus  was  interrogated  by  the  Roman  governor  concerning  his 
claim  to  royalty,  he  replied  that  his  kingdom  teas  not  of  this  world  ; 
and  in  the  church  of  Jerusalem  we  see  the  truth  of  this  exemplified. 
We  there  behold  a  company  of  self-condemned  sinners,  who  under  the 
impending  wrath  of  heaven  had  fled  for  refuge  to  the  mercy  of  God, 
freely  proclaimed  to  them  in  the  gospel  of  salvation.  They  were  per- 
sons who  believed  what  these  inspired  witnesses  testified  concerning 
the  mission,  the  character,  the  sufferings,  death,  resurrection,  and  as- 
cension into  heaven  of  the  Son  of  God  ;  and  who,  under  all  their  accu- 
mulated guilt  and  wretchedness,  found  enough  in  these  things  to  en- 
courage their  hope  of  forgiveness,  and  even  fill  their  souls  with  peace 
and  joy.  The  gospel  which  the  apostles  preached,  was  that  which 
exactly  suited  their  case — it  contained  no  rules  or  directions  about  what 
they  should  do  in  order  to  atone  for  their  deep  and  aggravated  guilt ;  for 
they  found  all  that  was  necessary  to  satisfy  the  most  troubled  con- 
science in  the  doctrine  concerning  the  Son  of  God,  as  delivered  for  the 
offences  of  the  guilty  and  raised  again  for  their  justification. 

Hence  we  see  that,  in  obedience  to  his  command,  "  those  who  gladly 
received  the  truth,  were  baptized"  in  the  name  of  the  Lord  Jesus.  In 
this  ordinance  they  confessed  their  faith  in  him  as  the  Son  of  God,  who 
died  for  their  sins,  was  buried,  and  rose  again  the  third  day  ;  publicly 
professing  that  all  their  hope  of  salvation  centered  in  these  things. 
They  separated  themselves  from  "  an  untoward  generation  ;"  and  "  all 
that  believed  were  together."  They  received  from  the  apostles  the 
various  ordinances  of  public  worship,  the  apostles'  doctrine,  the  fellow- 
ship, the  breaking  of  bread,  and  the  ordinances  of  prayer  and  praise  ; 
and  in  these  things  they  continued  steadfastly,  having  favour  with  all 
the  people  and  receiving  into  their  number,  from  time  to  time,  such  in- 
dividuals as  it  pleased  the  Lord  to  call  to  the  knowledge  of  the  truth. 

The  doctrine  which  they  believed,  and  in  which  they  found  all  their 
happiness  and  joy,  was  the  common  bond  of  union  among  them.  They 
loved  one  another  for  the  truth's  sake,  which  dwelt  mutually  in  them. 
To  this  they  were  naturally  attached,  as  being  the  common  centre  of 
their  hope  and  joy  ;  and  it  prompted  them  to  take  a  lively  interest  in 
each  other's  spiritual  welfare.     Having  experienced  much  forgiveness 

*  Acts  ii.  38. 


44  History  of  the  Christian  Church. 

at  the  hands  of  God,  they  were  influenced  to  love  much.  And  this  love 
was  not  an  inactive,  dormant  principle  in  them,  for  it  manifested  itself 
in  the  most  substantial  acts  of  kindness  and  liberality.  "  There  were 
none  among  them  that  lacked ;  for  as  many  as  were  possessed  of  lands 
or  houses  sold  them,  and  laid  the  amount  down  at  the  apostles'  feet, 
and  distribution  was  made  according  as  every  man  had  need."*  It  is 
evident,  therefore,  that  they  were  not  connected  together  by  any  of 
those  ties  which  constitute  the  spring  of  action  in  the  kingdoms  of  this 
world.  In  men  actuated  by  such  noble  and  disinterested  principles, 
human  policy  could  have  no  place.  Their  fears,  their  hopes,  their  joys, 
and  their  sorrows,  were  all  of  a  spiritual  and  heavenly  tendency ;  and 
they  were  animated  by  one  object  of  pursuit,  the  attainment  of  that 
glory,  honour,  and  immortality,  promised  them  by  the  Lord  Jesus. 

Thus  was  the  kingdom  of  Christ  established  with  all  possible  evidence 
that  it  was  not  of  this  world.  What  laws  were  given  were  of  Divine 
origin  and  authority, — they  were  held  superior  to  all  other  laws.  We 
ought,  say  the  servants  of  Jesus,  to  obey  God  rather  than  man. 
What  power  appeared,  was  the  power  of  God  working  in  a  miraculous 
manner,  and  with  a  supernatural  efficacy.  The  design  of  this  extraor- 
dinary interposition  was  not  to  restore  again  the  kingdom  to  Israel, 
or  to  bestow  the  honours  and  the  riches  of  the  world  on  the  followers 
of  Christ;  but  to  deliver  them  from  the  present  evil  world,  and  save 
them  from  perishing  in  the  destruction  that  awaits  it.  So  far  were  they 
from  being  allowed  the  hope  of  reigning  in  this  life,  that  they  were  as- 
sured of  being  exposed  to  poverty,  contempt,  and  every  form  of  perse- 
cution. Neither  their  principles  nor  their  practices  were  conformable 
to  this  world ;  nor  were  their  hopes  or  fears  to  be  engaged  by  the  con- 
cerns of  it ;  but  they  were  to  wait  for  the  return  of  the  Lord  Jesus 
Christ,  and  expect  to  reign  with  him  in  glory. 

If  this  be  a  just  representation  of  the  church  or  kingdom  of  Christ  as 
it  appeared  in  its  establishment,  it  is  manifest  that,  wherever  we  trace 
it  in  subsequent  periods,  we  must  find  something  that  resembles  it  in 
its  leading  features.  We  shall  discern  a  people,  holding  the  same  views 
of  the  character  and  work  of  the  Saviour,  owning  subjection  to  him  as 
the  king  whom  God  hath  set  upon  his  holy  hill  of  Zion ;  evincing  their 
allegiance  to  him  by  an  implicit  obedience  to  his  laws,  institutions,  and 
ordinances;  and  discarding  the  doctrines  and  commandments  of  men. 
As  the  church  at  Jerusalem  was  the  first  Christian  church  established 
by  the  ministry  of  the  apostles,  so  it  was  designed  to  serve  as  a  pattern, 
in  its  faith  and  order,  to  all  succeeding  churches,  to  the  end  of  the  world. 
It  was  constituted  under  the  direction  of  the  twelve  inspired  apostles, 
who  for  a  course  of  time  acted  as  the  elders,  bishops,  or  overseers  of 
the  flock  of  Christ,  took  up  their  station  in  it,  and  under  Divine  direc- 
tion, gave  forth  the  law  to  regulate  the  practices  of  all  other  churches  : 
for  out  of  Zion  was  to  go  forth  the  law  and  the  word  of  the  Lord  from 
Jerusalem.* 

Having  briefly  glanced  at  this  heavenly  kingdom  in  its  first  establish- 
ment, and  seen  its  origin,  nature,  laws,  immunities,  and  the  character 

•  Acts  iv.  34.  *  Acts  xv.  6,  22—29.     Isa.  ii.  2. 


Peter  and  John  visit  the  Temple.  45 

of  its  subjects,  I  now  proceed  to  trace  its  subsequent  history,  agreeably 
to  the  account  given  of  it  by  the  prophet  Daniel.  "  And  in  the  days 
of  these  kings  shall  the  God  of  Heaven  set  up  a  kingdom,  which  shall 
never  be  destroyed;  and  the  kingdom  shall  not  be  left  to  other  people, 
but  it  shall  break  in  pieces  and  consume  all  other  kingdoms ;  and  it  shall 
stand  for  ever."     Dan.  ii.  44. 

The  success  which  attended  the  first  publication  of  the  gospel,  is 
very  beautifully  described  in  the  Book  of  the  Revelation,  ch.  vi.  1,  2,  by  a 
vision  which  the  apostle  had  of  the  Lamb,  opening  the  first  seal. 
"And  I  saw,"  says  he,  "and  behold  a  white  horse;  and  he  that  sat 
on  him  had  a  bow,  and  a  crown  was  given  unto  him,  and  he  went  forth 
conquering  and  to  conquer."  The  history  of  the  apostles  and  first 
preachers  affords  a  striking  comment  on  these  words,  at  the  same  time 
that  it  illustrates  to  us  an  ancient  prediction  concerning  the  Messiah  ;* 
for  now  we  see  the  standard  of  Christ  first  erected  as  an  ensign  to  the 
nations  ;  from  hence  went  forth  the  rod  of  his  strength,  by  which  he 
ruled  in  the  midst  of  his  enemies,  and  (from  that  time,  or)  in  that  day 
of  his  power,  the  willing  nations  submitted  to  him  cheerfully,  and 
"numerous  as  drops  of  morning  clew." 

Among  the  Jews  there  were  daily  three  stated  hours  of  prayer,  at 
which  time  some  went  up  to  the  temple,  and  others  prayed  in  their 
own  houses  with  their  faces  directed  towards  the  temple.     The  first 
of  these  stated  times  of  devotion  was  at  nine  in  the  morning,  which 
was  the  time  of  their  offering  the  lamb  for  the  morning  sacrifice ;  the 
second  at  twelve  at  noon,  called  by  them  the  time  of  the  great  meat-of- 
fering ;  and  the  third,  at  three  in  the  afternoon,  when  they  offered  the 
lamb  for  the  evening  sacrifice.     Two  of  the  apostles,  viz.  Peter  and 
John,  going  up  together  into  the  temple,  on  one  of  these  occasions, 
were  addressed  by  a  poor  cripple,  who  solicited  alms  from  them.     The 
man  had  been  lame  from  his  infancy,  and  was  carried  daily  to  the  gate 
of  the  temple,  where  he  importuned  the  alms  of  the  worshippers  as  they 
passed  him.     The  apostles  fixing  their  eyes  upon  him,  demanded  his 
attention  to  what  they  were  about  to  say ;  assured  him  that  silver  and 
gold  they  had  none,  but  that  such  as  they  had  they  were  ready  to  com- 
municate, adding,  "In  the  name  of  Jesus  Christ  of  Nazareth,  rise  up 
and  walk.t"     The  power  of  the  glorified  'Saviour  gave  energy  to  the 
word  of  his  servants.     Peter  took  him  by  the  hand  and  lifted  him  up  ; 
his  feet  and  ancle  bones  received  strength,  and  the  invalid  was  in  an 
instant  restored  to  the  entire  and  perfect  exercise  of  his  limbs.     Wonder 
and  amazement  seized  the  minds  of  the  spectators  of  this  miracle ;  the 
people  collected  together  in  vast  concourse  around  the  apostles  in  Solo- 
mon's porch,  "greatly  wondering"  at  what  had  taken  place,  but  wholly 
unable  to  account  for  it.     Peter  seized  the  opportunity,  a  most  favour- 
able one  unquestionably,  to  draw  their  attention  to  the  grand  theme  of 
his  ministry,  the  death  and  the  resurrection  of  his  Lord.     He  first  re- 
prehended their  stupidity  in  supposing  for  a  moment,  that  a  work  so 
far  exceeding  the  power  of  man,  and  so  much  above  the  course  of  na- 
ture, could  have  been  accomplished  by  their  own  agency,  or  in  virtue 

*  Psal.  ex.  2,  &c.  f  Acts  iii.  1,  &c. 


46  History  of  the  Christian  Church. 

of  their  own  holiness  ;  pressed  home  upon  them  their  guilt  in  putting  to 
death  the  Prince  of  Life;  boldly  testified  that  God  had  raised  him  again 
from  the  dead;  and  declared  that  the  miracle  which  they  had  witnessed, 
was  effected  solely  by  the  power  of  Christ.  The  apostle  admitted  that 
their  guilt  had  arisen  from  their  own  ignorance,  and  that  of  their  rulers  ; 
and  that  God,  whose  province  it  is  to  educe  good  out  of  evil ;  who 
makes  the  wrath  of  man  to  praise  him,  and  ordereth  all  things  after  the 
counsel  of  his  own  will,  had  over-ruled  their  wicked  devices  to  subserve 
at  once  his  own  glory  and  the  happiness  of  sinful  man.  He,  therefore, 
exhorted  them  to  repent  and  believe  the  gospel  which  he  now  preached, 
and  which  it  was  the  Divine  good  pleasure  should  first  of  all  be  made 
known  among  them  who  were  the  children  of  the  prophets,  and  of  the 
covenant  which  God  made  with  the  fathers.  He  declared  to  them  that 
Jesus  of  Nazareth  was  that  great  Prophet  whose  coming  had  been  fore- 
told by  Moses,  and  of  whom  he  was  only  the  type;  that  it  was  their  in- 
dispensable duty  to  hear  Him  in  all  things  whatsoever  he  should  speak  ; 
and  reminded  them  of  the  warning  which  Moses  himself  had  denounced 
against  every  one  that  should  not  hear  that  great  Prophet.  "Unto  you 
Jirst,"  says  he,  "  God  having  raised  up  his  Son  Jesus,  sent  him  to  bless 
you,  in  turning  away  every  one  of  you  from  his  iniquities." 

This  discourse  produced  a  second  harvest  of  converts  to  the  Chris- 
tian faith;  for  "many  who  heard  the  word  believed;  the  number 
being  about  five  thousand."*  By  this  time,  however,  the  enemies  of 
Jesus  began  to  take  the  alarm.  Peter  had  scarcely  done  speaking, 
when  the  priests  and  Sadducees,  with  the  captain  of  the  temple,  rush- 
ing upon  them,  forcibly  apprehended  Peter  and  John,  and  committed 
them  to  prison.  On  the  following  day  the  Jewish  Sanhedrim,  their 
supreme  court  of  judicature,  was  convened.  It  consisted  of  the  rulers 
or  chief  priests ;  the  heads  of  the  twenty-four  courses  ;  the  elders  of 
the  other  tribes ;  and  the  Scribes  who  were  doctors  of  the  law,  com- 
monly of  the  tribe  of  Levi.  This  great  national  council  sat  at  Jerusa- 
lem. Annas,  who  had  formerly  been  high -priest,  but  now  ejected  by 
the  Roman  procurator,  was  with  them,  and  Caiaphas  (his  son-in-law) 
who  was  now  high-priest ;  the  very  persons  who  had  procured  the 
death  of  Jesus  Christ,  and  who  of  course  were  highly  concerned  to 
suppress  this  new  doctrine.  John  and  Alexander,  two  distinguished 
personages  among  the  Jews,  with  others  who  were  related  to  the  high- 
priest,  were  also  present  upon  this  interesting  occasion.  It  was  the 
custom  for  the  Sanhedrim  to  sit  almost  in  a  circle,  and  to  place  the 
prisoners  in  its  centre.  The  apostles  being  now  brought  out  and 
placed  in  the  midst,  it  was  demanded  of  them  to  say  by  what  power, 
or  by  what  name,  they  had  performed  the  wonderful^  cure  on  the  pre- 
ceding day. 

Peter,  who  had  formerly  trembled  at  the  voice  of  a  girl,  was  now  not 
afraid  to  use  the  utmost  freedom  with  the  council  and  heads  of  the 
Jewish  nation.  He  confessed  the  name  and  cause  of  Jesus  ;  charged 
home  upon  their  consciences  the  guilt  of  putting  him  to  death ;  assur- 
ed them  the  miracle  was  wrought  in  his  name  and  by  his  power;  and 

*  Acts  iv.  4. 


Peter's  intrepid  Conduct.  47 

while  he  pointed  their  attention  to  the  voices  of  their  own  prophets, 
declaring  that  "the  stone  which  should  be  set  at  nought  of  the  build- 
ers, would  become  the  head  of  the  corner  ;"  finally  averred  that  Jesus 
was  the  alone  medium  of  salvation  to  the  children  of  men. 

A  little  reflection  upon  this  strange  scene  will  be  sufficient  to  ap- 
prize us  of  the  dilemma  in  which  the  Sanhedrim  was  now  involved. 
On  the  one  hand,  the  fortitude,  the  wisdom,  and  the  composure  of  the 
apostles  struck  them  with  surprise  :  for  they  perceived  that  they  were 
men  destitute  of  the  advantages  of  education,  and  had  no  pretensions 
to  what  the  world  calls  wisdom.  They  were  recognized  by  some  as 
the  former  companions  of  Jesus  previous  to  his  crucifixion,  in  whose 
name  they  now  declared  the  miracle  to  have  been  wrought ;  and  the 
man  who  had  been  healed  stood  before  them.  There  was  no  reason- 
ing against  matter  of  fact ;  the  thing  carried  its  own  evidence  along 
with  it.  But  the  question  now  was,  how  should  the  difficulty  be  got 
over  I  They,  therefore,  ordered  the  apostles  out  of  court ;  held  a  so- 
lemn council  among  themselves ;  confessed  that  the  miracle  was  in- 
controvertible ;  but  that  the  best  way  of  getting  rid  of  the  business  was, 
as  far  as  in  them  lay,  to  quash  all  further  inquiry  into  this  mysterious 
affair,  and  dismiss  the  apostles  with  a  strict  injunction  that  they  should 
teach  no  more  in  the  name  of  Jesus  ! 

The  number  of  the  disciples  continued  to  increase  in  Jerusalem, 
and,  from  the  church  there,  the  word  of  the  Lord  sounded  out  into  the 
adjacent  parts.  The  presence  of  Christ  was  conspicuously  displayed 
among  his  people.  "  The  multitude  of  them  that  believed  were  of  one 
heart  and  soul;"  the  apostles  were  armed  with  fortitude  to  bear  tes- 
timony to  the  resurrection  of  the  Lord  Jesus  ;  and  "  great  grace  was 
upon  them  all."  The  instituted  discipline  of  the  house  of  God  was 
manifested,  by  punishing,  in  the  persons  of  Ananias  and  his  wife 
Sapphira,  the  odious  crimes  of  dissimulation  and  hypocrisy ;  and  this 
awful  manifestation  of  the  Divine  jealousy  and  holiness  impressed  the 
whole  church  with  reverence  and  fear;  while  "believers  were  the 
more  added  to  the  Lofd,  multitudes  both  of  men  and  women."*  Then 
it  was  that  Zion  "  looked  forth  as  the  morning,  fair  as  the  sun,  clear 
as  the  moon,  and  terrible  as  an  army  with  banners. "t 

The  Sadducees,  it  would  seemjhad,  at  this  time,  the  chief  sway 
in  the  Jewish  state.  Josephus,  their  own  historian,  has  described 
them  "  as  remarkable  for  a  fierce  and  cruel  temper:  and  that,  particu- 
larly when  they  sat  in  judgment,  they  were  much  more  rigorous  and 
severe  than  the  Pharisees. "J  Of  this  sect  were  Caiaphas,  the  high- 
priest,  and  his  party.  They  heard  of  the  progress  of  the  gospel,  and 
were  filled  with  indignation.  Upon  this  occasion  all  the  apostles 
seem  to  have  been  the  victims  of  their  rage.  They  were  seized  and 
confined  in  the  common  prison.  But  how  futile  is  the  rage  of  man 
when  opposing  the  counsels  of  heaven  !  One  stronger  than  the  whole 
Sanhedrim,  even  the  Lord  Jesus,  despatched  his  angel  that  same  night, 

*  Acts  v.  14.  t  Cant-  vi-  10- 

*  Antiq.  b.  13.  ch.  sect.  10.  6.  and  b.  20.  ch.  9.  sect.  1.    Jew.  Wars,  b.  2.  ch. 


4g  History  of  the  Christian  Church. 

who  opened  the  prison  doors  and  brought  out  the  apostles,  directing 
them  to  go  in  the  morning  into  their  very  temple,  and  there  speak  to 
the  people  all  the  words  of  this  life.  How  great  must  have  been  the 
amazement  of  the  Sanhedrim  at  hearing,  on  their  assemblage  on  the 
morrow,  and  giving  commandment  to  have  the  apostles  brought  forth, 
that  the  officers  found  the  prison  doors  shut  with  all  possible  safety, 
and  the  guards  at  their  posts,  but  not  a  prisoner  within;  and  that  the 
apostles  were,  at  that  moment,  in  the  temple,  teaching  the  people. 

The  report,  as  may  easily  be  imagined  struck  an  unusual  damp  upon 
the  whole  court,  who  finding  themselves  so  frequently  foiled,  began  to 
hesitate  about  the  result  of  all  this.  They  had  obstinately  resisted  the 
divine  mission  of  Jesus,  supported  as  it  was  by  the  most  unquestiona- 
ble miracles  ;  and  they  had  at  length  succeeded  in  putting  him  to 
death.  Now  they  congratulated  themselves  that  there  was  an  end  to 
him  and  his  cause.  But  when  they  found  his  disciples,  after  his 
death,  affirming  that  God  had  raised  him  from  the  dead,  and  exalted 
him  to  the  highest  glory  in  heaven ;  that  they  carried  on  the  same  de- 
sign, and  that  they  wrought  miracles  in  his  name,  they  could  see  no 
end  of  the  affair,  and  were  wholly  at  a  loss  what  course  to  take.  Add 
to  all  this,  that  the  sentiments  of  the  multitude  were  now  evidently 
with  the  apostles,  and  some  little  prudence  was  necessary,  while  they 
punished  the  latter,  that  they  did  not  bring  down  upon  their  own  heads 
the  vengeance  of  the  former.  The  officers,  however,  were  sent  to 
take  them,  and  enjoined  to  do  it  without  violence.  The  apostles  peace- 
ably yielded  themselves  ;  and  being  brought  before  the  council,  were 
severely  reprehended  for  disregarding  the  late  prohibition  they  had  re- 
ceived from  the  council.  They  answered  with  their  usual  firmness, 
as  they  had  done  upon  a  former  occasion,  that  it  was  only  reasonable 
they  should  obey  God,  rather  than  man;  but  they  avowed  their  deter- 
mination to  persevere,  and  even  charged  the  Sanhedrim,  in  terms  more 
pointed  than  ever  they  had  yet  done,  with  being  the  betrayers  and 
murderers  of  the  Lord  of  life.  They,  at  the  same  time,  asserted  that 
"  God  had  raised  up  Jesus  from  the  dead,  and  exalted  him  to  his  right 
hand  in  heaven,  to  be  a  Prince  and  Saviour,  to  dispense  repentance  to 
Israel,  and  the  remission  of  sins." 

It  is  manifest  that  matters  were  now  arrived  at  the  utmost  crisis, 
between  the  apostles  and  the  Jewish  rulers,  who  were  cut  to  the  heart 
by  the  answer  which  the  former  had  given  them.  The  rage  of  the 
Sadducees  could  no  longer  be  restrained ;  and  the  destruction  of  the 
apostles  was  the  first  thing  that  occurred  to  them: — A  true  picture  of 
the  spirit  of  bigotry  in  every  age,  when  men  armed  with  power  have 
been  engaged  in  opposing  the  cause  of  truth  and  justice.  But  God, 
who  in  his  overruling  providence,  had  hitherto  guarded  the  lives  of  his 
servants,  and  had  still  further  occasion  for  their  labours,  restrained  the 
wrath  of  the  Jewish  rulers,  and  averted  the  purposes  of  this  confede- 
racy. There  was  among  them  a  certain  doctor  of  the  Jewish  law,  of 
the  sect  of  the  Pharisees,  (said  to  have  been  the  son  of  good  old  Si- 
meon, mentioned  Luke  ii.  25,)  and  certainly  the  preceptor  of  the  fa- 
mous apostle  Paul,  a  person  of  great  eminence  in  his  profession,  and 
deservedly  venerated  for  his  prudent  counsel  in  cases  of  difficulty.  Ga- 


Gamaliel's  prudent  Counsel.  49 

maliel,  after  requesting  that  the  apostles  might  withdraw  a  little  while 
from  the  hall  of  justice,  gave  his  advice  that  they  should  let  those  men 
alone.  He  reminded  them  of  the  fate  of  several  impostors  who  had 
risen  up  among  them  from  time  to  time,  but  who  had  all  come  to  ruin; 
and  that  if  this  new  sect  were  a  mere  human  institution,  it  was  unne- 
cessary to  give  themselves  any  trouble  to  suppress  it,  for  it  would  of 
itself  quickly  come  to  an  end;  but  if  it  were  really  of  God,  all  their 
opposition  would  be  in  vain,  and  they  themselves  would  only  be  found 
ultimately  fighting  against  heaven.  The  advice  of  Gamaliel  prevailed; 
the  apostles  were  again  called  in,  and  again  commanded  not  to  speak 
any  more  in  the  name  of  Jesus  ;  yet,  to  save  appearances,  they  were 
not  dismissed  until  they  had  been  scourged  and  enjoined  silence.  But 
neither  the  stripes  nor  the  injunctions  had  any  influence  upon  them  ; 
they  "retired  from  the  presence  of  the  council,  rejoicing  that  they 
were  counted  worthy  to  suffer  shame  for  the  name  of  Jesus,  whilst 
daily  in  the  temple,  and  in  every  house,  they  ceased  not  to  teach  and 
preach  Jesus  Christ."* 

At  this  interesting  period,  while  Satan's  kingdom  fell  like  lightning 
from  heaven  before  the  preaching  of  the  everlasting  gospel,  and  the 
number  of  the  Christians  was  daily  increasing,  a  circumstance  arose 
in  the  church,  which  demanded  the  attention  and  engaged  the  wisdom 
of  the  apostles.  The  church,  though  consisting  wholly  of  Hebrews, 
comprised  two  classes  of  persons:  one  part  understood  only  the  He- 
brew and  Chaldee  languages,  which  was  used  in  their  synagogues  at 
Jerusalem  and  its  vicinity  ;  while  the  other  had  been  accustomed  chief- 
ly to  the  use  of  the  Greek  language,  into  which  the  Old  Testament 
Scriptures  had  been  translated,  (the  version  which  we  now  call  the 
septuagint)  and  which  had  been  for  some  time  in  common  use,  previ- 
ous to  the  coming  of  Christ,  in  all  the  Jewish  synagogues  dispersed 
throughout  the  cities  of  Greece,  as  well  as  in  Egypt.  These  last  were 
called  Hellenists,  or  Grecians;  and  of  them  it  would  appear,  there 
were  at  that  time  many  in  Jerusalem,  members  of  the  church.  As  the 
multitude  relieved  out  of  the  common  fund  was  very  great,  it  can  ex- 
cite no  surprise  that  a  few  individuals  were  occasionally  overlooked. 
Hence  a  "  murmuring  is  said  to  have  been  excited  among  the  Grecians 
against  the  Hebrews,  because  their  widows  were  neglected  in  the  daily 
ministration. "t  „  c 

Hitherto  the  twelve  apostles  had  executed  the  different  offices  ot 
apostle,  elder,  and  deacon— the  former  or  highest  office  in  the  Chris- 
tian church,  being  evidently  considered  as  including  every  inferior  one. 
To  redress  the  alleged  grievance,  the  apostles  convened  the  whole 
church,  stated  to  them  that  the  ministry  of  the  word  of  God  was  that 
which  claimed  their  own  primary  attention,  and  how  unsuitable  it 
would  be  for  them  to  neglect  it  for  the  sake  of  attending  to  the  poor; 
they  therefore  recommended  it  to  their  brethren  to  look  out  among 
themselves  for  seven  men,  full  of  wisdom  and  the  Holy  Spirit,  to  be 
appointed  over  this  matter.  "But  we,"  say  they,  "will  give  ourselves 
wholly  to  prayer  and  to  the  ministry  of  the  word."    The  proposal  met 

*  Acts  v,  41.  t  Acts  &  *»  &c« 


50  History  of  the  Christian  Church. 

the  cordial  approbation  of  all  the  church;  and  thus  the  office  of  deacon 
was  instituted.  They  chose  Stephen,  and  Philip,  and  Prochorus,  and 
Nicanor,  Timon,  Parmenas,  and  Nicholas,  a  proselyte  of  Antioch. 
Some  of  them  (probably  all)  were  occasionally  engaged  in  preaching 
the  gospel,  but  this  was  no  part  of  their  office  as  deacons,  the  latter  be- 
ino-  restricted  to  the  serving  of  tables,  or  ministering  to  the  wants  of  the 
poor. 

There  were  in  Jerusalem  a  great  number  of  synagogues  to  which  the 
people  resorted  for  religious  instruction.  One  of  these  was  called  the 
synagogue  of  the  Libertines;  that  is,  such  Jews  and  proselytes  as  had 
been  Roman  slaves,  but  had  obtained  their  freedom,  or  were  the  de- 
scendants of  such  free  men.  It  was  also  the  resort  of  the  Cyrenians, 
and  Alexandrians,  and  those  who  came  from  Cilicia,  (among  whom,  in 
all  probability,  was  Saul  of  Tarsus*)  as  well  as  others  that  came  from 
Asia  Minor.  Stephen,  by  the  boldness  of  his  doctrine,  and  the  mira- 
cles which  he  wrought  among  the  people  in  attestation  of  it,  had  at- 
tracted the  attention  of  certain  persons  belonging  to  that  synagogue, 
who  undertook  to  dispute  with  him;  but  not  being  able  to  resist  the 
wisdom  and  energy  with  which  he  spake,  they  had  recourse  to  the  old 
method  of  persecution.  They  suborned  men  to  accuse  him  of  blas- 
phemy against  Moses  and  against  God.  By  this  artifice  Stephen  was 
brought  before  the  Sanhedrim,  where,  though  alone  and  unsupported, 
in  the  midst  of  furious  enemies,  he  stood  firm  and  unmoved,  like  a 
rock  in  the  midst  of  the  waves.  "  And  all  that  sat  in  the  council  look- 
ing steadfastly  on  him,  saw  his  face  as  it  had  been  the  face  of  an  an^ 
gel."t 

The  noble  defence  which  Stephen  delivered  on  this  occasion,  will 
be  found  in  the  seventh  chapter  of  the  Acts  of  the  Apostles,  to  Avhich  I 
must  refer  the  reader;  its  length  precludes  its  insertion  ;  and  to  abridge 
would  be  to  injure  it, 

But  what  avails  signs  and  wonders,  the  most  splendid  appeals  of 
eloquence,  or  the  most  forcible  convictions  of  truth,  among  the  obdurate 
and  incorrigible?  For,  notwithstanding  the  goodness  of  his  cause,  the 
miracles  which  he  had  wrought  to  support  it,  the  lustre  with  which  he 
now  appeared,  and  the  eloquence  which  flowed  in  torrents  from  his 
lips,  "  they  cried  out  with  a  loud  voice,  and  stopped  their  ears,  and  ran 
upon  him  with  one  accord,  and  cast  him  out  of  the  city,  and  stoned  him 
to  dea'th."J  His  dying  deportment  evinced  how  eminently  he  was  filled 
with  the  spirit  of  his  divine  Master,  and  is  a  pattern  to  all  who  are  call- 
ed to  suffer  in  the  same  righteous  cause.  He  kneeled  down  with  the 
utmost  tranquillity  and  composure,  and  having  committed  his  departing 
soul  into  the  hands  of  his  Redeemer,  his  only  remaining  concern  was 
for  his  murderers,  and,  in  the  temper  and  spirit  of  his  dying  Master, 
his  last  words  were,  "  Lord,  lay  not  this  sin  to  their  charge.  And 
when  he  had  said  this,  he  fell  asleep." 

The  death  of  Stephen  was  so  far  from  satiating  the  rage  of  the  Jew- 
ish rulers,  that  it  seems  to  have  been  regarded  merely  as  the  tocsin  to 
fresh  scenes  of  slaughter  and  blood.     They  now  gave  full  vent  to  their 

•  Acts  xxiii.  34.  and  xxi.  39.  f  Acts  vi.  15.  \  Acts  vii.  57 — 60. 


Dispersion  of  the  Disciples.  51 

cruelty,  and  raised  a  general  persecution  against  the  whole  church. 
The  loss  of  this  first  of  "the  noble  army  of  martyrs"  was  deeply  be- 
wailed by  his  brethren  ;  and  as  the  only  remaining  token  of  their  affec- 
tion, "  Devout  men  carried  Stephen  to  his  burial,  and  made  great  la- 
mentation over  him."*  During  the  last  tragical  scene,  when  his  ene- 
mies were  about  to  carry  their  vengeance  into  effect  against  him,  they 
laid  down  their  clothes  at  the  feet  of  a  young  man  whose  name  was 
Saul,  and  who  was  one  of  those  that  gave  their  voice  for  his  being  pu  t 
to  death. 

Saul  was  born  at  Tarsus,  the  chief  city  of  the  province  of  Cilicia. 
His  parents  were  both  of  them  Hebrew  Jews,  and  his  father,  who  was 
of  the  tribe  of  Benjamin,  was  a  freeman  of  Rome.  Having  received 
the  first  rudiments  of  his  education  in  his  native  city,  he  went  to 
Jerusalem,  were  he  entered  himself  of  the  sect  of  the  Pharisees,  and 
studied  the  law  of  Moses,  with  the  traditions  of  the  elders,  under  Ga- 
maliel, a  noted  doctor  of  the  laws.  When  Stephen  was  put  to  death, 
Saul,  though  but  a  young  man,  appears  to  have  taken  an  active  part 
upon  the  occasion  ;  and  now,  flushed  with  the  blood  .of  that  eminent 
martyr,  he  became  outrageous.  Armed  with  authority  from  the  high- 
priest,  he  made  havoc  of  the  church:  pursued  them  from  house  to 
house,  dragging  them  away  to  prison  without  mercy,  and  scourging 
them  in  the  synagogues,  compelled  them  to  blaspheme  the  name  of 
Jesus,  not  sparing  even  the  weaker  sex.t 

Conformably  to  the  instructions  which  Christ  himself  had  left  them,| 
the  disciples  gave  way  to  the  storm,  and  dispersed  themselves  through- 
out the  cities  of  Judea  and  Samaria,  spreading  the  knowledge  of  the 
gospel  wherever  they  came.  And  here  it  is  scarcely  possible  for  us 
to  contemplate  the  short-sightedness  of  human  policy,  as  contrasted 
with  the  wisdom  and  over-ruling  providence  of  God.  The  very  me- 
thods taken  to  quash  the  cause  of  Christ  became  the  direct  means  of 
promoting  its  progress.  Philip,  of  whom  we  have  lately  seen  that  he 
was  chosen  a  deacon  of  the  church  in  Jerusalem,  went  down  to  the 
city  of  Samaria,  and  preached  Christ  among  the  inhabitants  with  great 
success.  Intelligence  being  brought  to  Jerusalem  that  Samaria  had 
received  the  word  of  God,  two  of  the  apostles  went  down  thither,  and 
communicated  to  the  new  converts  the  supernatural  gifts  of  the  Holy 
Spirit,  and  thus  the  second  Christian  church  was  planted.  Soon  after 
this  Ave  find  Philip,  by  Divine  direction,  meeting  with  the  Ethiopian 
eunuch,  to  whom  he  communicated  the  knowledge  of  Christ,  and  bap- 
tized him  into  the  faith  of  it,  by  which  means  the  gospel  would  be  car- 
ried down  to  Ethiopia,  and  the  prediction  of  the  Psalmist  consequently 
fulfilled,   "  Ethiopia  shall  stretch  out  her  hands  unto  God."§ 

Philip,  on  returning  from  this  interview  with  the  eunuch,  called  at 
Azotus  (the  famous  Ashdod  of  the  Philistines)||  a  town  on  the  eastern 
coast  of  the  Mediterranean  Sea,  and  from  thence  passed  through  several 
eities  that  lay  in  his  way,  preaching  the  gospel  in  each  of  them,  until 
he  arrived  at  Caesarea,  at  that  time  the  metropolis  of  Palestine,  and 

*  Acts  viii.  1,  2.  f  Acts  xxvi.  9,  10.  *  Matt.  x.  22. 

§  Psa.  lxviii.  31.  ||  1  Sam.  vi.  17. 


52  History  of  the  Christian  Church. 

residence  of  the  Roman  governor,  where  he  appears  to  have  afterwards 
settled  for  life.* 

In  all  this  time  the  malice  of  Saul  was  raging  with  unabated  fury. 
Intimation  had  probably  been  given  him,  that  many  of  the  persecuted 
disciples  had  taken  refuge  at  Damascus.  This  was  a  most  noble  city, 
situated  at  the  foot  of  Mount  Lebanon.!  It  had  formerly  been  the  capi- 
tal of  Syria,  and  was  still  very  considerable.  Josephus  says  it  abound- 
ed with  Jews,  and  in  one  place  mentions  that  the  inhabitants  shut  up 
in  their  baths  and  destroyed  in  one  hour,  ten  thousand  of  them '.%  and 
upon  another  occasion  he  represents  the  Damascenes  as  having  mur- 
dered eighteen  thousand  Jews  with  their  wives  and  children,  without 
the  least  colour  or  pretext.§  To  this  city  Saul  petitioned  the  high- 
priest  to  grant  him  letters  of  authority  to  go  and  search  the  synagogues 
for  the  disciples  of  Jesus,  and  that,  if  he  found  any,  he  might  bring 
them  bound  to  Jerusalem.  Caiaphas  was  still  in  office,  and,  no  doubt, 
every  way  as  anxious  as  Saul  himself  could  be  to  stop  the  growing 
heresy.  The  request  was  cheerfully  complied  with  ;  and,  in  the  capa- 
city of  chief  inquisitor,  and  breathing  out  threatenings  and  slaughter 
against  the  Christians,  Saul  hastened  on  his  journey,  to  fulfil,  as  he 
thought,  the  holy  errand  of  extirpating  heretics.  About  noon,  Saul  and 
his  companions  arrived  in  the  vicinity  of  the  city  of  Damascus,  when 
suddenly  there  appeared  to  him  the  Schekinah,  or  glory  of  the  Lord, 
far  more  bright  and  dazzling  than  the  sun  in  his  meridian  splendour, 
and  this  great  light  from  heaven  shone  around  them.  Saul  was  suffi- 
ciently versed  in  Jewish  learning  to  recognize  this  as  the  excellent 
glory,  and  he  instantly  fell  to  the  earth  as  one  dead.  But  how  incon- 
ceivably great  must  have  been  his  astonishment  to  hear  himself  address- 
ed by  name,  "Saul,  Saul,  why  persecutest  thou  me?"  And  yet,  if 
alarmed  at  the  question,  his  surprise  could  not  be  diminished  on  ask- 
ing, "  Who  art  thou  Lord  ?"  to  be  told  in  reply,  "  I  am  Jesus  whom 
thou  persecutest, — it  is  hard  for  thee  to  kick  against  the  pricks." 
Trembling  and  astonished,  Saul  inquired,  "  Lord,  what  wilt  thou  have 
me  to  do  V     Jesus  said  unto  him,   "  Arise  and  go  into  the  city,  and  it 

•  Acts  xxi.  8,  9. 

f  So  Milton,  in  reference  to  the  Syrian  idol,  whose  temple  was  fixed  in  that 
city,  thus  writes — 

"  Rimmon,  whose  delightful  seat 

Was  fair  Damascus,  on  the  fertile  banks 
Of  Abbana  and  Pharphar,  lucid  streams." 

Par.  Lost,  b.  I.  1.  467,  &c. 

Mr.  Maundrell  describes  it  as  "  situated  on  an  even  plain  of  so  great  extent, 
that  one  can  but  just  discern  the  mountains  which  compass  it  on  the  farther  side. 
It  stands  on  the  west  side  of  the  plain,  about  two  miles  distant  from  the  head  of 
the  river  Barrady  which  waters  it.  It  is  of  a  long  straight  figure,  about  two 
miles  in  extent,  adorned  with  mosques  and  steeples,  and  encompassed  with  gar- 
dens, according  to  computation,  full  thirty  miles  round." — The  fruit  tree  called 
the  Damascene,  and  the  flower  called  the  Damask  rose,  were  transplanted  from 
the  gardens  belonging  to  this  city  ;  and  the  silk  and  linen,  known  by  the  name 
of  Damask,  were  probably  the  invention  of  its  inhabitants. 

Anc.  Univ.  Hist.  8vo.  vol.  i.  p.  260. 

t  Wars,  b.  2.  ch.  20.  sect.  2.  §  Ibid.  b.  7.  ch.  8.  sect.  7. 


donverbion  of  Saul  of  Tarsus.  53 

shall  be  told  thee  what  thou  must  do."  And  Saul  arose  from  the  earth, 
but  the  splendour  of  the  vision  had  overpowered  his  bodily  eyes,  so 
that  he  was  led  by  the  hand  into  Damascus,  where  he  remained  three 
days  without  sight  or  food. 

The  Lord  afterwards  appeared  in  vision  to  a  certain  disciple,  in  Da- 
mascus, named  Ananias,  and  directed  him  where  he  should  find  Saul, 
and  what  instructions  he  should  give  him  as  to  his  future  conduct,  tell- 
ing him  that  he  was  a  chosen  vessel  unto  him,  to  bear  his  name  before 
the  Gentiles  and  kings,  and  the  children  of  Israel,  "  for  I  will  show 
him,"  said  the  Saviour,  "how  great  things  he  must  suffer  for  my 
name's  sake."*  Ananias  obeyed  the  Divine  command,  and  laid  his 
hands  on  Saul,  when  a  thick  film  like  scales  fell  from  his  eyes  ;  his 
sight  returned,  his  mind  became  tranquillized,  and  he  was  baptized  in 
the  name  of  the  Lord  Jesus. 

Thus  the  lately  persecuting  Saul  was  numbered  with  the  disciples ; 
and  in  a  few  days  *f  he  straightway  preached  Christ  in  the  synagogue, 
that  he  is  the  Son  of  God  ;"  an  event  no  less  wonderful  to  the  disciples 
which  dwelt  at  Damascus  than  to  their  enemies  ;  but  "  Saul  increased 
the  more  in  strength,  and  confounded  the  Jews  which  dwelt  there, 
proving  that  Jesus  is  the  true  Messiah. "t 


SECTION  III. 


THE  SUBJECT  CONTINUED. 


FROM  THE    FIRST    PREACHING    OF    TIIK  GOSPEL    AMONG    THE  GENTILES    TO 
THE  RETURN  OF  PAUL  AND  BARNABAS  FROM  THEIR  FIRST  JOURNEY. 

The  conversion  of  Saul  of  Tarsus  to  the  faith  of  Christ  is  a  memo- 
rable event  in  the  annals  of  the  Christian  church.  Whether  we  consi- 
der the  nature  of  the  change  which  then  passed  upon  his  mind,  the 
extraordinary  signs  which  accompanied  it — such  as  the  miraculous 
shutting  and  opening  of  his  eyes — or  the  astonishing  effects  which 
these  things  produced,  we  shall  find  something  to  excite  our  admiration, 
and  lead  us  to  adore  the  riches  and  sovereignty  of  divine  grace.  Such 
a  revolution  was  now  produced  in  all  his  sentiments  and  in  all  the 
springs  of  his  life,  as  resembled  the  course  of  a  mighty  river  changed 
from  east  to  west  by  the  shock  of  an  earthquake.  The  supernatural 
signs  which  affected  his  bodily  frame,  showed  whatbefel  his  mind,  and 
at  the  same  time  served  to  exemplify  the  effects  which  his  ministry 
should  produce  among  the  Gentiles,  unto  whom  Christ  now  sent  him 
"  to  open  their  eyes,  and  to  turn  them  from  darkness  to  light,  and  from 
the  power  of  Satan  unto  God. "J 

"  When  it  pleased  God,"  says  he,  "  who  called  me  by  his  grace,  to 
reveal  his  Son  in  me,  that  I  might  preach  him  among  the  heathen,  im- 

*  Acts  ix.  1—16.  j-  Acts  ix.  22. 

*  Acts  xxvi.  18,  with  ch.  ix.  17,  18. 

5* 


54  History  of  the  Christian  Church. 

mediately  I  conferred  not  with  flesh  and  blood;  but  I  went  into  Arabia, 
and  returned  again  unto  Damascus."*  In  that  country  he  appears  to 
have  spent  nearly  the  term  of  three  years,t  but  the  inspired  historian 
has  given  us  no  account  of  the  fruit  of  his  ministry  there.  Our  own 
reflections,  however,  may  teach  us  to  contemplate  the  wisdom  of  God, 
in  directing  the  steps  of  Saul  into  Arabia,  at  this  particular  juncture  of 
his  life.  His  conversion  to  the  Christian  faith  must,  in, the  eyes  of  his 
unbelieving  countrymen,  and  especially  of  his  former  associates,  have 
been  in  the  highest  degree  provoking.  Engaged  as  he  had  formerly 
been  in  the  most  active  measures  for  destroying  the  subjects  of  the 
kingdom  of  Christ,  they  must  now  necessarily  have  regarded  him  as  a 
grand  apostate,  whose  conversion  tended  greatly  to  weaken  the  cause 
in  which  they  were  so  zealously  engaged,  while  it  strengthened  the 
hands  of  the  Christians. 

But,  notwithstanding  the  interval  that  had  elapsed,  and  which,  hu- 
manly speaking,  might  have  given  time  for  the  fiercest  rage  to  cool, 
Saul  had  no  sooner  returned  to  Damascus,  than  "the  Jews  took  coun- 
sel to  kill  him. "|  The  Lord,  however,  opened  a  way  for  his  escape. 
For  although  his  adversaries  had  prevailed  upon  the  governor  of  the 
city  to  aid  them  with  a  military  force ;  and  though  centinels  were 
placed  at  tiie  gates  of  the  city  night  and  day  to  prevent  his  escape,  his 
friends  let  him  down  by  night  through  a  window  in  a  basket,  by  the 
wall  of  the  city,  and  thus  frustrated  their  malicious  designs. § 

Saul,  upon  this,  went  up  to  Jerusalem  to  have  an  interview  with 
some  of  the  other  apostles,  where  he  met  with  Peter  and  James,  and 
abode  with  them  fifteen  days.  It  is  perfectly  natural  to  suppose  that 
such  of  the  disciples  of  Christ,  in  that  city,  as  had  a  personal  know- 
ledge of  him,  and  had  witnessed  his  former  persecuting  zeal  against 
them,  would,  if  unacquainted  with  his  conversion,  take  the  alarm  on  his 
again  appearing  among  them.  Such,  in  fact,  was  the  case;  for  when 
he  attempted  to  join  himself  to  them,  "  they  were  all  afraid  of  him,  not 
believing  him  to  be  a  disciple."|]  Their  feavs,  however,  were  instant- 
ly dispelled  by  the  intelligence  which  Barnabas  gave  them  of  his  con- 
version, and  of  his  subsequent  preaching  at  Damascus.  He  was  there- 
fore received  of  the  church,  and  gave  them  the  most  convincing  proof 
of  the  sincerity  of  his  profession,  by  the  boldness  with  which,  durino- 
the  short  time  he  was  among  them,  he  spake  in  the  name  of  the  Lord 
Jesus,  and  disputed  against  the  members  of  the  synagogue  with  whom 
he  had  been  formerly  connected.  The  consequence  was,  that  another 
effort  was  made  to  destroy  him,  which  coming  to  the  ears  of  his  breth- 
ren, he  was  safely  conveyed  down  to  Ccesarea,  and  from  thence  sent  to 
Tarsus,  the  place  of  his  nativity. 

The  persecution  which  had  arisen  in  consequence  of  the  death  of 
Stephen,  and  which  occasioned  the  dispersion  of  the  greater  part  of  the 
church,  had  now  raged  during  a  period  of  four  years;  but  it  pleased 
Cod  at  this  time  to  grant  his  people  a  season  of  repose  and  tranquillity. 
TiHERius,  who  had  swayed  the  imperial  sceptre  at  Rome  for  three 
and  twenty  years,  was  now  dead,  and  had  been  succeeded,  as  emperor, 

"Gal.i.  15— i7.     fVcr.  18.     *Actsix.23.     §  2  Cor.  xi.23.     |  Acts  ix.  26. 


Character  of  Caligula.  55 

by  his  grandson  Caius  Caligula.  So  infamous  had  been  the  conduct  of 
the  former,  and  so  odious  had  he  rendered  his  character  in  the  eyes  of 
his  subjects,  that,  if  we  may  credit  historians,  he  was  suspected  of 
choosing  the  latter  for  his  successor,  "  as  foreseeing  that  Caius  alone 
would  outstrip  him  in  what  was  vile  and  abominable."*  Certain  it  is 
that  his  excessive  wickedness,  and  intolerably  shocking  behaviour, 
tended  in  no  small  degree  to  obliterate  the  recollection  of  the  horror  and 
infamy  that  had  attached  itself  to  the  name  of  Tiberius.t 

The  commencement  of  the  reign  of  Caius  was  rather  auspicious  than 
otherwise.  He  signalized  himself  by  several  wise  and  beneficent  ac- 
tions, and  gained  upon  the  love  and  popularity  of  his  subjects.  They 
retained  an  affectionate  remembrance  of  his  father  Germanicus,  and 
hoped  the  son  would  tread  in  his  steps.  But  the  atrocious  character 
of  the  new  emperor  speedily  began  to  develope  itself.  One  of  his  first 
vile  actions  was  the  murder  of  the  younger  Tiberius,  who  had  been 
appointed,  by  the  late  emperor  Tiberius,  his  colleague  in  the  govern- 
ment of  the  empire.  Another  was  the  murder  of  Macro,  a  person  to 
whom  Caius  himself  owed  the  greatest  obligations.  When  Caius  did 
any  thing  unbecoming  his  dignity,  it  had  been  the  custom  of  Macro  to 
admonish  him  boldly  of  the  impropriety  of  his  conduct,  a  freedom 
which  the  despot  soon  grew  weary  of,  and  therefore  ordered  him  to  be 
put  to  death.  To  such  a  pitch  of  extravagance  and  impiety  did  he  at 
length  arrive,  that  he  set  himself  up  for  a  deity,  and  insisted  upon  be- 
ing worshipped  as  such ;  a  thing  to  which  the  Jews,  of  all  nations, 
would  never  consent,  and  hence  they  incurred  his  resentment.  Altars 
and  temples  were  erected  to  Caius  throughout  the  various  countries 
then  subject  to  the  Roman  arms,  and  the  image  of  this  detestable  tyrant 
was  set  up  as  an  object  of  adoration.  An  attempt  was  even  made  by 
some  heathens  who  dwelt  at  Jamnia,  a  city  of  Judea,  and  who  had  an 
aversion  to  the  Jewish  laws,  to  build  an  altar  of  brick  in  honour  of 
Caius,  intending  probably  thereby,  at  once  to  vex  the  Jews  and  ingra- 
tiate themselves  with  the  emperor.  The  Jews  instantly  demolished 
the  altar,  and  the  heathens  complained  to  Capito,  the  questor  (or  col- 
lector of  the  Roman  tribute)  who  transmitted  an  account  of  the  affair  to 
the  emperor ;  though  Capito  himself  was  suspected  of  being  the  real 
author  and  contriver  of  the  plot,  in  order  to  ensnare  and  destroy  the 
Jews.  Caius,  without  delay,  recalled  Vitellius,  the  Roman  governor 
of  that  province,  from  his  station ;  a  man  whose  mild  and  gentle  de- 
portment had  greatly  conciliated  the  Jews ;  and  sent  Petronius  to  suc- 
ceed him,  giving  him  orders  to  go  to  Jerusalem  with  an  army  and  set 
up  his  statue  in  their  temple,  in  the  most  holy  place,  with  the  name  of 
Jupiter  inscribed  upon  it;  enjoining  him  to  put  to  death  every  Jew  that 
dared  to  resist,  and  to  make  all  the  rest  of  the  nation  slaves.  This  or- 
der from  Caligula  came  upon  them  like  a  clap  of  thunder.  At  first,  the 
Jews  could  scarcely  credit  the  report  of  so  execrable  a  design,  but  their 
incredulity  was  soon  dissipated.  Petronius  marched  with  a  large  body 
of  auxiliaries  raised  in  Syria,  from  Antioch  into  Judea,  and  even  ad- 

*  Dion.  Cassius,  b.  58.  f  Suetonius'  Life  of  Calig\  c.  xi.  Josephus  Antiq. 

b.  18.  c.  6.  sect.  10.  Eutrop.  Brev.  Hist.  Rom.  b.  7.  sect.  12. 


56  History  of  the  Christian  Church. 

vanced  as  far  as  Ptolemais.  The  Jews  were  thrown  into  the  utmost 
consternation.  An  immense  multitude  of  them  were  collected  together, 
who,  with  their  wives  and  children,  went  into  the  plain  near  Ptolemais, 
and  supplicated  Petronius,  first  for  their  laws  and  next  for  themselves. 
The  friends  of  Petronius  seeing  them  at  a  distance,  mistook  them  for  a 
large  army;  but,  on  a  nearer  approach,  they  found  them  only  an  un- 
armed, lamenting  multitude.  Advancing  in  sight  of  Petronius,  who 
was  seated  upon  an  eminence,  they  threw  themselves  down  upon  the 
ground  before  him,  uttering  the  deepest  lamentations.  When  ordered 
to  rise,  they  approached  him  with  dust  upon  their  heads,  and  their 
hands  behind  them  like  men  condemned  to  die,  and  the  Senate  address- 
ed Petronius  to  the  following  effect:  "  We  come  to  you,  sir,  as  you  see, 
unarmed ;  we  have  brought  with  us  our  wives,  children,  and  relations  ; 
and  we  throw  ourselves  down  before  you  as  at  the  feet  of  Caius,  hav- 
ing left  none  at  home,  that  so  you  may  save  all,  or  destroy  all;"  with 
much  more  to  the  same  purport,  declaring  also  that  their  love  for  their 
temple  and  laws  was  greater  than  for  their  lives,  accompanying  the 
whole  with  expressions  of  the  bitterest  lamentation,  and  every  token  of 
anguish  and  distress.  Their  entreaties  prevailed ;  Petronius  humanely 
granted  their  request,  and  deferred  executing  his  commission.  Some, 
indeed,  attribute  his  lenity  to  another  cause.  Caligula  was  expected 
to  visit  Alexandria  in  Egypt  the  ensuing  summer;  had  Petronius  push- 
ed matters  to  an  extremity  at  this  moment  with  the  Jews,  it  would,  in 
all  probability,  have  led  them  to  neglect  their  harvest,  and  the  cultiva- 
tion of  their  lands;  and  as  the  emperor's  journey  must  unavoidably  be 
made  through  those  parts,  it  was  apprehended  that  such  neglect  would 
have  prevented  that  plenty  which  was  requisite  to  accommodate  the  vast 
concourse  that  might  be  expected  to  accompany  him  on  such  an  occa- 
sion. He  therefore  wrote  to  the  emperor,  urging  the  most  plausible 
pretexts  for  the  delay,  and  especially  the  necessity  that  existed  of  de- 
ferring the  matter,  for  fear  of  the  scarcity  that  might  ensue. 

It  has  been  usual  with  commentators  to  attribute  the  cessation  of  per- 
secution at  this  time  to  the  conversion  of  Saul  of  Tarsus ;  but  I  appre- 
hend a  much  more  adequate  cause  is  to  be  found  in  the  circumstances 
how  related.  The  Jews  were  fully  employed  in  warding  off  this  ter- 
rible blow  from  themselves  and  their  temple,  which  was  their  glory  and 
confidence,  and,  in  such  a  state  of  things  we  may  be  fully  assured,  that 
they  would  want  both  the  leisure  and  inclination  to  pursue  and  perse- 
cute the  Christians.  Caligula  died  soon  after,  in  the  fourth  year  of  his 
reign,  being  assassinated  in  his  own  palace  by  one  of  his  officers.  And 
thus  "  the  churches  had  rest  throughout  all  Judea,  Galilee,  and  Samaria, 
and  walking  in  the  fear  of  the  Lord  and  in  the  comforts  of  the  Holy 
Spirit,  were  edified  and  multiplied."  It  is  probable,  also,  that  during 
this  interval  of  external  peace,  many  of  the  Christians,  who  had  been 
driven  from  their  families  and  houses,  by  the  cruel  hand  of  persecution, 
again  returned  to  Jerusalem.* 

*  Philo  dc  Legat.  ad  Caium,  p.  1010—1021.  Josephus  de  Bello  Jud.  b,  2.  c. 
10.  sect.  1.     Lardncr's  Credibility,  ed.  1730.  p.  121 — 145. 


Peter'' 3  vision  at  Joppa.  57 

During  this  auspicious  season,  Peter  revisited  the  churches  already- 
planted  in  Galilee  and  Samaria,  and  among  other  places  came  down  to 
Lydda,  where  there  appear  to  have  been  a  few  disciples  not  yet  orga- 
nized as  a  church.  Here  he  wrought  a  miracle  by  restoring  a  man  to 
health  and  soundness  who  had  been  afflicted  with  palsy,  and  confined 
eight  years  to  his  bed.  At  Joppa,  a  neighbouring  town,  he  raised  to 
life  a  female  disciple  named  Tabitha.  These  things  were  spread  abroad, 
and  drew  the  attention  of  such  as  heard  of  them,  "  and  many  believed 
and  turned  to  the  Lord."  Peter  took  up  his  residence  for  some  time 
in  Joppa:  and  while  he  continued  there,  an  event  took  place  which 
merits  particular  relation. 

The  church  of  Jerusalem  had  been  now  planted  about  eight  years, 
during  which  time  the  preaching  of  the  gospel  had  been  restricted  to 
the  natural  descendants  of  Abraham.  The  period,  however,  was  now 
at  hand,  when,  according  to  the  Divine  good  pleasure,  the  Sun  of 
Righteousness  was  to  arise  upon  the  benighted  Gentiles  with  healing  in 
his  wings.  This  mystery,  which  had  been  hid  from  ages  and  genera- 
tions, was  now  unfolded  to  the  mind  of  the  apostle  Peter,  by  means  of 
a  vision  which  he  had  while  he  abode  at  Joppa,*  and  by  the  interpre- 
tation of  that  memorable  vision,  he  was  instructed  to  consider  the  mid- 
dle wall  of  partition  between  Jews  and  Gentiles  as  no  longer  in  force ; 
that  henceforward  he  was  to  call  no  man  common  or  unclean.  He  was 
sent  down  to  Caesarea  to  preach  the  gospel  of  Christ  to  Cornelius  the 
centurion  and  his  household;  and  while  engaged  in  making  known  to 
these  Gentiles  the  way  of  salvation,  the  Holy  Spirit  was  poured  out 
upon  all  his  hearers  in  the  same  supernatural  manner  as  had  been  for- 
merly done  upon  the  Jews  on  the  day  of  Pentecost,  to  the  astonish- 
ment of  the  apostle  and  of  all  the  Jewish  brethren  who  accompanied 
him  from  Joppa.  Thus  was  his  mind  instructed  into  this  part  of  the 
Divine  will  ;  the  believing  Gentiles  baptized  in  the  name  of  the  Lord 
Jesus,  and  received  into  the  kingdom  of  the  Messiah :  and  thus  was 
Peter  now  honoured  by  his  divine  Master  in  opening  the  door  of  faith 
to  the  Gentiles,  as  he  had  previously  done  to  the  Jews  at  Jerusalem, 
for  unto  him  were  committed  the  keys  of  the  kingdom  of  heaven,  t 

When  Peter  returned  to  Jerusalem,  he  found  his  fellow  apostles  and 
all  his  Jewish  brethren,  labouring  under  the  same  mistaken  sentiments 
concerning  the  admission  of  the  Gentiles  into  the  kingdom  of  Christ, 
which  had  recently  occupied  his  own  mind.  They  had  heard  with 
some  surprise  that  the  Gentiles  had  also  received  the  word  of  God, 
and  waited  the  apostle's  arrival,  probably  with  some  impatience,  to 
explain  to  them  his  conduct  in  going  into  men  uncircumcised  and  eat- 
ing with  them.  Peter  recapitulated  the  whole  matter  in  detail,  and  ter- 
minated the  narrative  with  this  pointed  appeal  to  themselves,  "  Foras- 
much then  as  God  gave  them  the  like  gift  as  he  did  unto  us  who  be- 
lieved on  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ,  What  was  I  that  I  should  ivithstand 
God?''''  This  silenced  all  their  scruples  ;  for  it  is  said,  "they  held 
their  peace  and  glorified  God,  saying,  then  hath  God  also  to  the  Gen- 
tiles granted  repentance  unto  life."± 

*  Acts  x.  9.  f  Matt.  xvi.  18.  i  Acts  xi.  1—18. 


58  History  of  the  Christian  Church. 

When  Saul  of  Tarsus  was  called  by  divine  grace  to  the  knowledge 
of  the  truth,  he  at  the  same  time  received  a  commission  from  the  glo- 
rified Saviour,  to  execute  his  ministry  among  the  Gentiles.  Hence,  in 
explaining  to  the  churches  of  Galatia  his  apostolic  authority,  he  says, 
"  He  that  wrought  effectually  in  Peter  to  the  apostleship  of  the  cir- 
cumcision, the  same  was  mighty  in  me  towards  the  Gentiles."*  And 
to  this  great  undertaking  he  devoted  himself  most  unreservedly,  as  we 
shall  perceive  by  taking  a  brief  review  of  his  labours.  The  place 
where  we  begin  to  trace  the  history  of  this  great  apostle  of  the  Gen- 
tiles, is 

Antioch.  There  were  formerly  many  cities  which  bore  that  name; 
but  this  was  the  metropolis  of  Syria,  and  indeed  of  all  the  east.  For 
situation,  magnitude,  populousness,  and  various  other  advantages,  it 
ranked  as  the  third  city  in  the  Roman  empire,  being  inferior  only  to 
Rome  and  Alexandria.  The  greater  part  of  its  inhabitants  were  Greeks; 
but  Josephus  says,  that  many  Jews  also  settled  in  it.  "  The  kings  of 
Syria  allowed  the  Jews  the  freedom  of  Antioch  equally  with  the 
Greeks,  so  that  their  numbers  increased  exceedingly,  and  they  were 
always  bringing  over  a  great  many  of  the  Greeks  to  their  religious 
worship. "t  This  city,  which  is  situated  on  the  river  Orontes,  was  re- 
markable, not  only  for  its  local  scenery,  but  also  for  the  magnificence 
of  its  buildings,  the  extent  of  its  commerce,  and  the  learning  of  its  in- 
habitants, insomuch  that  it  seems  to  have  been  considered  in  those 
days  as  an  honour  to  be  one  of  its  citizens.  Hence,  Cicero,  in  his  ora- 
tion for  the  poet  Archias,  a  native  of  Antioch,  calls  it  "  a  noble  city, 
once  eminent  and  wealthy,  abounding  in  men  eminent  for  their  great 
learning  and  true  taste." 

But  however  famous  Antioch  was  for  the  things  mentioned  by  Ci- 
cero, it  became  more  remarkable  in  having  the  light  of  the  glorious 
gospel  bestowed  upon  it ;  for  the  success  which  the  gospel  had  among 
its  inhabitants,  the  fruit  of  which  appeared  in  the  erection  of  a  nume- 
rous Christian  church ;  and  for  its  giving  the  name  of  Christian  to 
the  followers  of  Jesus  Christ.  Here  Christianity  flourished  to  such  a 
degree,  for  many  ages,  that  it  obtained  the  appellation  of  Theophilus, 
or  the  city  of  God,  and  this  church  was  considered  as  the  first  and 
chief  of  the  Gentile  churches. 

The  gospel,  indeed,  had  found  its  way  into  this  great  city  previous 
to  its  being  visited  by  Saul  ;  for  it  appears  from  the  inspired  history 
that  some  of  the  teachers,  who  had  been  driven  from  Jerusalem  by  the 
persecution  which  arose  about  Stephen,  had  reached  Antioch,  where 
they  made  known  the  glad  tidings  of  salvation  among  the  Grecians  or 
Hellenistic  Jews  ;  and  "  the  hand  of  the  Lord  was  with  them,  and  a 
great  number  believed  and  turned  unto  the  Lord. "J  When  the  report 
of  these  things  reached  Jerusalem,  that  church  sent  Barnabas  to  An- 
tioch, who  rejoiced-at  seeing  the  grace  of  God  so  illustriously  display- 
ed among  them ;  and,  by  his  own  exhortations  and  discourses,  he  was 
eminently  instrumental  in  promoting  the  interests  of  the  Redeemer's 
kingdom  among  them.      Hearing  that  Saul   was  at  Tarsus,  Barnabas 

»  Gal.  ii.  8.         f  Josephus'  Wars,  b.  7.  ch.  3.  sect.  3.         *  Acts  xi.  19—22. 


Herod  kills  James  and  imprisons  Peter.  59 

went  in  quest  of  him,  and  having  found  him,  he  brought  him  also  to 
Antioch,  where  they  both  continued  a  whole  year  labouring  with  much 
success  in  the  work  of  the  Lord. 

Caius  Caligula,  whose  death  has  been  already  noticed,  and  which 
took  place  about  this  time,  was  succeeded  in  the  empire  by  Claudius 
Caesar,  who,  soon  after  his  entrance  on  the  government,  bestowed  the 
kingdom  of  Judea  on  Herod  Agrippa,  grandson  of  Herod  the  Great, 
(mentioned  Matt,  ii.)  and  nephew  to  Herod  the  Tetrarch,  who  put  to 
death  John  the  Baptist.  Herod  Agrippa  experienced  much  of  the  vicis- 
situdes that  usually  accompany  the  pursuit  of  ambition.  He  had  incur- 
red the  displeasure  of  Tiberius,  by  whose  order  he  was  put  in  chains 
and  committed  to  prison.  The  account  which  Josephus  gives  us  of 
this  affair  is  as  follows.  Before  Caius  Caligula  ascended  the  throne  of 
the  Caesars,  as  Herod  and  he  were  one  day  riding  together  in  their 
chariot,  the  former,  who  was  anxious  to  ingratiate  himself  with  the  heir 
apparent  to  the  throne,  "  wished  to  God  that  Tiberius  was  gone,  and 
Caius  emperor  in  his  stead."  Eutychus,  who  drove  the  chariot,  over- 
heard the  words,  but  concealed  his  knowledge  of  them  at  the  moment. 
Some  time  afterwards,  however,  being  accused  by  his  master  Herod  of 
theft,  he  discovered  the  treason  to  Tiberius,  who  instantly  had  him  ar- 
rested, and  confined  during  the  life  of  the  latter.  When  Tiberius  died, 
Caius  not  only  liberated  his  old  friend,  but  invited  him  to  his  palace, 
put  a  crown  upon  his  head,  and  constituted  him  king  of  the  tetrarchy 
of  Philip,  and  bestowed  on  him  a  chain  of  gold,  of  the  same  weight  as 
the  iron  one  which  he  had  worn  during  his  imprisonment.* 

Herod  was  a  professed  zealot  for  the  law  of  Moses  and  the  peculiar- 
ities of  Judaism,  and  studied  by  every  means  in  his  power  to  ingratiate 
himself  with  the  Jews.  He  expended  large  sums  in  the  defence  and 
ornament  of  their  city ;  but  it  was  now  in  his  power  to  attempt  a  more 
acceptable  service,  by  exerting  his  authority  against  the  Christians  ;  and 
the  motives  of  vanity  and  popular  applause  by  which  he  was  governed, 
prompted  him  to  embrace  the  opportunity.  He  begun  by  apprehending 
the  apostle  James,  the  son  of  Zebedee,  and  brother  of  John,  whom  he 
hastily  put  to  death;  and  finding  the  Jews  were  highly  pleased  with 
this  step,  he  caused  Peter  also  to  be  apprehended  and  imprisoned,  in- 
tending to  have  him  executed  after  the  passover;  a  period  when,  by 
reason  of  the  influx  of  strangers  from  all  parts  to  the  city,  he  should 
have  an  opportunity  of  showing  his  zeal  against  this  new  sect  to  a  greater 
number  of  spectators.  James,  indeed,  had  finished  his  course,  and  was 
gone  to  receive  the  crown  of  righteousness  from  the  hands  of  his  divine 
Master  in  the  kingdom  of  God.  But  the  work  of  Peter  was  not  yet 
accomplished  ;  and  though  marked  out  by  Herod  for  a  speedy  sacrifice, 
he  was  still  secure.  So  intent  was  Herod,  however,  upon  his  destruc- 
tion, that  he  not  only  committed  him  to  prison,  but  loaded  him  with 
two  chains,  and  consigned  him  to  the  charge  of  sixteen  soldiers,  who 
were  to  watch  him  by  turns,  four  at  a  time,  two  of  them  being  chained 
to  him,  one  on  either  side,  and  two  placed  as  centinels  at  the  prison 
door.     It  is  probable  that  the  Jews  still  recollected  how  all  the  apostles 

*  Josephus'  Antiq.  b.  18.  ch.  6.  sect.  5.  and  Wars,  b.  1.  ch.  9.  sect.  4. 


gO  History  of  the  Christian  Church. 

had  formerly  escaped  when  put  in  prison,  and  perhaps  they  suspected 
the  fidelity  of  the  guards  ;  nor  is  it  unlikely  that  at  their  particular  re- 
quest, all  these  precautions  were  taken  in  the  case  of  Peter.  We  may 
also  realize  something  of  the  anxiety  and  concern  which  must  have 
pervaded  the  church  on  this  distressing  occasion.  They  had  lost 
Stephen  and  one  apostle ;  and  the  life  of  the  great  apostle  of  the  cir- 
cumcision was  in  the  utmost  jeopardy  :  "But  prayer  was  made  without 
ceasing  of  the  church  unto  God  for  him." 

How  long  it  pleased  God,  in  this  instance,  to  exercise  the  faith  and 
confidence  of  the  church,  does  not  clearly  appear.  It  is  thought  by 
some,*  that  Peter  was  apprehended  about  the  beginning  of  April,  or 
during  the  days  of  unleavened  bread,  which  was  the  beginning  of  the 
feast  of  the  passover.  That  feast  lasted  eight  days,  and  they  date  the 
transactions  in  the  third  year  of  the  reign  of  Claudius.  It  was  the  usual 
practice  of  the  Jews,  during  the  festival,  to  indulge  in  mirth  and  jollity, 
and  at  the  end  to  release  the  prisoners.  On  this  occasion,  however, 
they  were  anticipating  the  high  satisfaction  of  seeing,  as  soon  as  the 
paschal  lamb  was  eaten,  and  the  festival  quite  ended,  the  foremost  of 
this  sect  brought  out  and  put  to  death.  His  enemies  congratulated 
themselves  in  thinking  that  they  had  him  secure.  The  next  day  was 
appointed  by  Herod  for  his  being  publicly  executed.  But  the  night 
before  this  was  to  take  place,  the  Lord  interposed  and  rescued  him  out 
of  their  hands.  Peter,  in  all  probability,  knew  the  time  they  had  ap- 
pointed for  his  martyrdom  ;  but  he  seems  to  have  been  in  the  enjoyment 
of  a  serene  and  tranquil  mind,  and  not  in  the  least  alarmed  about  their 
machinations.  He  was  sleeping  very  composedly  between  the  two 
soldiers,  chained  by  the  arm  to  each  of  them,  when  the  angel  of  the 
Lord  came  upon  him,  accompanied  with  an  effulgent  brightness,  and 
smiting  Peter  on  the  side,  raised  him  up,  saying,  Arise  up  quickly ;  and 
his  chains  fell  off  from  his  hands.  And  the  angel  said,  "  Gird  thyself  and 
bind  on  thy  sandals;  and  he  did  so.  And  he  saith  unto  him,  Cast  thy 
garment  about  thee  and  follow  me,  and  he  went  out  and  followed  him," 
apprehending  that  he  saw  a  vision.  The  prison  was  in  the  suburbs  of 
Jerusalem,  and  when  they  had  passed  the  first  and  second  watch,  they 
came  unto  the  great  iron  gate  which  led  towards  the  city.  This  open- 
ed to  them  of  its  own  accord ;  and  the  angel  having  escorted  Peter 
through  one  street,  and  completely  delivered  him  out  of  the  hands  of  his 
enemies,  he  departed  from  him. 

In  the  morning,  Herod  found  himself  disappointed  of  his  prey  !  The 
guards  were  examined,  but  being  unable  to  give  a  satisfactory  account 
of  their  prisoner,  he  commanded  them  to  be  put  to  death.  It  is  not  im- 
probable that  Herod  might  suspect  a  miraculous  interposition  in  this 
instance ;  but  to  punish  the  guards  as  if  they  had  been  guilty  of  conniv- 
ing at  his  escape,  was  the  likeliest  method  to  stop  further  inquiry,  and 
prevent  the  people  from  suspecting  any  thing  extraordinary  in  the 
affair.t 

Herod  did  not  not  long  survive  this  event.  He  lived  and  died  a 
monument  of  the  instability  of  human  greatness.     He  was  much  de- 

*  See  Benson's  First  Planting-  of  Christianity,  ch.  5.  sect.  6. 
t  Acts  xii.  1—19. 


Impiety  and  Death  of  Herod.  61 

voted  to  his  Roman  masters,  and  had  a  taste  for  their  magnificence.  This 
induced  him  to  celebrate  games  and  shows  at  Cscsarea  in  honour  of  the 
emperor;  on  which  occasions  he  laboured  to  display  the  utmost  of  his 
grandeur.  His  pride  was  fartber  flattered  by  an  embassy  from  Tyre 
and  Sidon.  Those  cities  had  incurred  his  displeasure ;  but  as  they 
chiefly  drew  their  subsistence  from  his  dominions,  they  were  compelled 
to  supplicate  peace,  which,  though  they  had  highly  offended  him,  they 
obtained  by  their  interest  with  Blastus,  his  chamberlain.  The  king 
appointed  a  day  on  which  to  receive  their  submission,  when  he  appear- 
ed in  the  theatre  with  a  splendour  that  dazzled  the  eyes  of  the  specta- 
tors. He  addressed  himself  to  the  ambassadors  in  a  pompous  oration, 
suited,  we  may  suppose,  to  give  them  the  highest  idea,  both  of  his 
power  and  clemency.  When  he  had  ended,  he  heard  his  praises  re- 
sound from  every  quarter; — the  multitude  shouted,  "  It  is  the  voice  of 
a  god  and  not  of  a  man."  His  vain  heart  was  elated  with  this  impious 
compliment,  which,  considering  that  Herod  professed  the  knowledge 
of  the  true  God,  displayed  an  awful  instance  of  pride  and  impiety.  The 
angel  of  the  Lord  smote  him  with  an  irresistible  though  invisible  stroke, 
because  he  gave  not  God  the  glory ;  and  while  surrounded  with  the 
fancied  insignia  of  majesty,  and  in  the  midst  of  their  idolatrous  acclama- 
tions, he  was  seized  with  excruciating  pains,  "  worms  bred  in  his  pu- 
trefied flesh  and  devoured  him  alive."  In  this  wretched  condition  he 
continued  five  days,  and  then  expired,  an  awful  instance  of  God's  just 
judgment,  "who  resisteth  the  proud,  and  will  not  give  his  glory  to 
another."* 

While  these  things  were  transacting  in  Judea,  the  church  of  Antioch 
increased  greatly,  both  in  numbers  and  in  gifts.  For  besides  the  stated 
office-bearers  of  bishops  and  deacons,  which  were  common  to  all  the 
churches,  this  at  Antioch  had  several  eminently  gifted  persons,  as  pro- 
phets (or  exhorters,)  and  teachers  (or  ministers  of  the  word  ;)  among 
whom  were  Barnabas  and  Simeon,  and  Lucius,  and  Manaen,  and  Saul. 
By  means  of  a  certain  prophet  who  had  come  down  from  Jerusalem  to 
Antioch  in  those  days,  the  Lord  was  pleased  to  intimate  his  will  that, 
among  other  things,  a  season  of  scarcity  was  approaching  which  would 
severely  affect  the  disciples  in  Judea;  an  event  which  accordingly 
took  place  in  the  latter  end  of  the  fourth  or  beginning  of  the  fifth  year 
of  the  reign  of  Claudius,  as  is  noticed  by  Josephus,  Eusebius,  and 

*  The  account  which  Josephus  gives  of  the  death  of  Herod,  coincides  with  that 
given  by  Luke  in  the  Acts  of  the  Apostles,  except  that  the  former  goes  more  into 
detail,  and  has  particularly  noticed  that  the  king  himself  could  not  but  acknow- 
ledge the  hand  of  God  in  his  sufferings,  and  how  nattering  and  unjust  the  accla- 
mations were,  which  ascribed  divinity  to  him,  a  mortal  being,  now  seized  with  a 
disease  which  would  quickly  hurry  him  out  of  the  world.  He  left  behind  him  a 
son  named  Agiuppa,  then  seventeen  years  of  age,  before  whom  Paul  afterwards 
appeared  and  made  the  well  known  apology  for  Christianity,  by  which  he  almost 
persuaded  Agrippa  to  be  a  Christian.  He  also  left  two  daughters,  who  are  no- 
ticed in  the  New  Testament,  viz.  Bkrnice,  who  was  married  to  Herod,  king  of 
Chalcis,  her  father's  brother,  when  she  was  only  sixteen  years  of  age;  and  Dau- 
silla,  who  was  afterwards  married  to  the  governor  Felix.  After  the  death  of 
Herod  Agrippa,  the  kingdom  was  again  reduced  to  a  Roman  province,  and  then 
the  persecution  of  the  Christians,  for  awhile,  abated. 
6 


Q2  History  of  the  Christian  Church. 

Orosius.  In  this  calamitous  event,  we  have  a  signal  display,  not  only 
of  the  care  of  the  blessed  God  over  his  people,  in  revealing  its  approach 
by  the  ministry  of  this  prophet,  and  thus  giving  them  an  opportunity 
to  provide  against  it,  at  a  time  when  many  of  the  Christians  in  Jerusa- 
lem had  forsaken  all  for  the  gospel's  sake,  and  were  labouring  under 
peculiar  difficulties  ;  but  we  have  also  a  manifestation  of  his  divine  wis- 
dom and  goodness  in  so  ordering  the  course  of  events,  as  that,  in  the 
generous  and  disinterested  conduct  of  the  believing  Gentiles,  the  church 
at  Jerusalem  should  have  a  pledge  of  their  fervent  love  and  affection 
towards  them  as  their  Christian  brethren,  and  of  the  sense  they  enter- 
tained of  their  obligations  to  those  from  whom  the  sound  of  the  gospel 
first  came  out ;  for  "  having  been  made  partakers  of  their  spiritual 
things,  they  thought  it  perfectly  reasonable  to  minister  unto  them  in 
temporal  things."  And  if  we  also  take  into  the  account,  that  even 
among  the  believing  Jews  there  was  at  that  time  some  little  remains  of 
the  ancient  jealousy  about  the  admission  of  the  Gentiles  into  the  king- 
dom of  Christ,  we  cannot  but  see  how  wisely  adapted  this  was  to  dissi- 
pate all  evil  surmising  from  the  minds  of  the  former,  and  to  promote 
the  most  cordial  amity  and  concord  between  these  different  classes  of 
Christians.  Nothing  has  so  powerful  a  tendency  to  meliorate  the 
human  heart,  as  acts  of  kindness  and  love  ;  nothing  softens  the  mind 
of  man  and  infuses  into  it  a  favourable  opinion  of  others  like  expres- 
sions of  charity  !  No  sooner  was  the  approach  of  this  famine  intimated 
in  the  church  at  Antioch,  than  "  the  disciples,  every  man  according  to 
his  ability,  determined  to  send  relief  to  the  brethren  which  were  in 
Judea,  which  also  they  did,  and  sent  it  to  the  elders  by  the  hands  of 
Barnabas  and  Saul." 

Soon  after  Barnabas  and  Saul  had  returned  from  Jerusalem  to  Anti- 
och, the  Lord  was  pleased  to  make  known  his  will,  that  they  should  be 
separated  for  the  great  work  whereunto  he  had  called  them,  which  was 
accordingly  done  by  fasting  and  prayer,  accompanied  with  the  imposi- 
tion of  hands.  Saul  had  long  been  invested  with  the  apostolic  office  ; 
for  he  received  it  not  from  any  man  or  body  of  men,  as  he  himself 
declares,  but  immediately  from  Jesus  Christ.  We  are  not  therefore  to 
imagine  that  the  act  of  the  church,  on  this  occasion,  constituted  either 
Saul  or  Barnabas  apostles — but  it  recognized  them  as  the  apostles  of 
Christ;  and  from  the  whole  transaction  we  may  at  least  deduce  this 
instruction,  that  as  God  is  not  the  author  of  confusion,  but  of  order  and 
peace  in  all  the  churches  of  the  saints,  so  it  is  his  will  that  all  the 
affairs  of  his  kingdom  should  be  conducted,  not  as  human  Avisdom  may 
suggest,  but  from  a  regard  to  his  authority,  under  the  control  of  his 
revealed  will,  and  in  a  dependence  upon  him  for  his  blessing,  without 
which  the  wisest  and  best  concerted  measures  must  prove  fruitless. 

Thus  sent  forth  "by  the  Holy  Spirit,"  concurring  with  the  act  of 
the  church  at  Antioch,  they  accordingly  departed  unto  Seleucia,  a 
place  fifteen  miles  below  Antioch,  and  situated  upon  the  same  river, 
Orontes,  and  five  from  the  place  where  that  river  runs  into  the  sea. 
From  thence  they  sailed  to  the  island  of  Cyprus,  situated  in  the  eastern 
part  of  the  Mediterranean,  being  the  native  country  of  Barnabas.  As 
this  island  lay  contiguous  to  Judea,  it  abounded  with  Jews,  as  it  is 


Seleitcia,  Salmnis,  and  Paphos.  63 

attested  by  several  ancient  authors.  The  first  place  which  the  apos- 
tles visited  in  that  island  was 

Salamis,  a  city  lying  on  the  eastern  extremity,  and  one  of  the  High- 
est ports  to  Syria.  The  gospel  had  already  reached  that  island,  but 
the  knowledge  of  it  was  confined  to  the  Jews.*  The  apostles  here 
found  Jewish  synagogues,  which  they  frequented,  and  in  which  they 
preached  the  word  of  God  to  both  Jews  and  Gentiles.  After  this  they 
travelled  nearly  the  whole  length  of  the  island,  till  they  came  to  Pa- 
phos, which  was  situated  upon  th-j  western  extremity,  a  place  famed 
for  its  temple  and  obscene  worship  of  tbe  Paphion  Venus.  This  was 
the  residence  of  Sergius  Paulus,  the  Roman  proconsul,  who  hearing  of 
the  arrival  of  Barnabas  and  Saul,  sent  for  them,  desiring  to  hear  from 
their  mouths  the  word  of  God.  Here  the  apostles  were  withstood  by 
Elymas,  a  noted  magician,  who  sought  to  turn  away  the  deputy  from 
the  faith.  Saul,  however,  detected  his  malicious  intention  ;  and,  as 
Peter  had  formerly  done  in  the  awful  instance  of  Ananias  and  Sapphira, 
so  Saul  by  his  apostolic  power,  denounced  upon  Elymas  the  impending 
judgment  of  God  for  his  iniquity.  Scarcely  had  he  uttered  the  words 
when  the  sorcerer  was  struck  with  a  total  blindness,  insomuch  that  he 
went  about  seeking  some  one  to  lead  him  by  the  hand."t  The  Lord 
was  pleased  by  means  of  this  judgment  upon  Elymas,  to  awaken  the 
attention  of  the  proconsul  to  the  things  which  concerned  his  everlasting 
peace,  for  "  when  he  saw  what  was  done,  he  believed,  being  astonish- 
ed at  the  doctrine  of  the.  Lord." 

On  this  occasion,  we  find  the  first  intimation  of  the  change  of  the 
name  of  the  great  apostle  of  the  Gentiles  from  Saul  to  Paul.  Various 
conjectures  for  this  have  been  offered  by  the  learned.  By  some  it  is 
supposed  that  the  latter  title  was  given  him  because  he  had  been  the 
means  of  converting  Sergius  Paulus  to  the  Christian  faith ;  as  Scipio 
obtained  the  appellation  of  Africanus  from  the  circumstance  of  his  hav- 
ing conquered  Africa.  Others,  however,  and  among  them  ranks  the 
judicious  Benson,  account  for  it,  by  supposing  that  at  the  time  of  his 
circumcision  he  received  the  two  names  of  Saul  and  Paul — the  latter  as 
his  Roman  name,  (for  he  was  born  a  freeman  of  Rome,)  and  the  former 
as  his  Jewish  name,  for  he  was  a  Jew,  or  as  he  calls  himself,  a  Hebrew 
of  the  Hebrews.  As,  therefore,  he  had  been  called  Saul,  while  he  con- 
tinued among  the  Jews,  and  as  he  was  henceforward  to  execute  his 
ministry  among  the  Romans  he  adopted  his  Roman  name.  And  the 
same  reason  hath  been  assigned,  for  changing  the  name  of  his  compa- 
nion Silas  into  that  of  Silvanus.  Paul  and  Barnabas  quitting  Paphos 
sailed  to  Perga,  a  town  in  Pamphilia,  not  far  from  the  coast  of  Asia 
Minor,  from  whence  they  passed  on  to 

Antioch  in  Pisidia.  And  here  we  may  remark,  that,  in  executing 
their  mission  among  the  Gentiles,  it  was  the  invariable  practice  of  these 
apostles,  on  their  arrival  at  any  city  or  town,  where  they  had  not  pre- 
viously been,  in  the  first  place  to  inquire  whether  there  were  any 
Jewish  synagogue  in  it,  and  if  they  found  one,  they  attended  its  wor- 
ship on  the  ensuing  Sabbath.     Such  was  the  case  at  Iconium,  Acts  xiv. 

*  Acts  xi.  19.  f  Acts  xiii.  6—12. 


64  History  of  the  Christian  Church. 

1. — at  Thessalonica,  ch.  xvii  1. — at  Corinth,  ch.  xviii.  4. — at  Ephesus, 
ch.  xix.  8,  and  other  places  ;  and  such  was  the  case  at  Antioch  in  Pi- 
sidia,  where  "  they  went  into  the  synagogue  on  the  Sabbath  day  and 
sat  down."*  This  manner  of  proceeding  does  not  appear  to  have  been 
arbitrary  or  capricious  ;  but  conformable  to  the  revealed  will  of  their 
divine  Master,  who,  in  the  commission  which  he  gave  to  his  apostles 
to  preach  the  gospel  to  every  creature,  commanded  them  "  to  begin  at 
Jerusalem,"  the  place  where  he  was  crucified.  This  was  altogether 
in  unison  with  the  nature  and  with  the  properties  of  the  grace  revealed 
in  the  gospel  itself — which  "  Grand  as  the  bosom  whence  it  flowed, 
and  kind  as  the  heart  that  gave  it  vent, — outshines  the  thoughts  of  shal- 
low man."  So  we  find  Peter  reminding  the  Jews  that  unto  them  first 
GJod,  having  raised  up  his  Son  Jesus,  had  sent  him  to  bless  them,  in 
turning  away  every  one  of  them  from  his  iniquities.!  And  the  conduct 
of  Paul  at  Antioch  was  strictly  conformable  to  this.  He  first  address- 
ed himself  to  the  Jews,  briefly  glancing  at  their  history  from  the  period 
of  the  Exodus  of  their  fathers  from  Egypt  till  the  time  of  David,  that 
eminent  type  of  the  Messiah  ;  and  from  the  mention  of  whom  he  is  na- 
turally led  to  speak  of  David's  Son — the  Saviour  promised  unto  Israel. 
This  he  proceeds  to  prove,  was  none  other  than  Jesus  of  Nazareth,  of 
whose  character  John  the  Baptist  had  spoken  in  the  most  exalted 
terms — whom  the  Jewish  rulers  had  put  to  death,  but  whom  God  had 
raised  again  the  third  day,  and  of  whose  resurrection  the  apostles  were 
witnesses.  The  important  inference  which  the  apostle  deduced  from 
these  facts  and  doctrines  is,  that  "  through  this  man,  Christ  Jesus,  is 
preached  the  forgiveness  of  sins,  and  that  by  him  all  that  believe  are 
justified  from  all  things,  from  which  they  could  not  be  justified  by  the 
law  of  Moses;"  and  he  enforced  the  whole  by  the  most  awful  denun- 
ciations against  those  who  should  despise  his  doctrine  and  reject  his 
testimony. 

Many  of  the  Jews  had  no  ear  to  give  to  this  doctrine ;  but  to  the 
Gentiles  it  was  indeed  glad  tidings  of  great  joy  ;  and  even  some  of  the 
Jews  and  religious  proselytes  took  part  with  the  apostles,  who  exhort- 
ed them  to  continue  in  the  grace  of  God. 

The  Gentiles  having  thus  tasted  that  the  Lord  is  gracious,  expressed 
their  earnest  desire  that  the  apostles  would  again  preach  to  them  on  the 
following  Sabbath  ;  to  which  Paul  and  Barnabas  consenting,  almost  the 
whole  city  came  together  to  hear  the  word  of  God.  To  those  who 
know  any  thing  of  the  value  of  the  gospel  to  human  happiness,  one  can 
scarcely  imagine  a  more  interesting  spectacle,  than  the  bare  idea  of  such 
a  multitude  flocking  around  these  inspired  teachers  to  receive  from  their 
lips  the  words  of  eternal  life.  Vastly  different,  however,  was  its  effect 
upon  the  unbelieving  Jews  ; — "  they  were  filled  Math  envy,  and  spake 
against  those  things  which  the  apostles  taught,  contradicting  and  blas- 
pheming." Paul  and  Barnabas,  however,  animated  with  that  fortitude 
which  became  them  as  the  ambassadors  of  the  Most  High,  thus  so- 
lemnly warned  them  ;  "  It  was  necessary  that  the  word  of  God  should 
be  first  spoken  unto  you,  but  seeing  ye  put  it  from  you,  and  thereby 

*  Acts  xiii.  14,  &c.  f  Acts  iii.  26. 


The  Apostles  return  to  Antioch.  65 

declare  yourselves  unworthy  of  everlasting  life,  lo,  we  turn  to  the  Gen- 
tiles ;  for  so  hath  the  Lord  commanded  us,  saying,  (by  the  prophet 
Isaiah)  I  have  set  thee  for  a  light  to  the  Gentiles,  that  thou  shouldst  be 
for  salvation  to  the  ends  of  the  earth."  This  intelligence,  that  such 
things  had  been  prophesied  concerning  them  many  ages  ago,  and  that 
the  Lord  had  commanded  his  apostles  to  receive  them  as  subjects  of 
his  kingdom,  without  subjecting  them  to  the  law  of  Moses,  was  most 
acceptable  to  the  poor  Gentiles,  who  rejoiced  in  it  as  those  that  find 
great  spoil ;  and  they  glorified  the  word  of  the  Lord.  Thus  "  as  many 
of  them  as  were  ordained  to  eternal  life  believed  ;  the  word  of  the  Lord 
was  published  throughout  all  the  region,  and  the  disciples  were  filled 
with  joy  and  with  the  Holy  Spirit."*  A  persecution  was,  however, 
raised  against  the  apostles  by  the  unbelieving  Jews,  who  stirred  up  the 
devout  and  honourable  women  and  the  chief  men  of  the  city,  who 
speedily  succeeded  in  causing  them  to  be  expelled  out  of  their  coasts. 
They  therefore  shook  off*  the  dust  of  their  feet  as  a  testimony  against 
them  and  came  to 

Iconium,  which  was  then  the  chief  city  of  Lycaonia,  and  even  to  this 
day  subsists  as  a  considerable  town  under  the  name  of  Cogni,  situated 
at  the  foot  of  Mount  Taurus.  Here  also  they  found  a  synagogue  of  the 
Jews,  in  which  they  preached  the  gospel  with  such  success,  that  a 
great  multitude  botli  of  the  Jews  and  also  of  the  Greeks  believed  their 
testimony.  From  the  number  of  those  who  in  Iconium  are  said  to  have 
believed,  we  may  infer  that  it  was  a  great  and  populous  city,  as  well 
as  perceive  the  reason  of  the  apostles'  conduct  in  prolonging  their  stay 
in  it  to  establish  the  disciples  in  the  faith,  and  to  comfort  them  under 
the  persecution  which  the  unbelieving  Jews  raised  against  them.  But 
when  matters  arrived  at  such  a  crisis,  that  the  city  became  divided,  one 
part  holding  with  the  Jews  and  the  other  with  the  apostles,  the  latter, 
having  received  intimation  that  an  assault  was  about  to  be  made  upon 
them  to  use  them  cruelly  and  stone  them,  they  prudently  withdrew 
and  fled  to 

Lystra  and  Derbe,  two  other  cities  of  Lycaonia,  in  which  they 
preached  the  gospel.  At  the  former  of  these  places,  the  apostles  met 
with  one  who  had  all  his  days  been  a  cripple,  having  never  walked ; 
and  Paul  by  a  word  restored  him  to  the  perfect  use  of  his  limbs,  so  that 
he  leaped  for  joy.  This  extraordinary  cure,  performed  so  instantane- 
ously, excited  a  kind  of  ecstacy  and  surprise  in  the  minds  of  the  spec- 
tators, who  shouted  aloud  in  the  language  of  the  Cappadocians,  that  the 
gods  were  come  down  in  the  similitude  of  mortal  men.  And  they 
named  Barnabas,  Jupiter — and  Paul,  Mercury,  because  he  was  the 
chief  speaker.  The  next  thing  was  to  make  preparation  for  sacrificing 
oxen  to  them,  and  crowning  them  with  garlands,  as  was  customary 
with  their  heathen  deities.  But  the  apostles  were  very  differently 
minded  from  Herod,  (who  received  the  blasphemous  adulations  of  the 
people  upon  a.  far  less  occasion ;)  they  no  sooner  heard  of  it  than  they 
ran  into  the  midst  of  them,  and  after  the  eastern  manner  of  expressing 
grief  or  indignation,  they  rent  their  clothes  and  exclaimed,  "  Sirs,  why 

*  Acts  xiii.  16—52. 
6* 


66  History  of  the  Christian  Church. 

do  ye  these  things — we  are  men  of  like  passions  with  yourselves,  and 
preach  unto  you  that  ye  should  turn  from  these  vanities  to  the  living 
God,  who  made  heaven  and  earth,  and  the  sea,  and  all  things  that  are 
therein,"  &c.  Nor  was  it  without  difficulty  that,  even  with  these  argu- 
ments, they  prevailed  upon  them  to  desist  from  their  absurd  purpose. 

Among  the  fruit  of  their  ministry  here,  however,  at  this  time,  the 
apostles  had  the  satisfaction  of  enumerating  Timothy,  afterwards  an 
evangelist;  as  well  as  his  mother  Eunice  and  his  grandmother  Lois, 
whose  native  city  seems  to  have  been  Lystra.*  But  the  adversaries  of 
the  apostles  who  had  formerly  driven  them  from  Iconium,  at  length 
pursued  them  to  Lystra,  where  they  seized  Paul,  drew  him  out  of  the 
city,  and  stoned  him,  leaving  him,  as  they  thought,  dead.  While  his 
friends  stood  around  him,  however,  he  rose  up  and  walked  into  the 
city,  and  the  following  day,. Barnabas  and  he  took  their  leave  and  de- 
parted for  Derbe,  where  they  preached  the  gospel  with  much  success, 
and  from  thence  returned  to  Lystra,  Iconium,  and  Antioch,  establishing 
the  minds  of  the  disciples  in  the  truths  they  had  received,  exhorting 
them  to  continue  in  the  faith,  and  warning  them  that  they  must  through 
much  tribulation  enter  into  the  kingdom  of  God.  Upon  this  second 
visit,  they  also  ordained  elders  or  bishops  in  every  church,  which  was 
done  by  fasting  and  prayer,  commending  them  to  the  blessing  of  the 
Lord  Jesus  Christ  on  whom  they  believed.  After  this  they  passed 
throughout  all  the  region  of  Pisidia  and  came  to  Pamphilia,  where 
they  again  preached  the  word  in  the  city  of  Perga,  and  passing  through 
Attalia,  sailed  for  Antioch  in  Syria,  the  city  from  whence  they  had  ori- 
ginally taken  their  departure. 

Thus  having  accomplished  their  first  journey,  they  reported  to  the 
church  all  that  God  had  wrought  by  their  means,  and  especially  how 
he  had  opened  the  door  of  faith  to  the  Gentiles.  This  done  they  took 
up  their  abode  again  for  a  considerable  while  with  the  disciples  at 
Antioch.t 


SECTION  IV. 

THE  SUBJECT  CONTINUED. 

FROM  THE  RETURN  OF  PAUL  AND  BARNABAS  AFTER  THEIR  FIRST  JOUR- 
NEY, TO  THE  PERIOD  OF  PAUL'S  ARRIVAL  AT  JERUSALEM  WITH  THE 
CONTRIBUTION  FOR  THE  SAINTS;  BEING  HIS  SECOND  AND  THIRD 
JOURNEYS. 

While  Paul  and  Barnabas  were  prolonging  their  stay  with  the 
church  at  Antioch,  previous  to  their  setting  out  on  a  second  journey,  a 
circumstance  occurred  in  that  church,  which,  on  account  of  its  great 
importance  to  all  the  Gentile  converts,  appears  to  have  engaged  their 
most  serious  and  fixed  attention. 

*  Compare  1  Tim.  i.  2.  and  2  Tim.  i.  5.  with  Acts  xiv.  21.  and  chap.  xvi.  1,2. 
f  Acts  xiv.  19—23. 


The  Decree  respecting  Circumcision.  67 

It  seems  that  at  this  particular  juncture,  "  certain  men  came  down 
from  Judea,  and  taught  the  Gentile  brethren  at  Antioch,  that,  unless 
they  were  circumcised,  after  the  manner  of  Moses,  and  kept  the  law, 
they  could  not  be  saved."*  Some  suppose  these  teachers  to  have 
been  Cerinthus  and  Ebion,  the  founders  of  two  noted  sects,  of  which 
the  mention  frequently  occurs  in  ecclesiastical  history  ;  but  the  opi- 
nion rests  solely  upon  tradition— a  very  doubtful  guide  in  all  cases,  and 
more  especially  so  in  the  concerns  of  religion.  It  is  probable  that, 
whatever  were  their  names,  they  had  formerly  been  of  the  sect  of  the 
Pharisees  ;  and  that  when  they  became  professors  of  the  Christian 
faith,  they  still  retained  something  of  that  old  leaven,  of  which  Jesus 
had  warned  his  disciples  to  beware.  The  doctrine  and  spirit  of  that 
sect  were  very  opposite  to  the  religion  of  Christ ;  and  when  these 
men  embraced  the  gospel,  they  had  not  discerned  the  difference  so 
clearly  as  Paul  did  at  his  conversion — they  rather  reconciled  the  gos- 
pel to  their  former  ways  of  thinking,  than  became  themselves  recon- 
ciled to  its  simplicity.  Hence  we  iind  they  became  disturbers  of  the 
Gentile  churches,  as  is  evident  from  what  took  place  at  this  lime  at 
Antioch,  as  well  as  from  the  epistle  which  Paul  afterwards  wrote  to 
the  churches  of  Galatia. 

The  doctrine  of  these  teachers,  which  aimed  at  subjecting  the  Gen- 
tile converts  to  the  rite  of  circumcision,  and  especially  to  make  their 
obedience  to  that  institute  essential  to  their  salvation,  met  with  the 
most  pointed  opposition  from  these  apostles.  The  subject  involved 
the  whole  church  at  Antioch  in  dissension  and  disputation ;  and  ter- 
minated in  a  general  agreement  that  a  deputation,  consisting  of  Paul  and 
Barnabas,  with  several  others,  should  go  up  to  Jerusalem  to  consult 
the  apostles  and  the  elders  of  that  church  about  this  question.  In 
their  way  they  passed  through  the  regions  of  Phoenicia  and  Samaria, 
where  they  made  known  the  calling  of  the  Gentiles  into  the  Christian 
church,  and  the  success  which  their  ministry  had  met  with  among 
them,  to  the  inexpressible  satisfaction  of  the  Jewish  brethren. 

On  their  arrival  at  Jerusalem,  they  acquainted  the  apostles  and  el- 
ders with  the  object  of  their  mission,  in  consequence  of  which  the 
church  was  convened  to  take  the  subject  into  deliberation.  And  it  ap- 
pears that  even  in  that  church,  the  proposal  to  subject  the  Gentiles  to 
circumcision,  found  supporters,  especially  among  those  disciples  who 
had  originally  been  of  "  the  sect  of  the  Pharisees."!  "When  the 
church  had  been  some  time  harassed  with  the  dispute,  Peter  rose  up 
and  reminded  them  how  God  had  formerly  made  choice  of  him  to  be 
the  means  of  opening  the  door  of  faith  to  the  Gentiles,  and  how  he 
had  also  poured  out  the  Holy  Spirit  upon  them,  making  no  distinction 
in  his  kingdom  between  Jew  and  Gentile,  but  purifying  the  hearts  of 
each  by  faith.  He,  therefore,  expostulated  with  them  for  attempting 
to  bring  the  Gentile  brethren  under  the  severe  yoke  of  Jewish  cere- 
monies— a  yoke  so  intolerable,  that  neither  they  nor  their  fathers  were 
able  to  bear  it;  and  pronounced  the  project  of  these  men  to  be  no  less 
than  a  "  tempting  God."     And  he  closed  his  speech  by  declaring  the 

•  Acts  xv.  1,  24.  f  Acts  xv.  5. 


68  History  of  the  Christian  Church. 

sufficiency  of  the  grace  of  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ  to  effect  the  salvation 
of  both  Jews  and  Gentiles,  without  any  regard  to  the  peculiarities  of 
Judaism. 

When  Peter  had  ended  his  address,  Paul  and  Barnabas  gave  the 
church  a  particular  account  of  the  miracles  and  wonders  which,  by 
means  of  their  ministry,  God  had  wrought  among  the  Gentiles ;  and 
when  they  had  finished,  the  apostle  James,  who  seems  to  have  acted 
as  president  of  the  assembly  on  this  occasion,  summed  up  the  whole 
subject,  recapitulating  what  had  been  said,  and  giving  his  own  judg- 
ment as  an  apostle  of  Christ,  which  was,  "  That  they  should  not 
trouble  those  who  from  among  the  Gentiles  were  turned  unto  God ; 
but  that  they  should  write  unto  them,  that  they  must  abstain  from  pol- 
lutions of  idols,  and  from  fornication,  and  from  things  strangled,  and 
from  blood."  This  met  the  unanimous  approbation  of  the  whole 
church ;  and  accordingly,  letters  were  written  to  all  the  Gentiles,  dis- 
claiming the  authority  of  these  new  teachers,  protesting  against  their 
doctrine,  and  completely  freeing  the  disciples  from  the  yoke  of  bon- 
dage which  was  thus  attempted  to  be  imposed  upon  them.  So  Paul 
and  Barnabas  returned  from  Jerusalem  to  the  church .  at  Antioch, 
which  being  convened,  they  read  the  epistle,  to  the  great  consolation 
of  all  the  Gentile  brethren.  The  apostles,  after  this,  continued  at  An- 
tioch, teaching  the  disciples  the  commandments  of  the  Lord  Jesus,  and 
preaching  the  glad  tidings  of  salvation  to  all  sorts  of  men,  in  which  it 
seems  they  were  assisted  by  many  others  on  whom  the  glorified  Head 
of  the  church  had  bestowed  the  gifts  necessary  for  the  work  of  the 
Christian  ministry.* 

The  interest  of  the  kingdom  of  Christ  was  a  subject  that,  of  all 
others,  lay  nearest  to  the  heart  of  the  apostle  Paul.  The  church  at 
Antioch  was  now  confirmed  in  the  faith  and  obedience  of  the  gospel; 
the  question  which  had  lately  agitated  them  was  set  at  rest ;  and  it 
abounded  with  labourers  in  the  Lord's  vineyard  ;  he  therefore  proposed 
to  Barnabas  that  they  should  leave  Antioch  and  pay  a  second  visit  to 
the  different  places  in  which  they  had  formerly  preached  the  doctrine 
of  Christ,  and  examine  the  state  of  the  various  churches  they  had  there 
planted.  It  is  not  at  all  improbable,  that  Paul's  fear  and  jealousy  might 
be  excited,  lest  these  corrupt  teachers,  who  had  troubled  the  brethren 
at  Antioch,  might  also  get  access  into  other  Gentile  churches,  and  pro- 
pagate the  same  pernicious  sentiments,  thereby  subverting  the  doctrine 
of  divine  grace,  and  stumbling  the  Gentile,  disciples  in  their  profession. 
Barnabas  yielded  to  the  proposal ;  but  when  they  were  about  to  pro- 
ceed, a  difference  of  opinion  arose  between  them  as  to  the  propriety  of 
taking  Mark  with  them  as  an  evangelist,  or  assistant  in  the  work  of 
the  ministry ;  and  this  diversity  of  judgment  was  overruled  by  their 
common  Master,  no  doubt,  ultimately  to  promote  his  own  glory  and  the 
happiness  of  numbers,  by  inducing  the  aposties  to  travel  asunder  and 
in  opposite  directions  ;  for  the  result  was,  that  Barnabas  took  Mark,  his 
own  nephew,  and  sailed  unto  Cyprus,  his  native  country — while  Paul 
chose  Silas,  one  of  the  brethren  that  had  returned  with  him  from  Jeru- 

*  Acts  xv.  33. 


Barnabas  and  Mark  proceed  to  Cyprus.  69 

salem  when  he  last  visited  it;  and  being  commended  by  the  church  to 
the  Divine  benediction,  they  took  their  leave  and  proceeded  for  Syria 
and  Cilicia. 

Many  Christian  churches  were  collected  by  the  ministry  of  the  first 
preachers  of  the  word,  of  which  we  have  no  express  mention  in  that 
very  concise  narrative, — the  Acts  of  the  Apostles.  Thus,  for  instance, 
we  have  no  particular  account  of  any  Christian  churches  being  planted 
in  Cilicia,  yet  we  are  informed  that  Paul  and  Silas  went  through  Cilicia 
confirming  the  churches,  which  of  course  must  have  been  previously 
gathered  and  set  in  order.  And  when  we  consider  that  this  was  Paul's 
native  country,  and  that  previous  to  his  being  first  brought  to  Antioch 
by  Barnabas  he  had  spent  some  years  in  it,  we  may  reasonably  infer, 
that  his  ministry  had  been  owned  by  his  divine  Master,  and  that  he  was 
the  spiritual  father  of  many,  in  the  regions  of  Cilicia. 

Of  the  labours  of  Barnabas  and  Mark  in  the  island  of  Cyprus,  the 
sacred  history  is  silent;  but,  that  he  who  commissioned  his  apostles  to 
go  into  all  the  world  and  preach  the  gospel  to  every  creature,  and  who 
also  promised  to  be  always  with  them  while  thus  engaged,  even  to  the 
end  of  the  world,  did  own  their  labours  and  grant  them  success,  it  were 
unreasonable  to  doubt. 

Paul,  accompanied  by  Silas,  however,  among  other  places,  revisited 
Derbe  and  Lystra,  at  the  latter  of  which  he  had,  duringhis  former  visit, 
converted  Timothy,  then  quite  a  youth,  to  the  faith  of  Christ.  The 
father  of  Timothy  was  a  Gentile,  probably  proselyted  to  the  Jewish 
religion,  but  his  mother  and  grandmother  were  both  Jewesses.  From 
his  earliest  years  he  had  been  instructed  in  the  knowledge  of  the  Old 
Testament  writings — and,  it  would  seem  from  an  expression  which  Paul 
uses  in  one  of  his  letters  to  him,*  that  upon  his  being  first  brought  to 
the  knowledge  of  the  truth,  the  Holy  Spirit  had  given  a  prophetical  in- 
timation of  his  future  eminence  as  a  minister  of  the  word.  So  favour- 
able was  the  report  which  the  brethren  of  Lystra  now  gave  the  apostle, 
of  the  gifts,  the  zeal,  and  the  amiable  deportment  of  Timothy,  that 
Paul  chose  him  as  an  associate  in  the  work  of  the  ministry,  with  which 
office  he  was  solemnly  invested  by  the  prayers  of  the  church  and  the 
laying  on  of  the  hands  of  the  presbyters  of  the  church  at  Lystra.t  To 
prevent  the  Jews  in  that  quarter  from  cavilling  at  his  ministry,  because 
they  knew  that  his  father  was  a  Gentile,  the  apostle  circumcised  him 
with  his  own  hand:  after  which  they  proceeded  on  their  journey,  every 
where  delivering  to  the  churches  the  decrees  which  had  been  ordained 
by  the  church  at  Jerusalem,  and  which  ascertained  in  the  fullest  manner 
the  liberty  of  the  Gentiles  from  the  observances  of  the  Mosaic  ritual; 
and  by  these  means  they  were  established  in  the  faith,  and  their  num- 
bers multiplied  daily. 

Their  stay  appears  to  have  been  very  transient  in  Phrygia  and  the 
region  of  Galatia,  on  this  occasion;  nor  were  they  permitted  by  the 
Holy  Spirit  to  preach  the  word  at  this  time  in  Asia  Minor;  but,  pass- 
ing by  Mysia,  they  came  down  to 

*  1  Tim.  i.  18.  |  i  Tim.  iv.  14. 


70  History  of  the  Christian  Church. 

Troas,  a  noted  sea-port  town,  where  travellers  from  the  upper  coasts 
of  Asia  usually  took  shipping  to  pass  into  Europe.  Here  they  appeal- 
to  have  been  joined  by  Luke,  the  writer  of  the  history  of  the  Acts,  a 
native  of  Antioch,  as  is  generally  believed,  and  who,  to  the  profession 
of  a  physician,  had  joined  that  of  an  evangelist  or  preacher  of  the 
gospel.* 

At  Troas,  Paul  had  a  vision  in  the  night.  There  stood  beside  him 
a  man  of  Macedonia,  and  besought  him,  saying,  "  Come  over  into  Ma- 
cedonia and  help  us."  Paul  gave  an  account  of  this  vision  to  his  com- 
panions, who  all  concurred  in  one  interpretation  of  it,  namely,  that  the 
Lord  had  called  them  to  preach  in  Macedonia.  They  therefore  obeyed 
the  heavenly  admonition,  loosed  from  Troas,  and  went  direct  for  Samo- 
thracia,  an  island  in  those  seas,  famous  for  being  the  seat  of  certain  reli- 
gious mysteries,  in  ecmal  estimation  with  those  called  Eleusinian ;  but 
it  does  not  appear  they  went  on  shore,  for  they  landed  the  next  day  at 
PSeapolis,  a  sea-port  town  of  Macedonia. 

Thus  Paul,  having  first  preached  the  gospel  at  Damascus,  after  that 
in  Arabia,  next  at  Jerusalem,  and  throughout .  all  the  coasts  of  Judea, 
then  to  the  Gentiles  in  Syria  and  Cilicia,  and  most  of  the  countries  of 
the  Lesser  Asia,  was  now,  by  Divine  appointment,  entering  upon  his 
career  among  the  Greek  nations.  At  Neapolis,  where  he  first  landed, 
he  seems  to  have  made  little  or  no  stay,  but  to  have  proceeded  immedi- 
ately to 

Philippi,  which  is  said  to  have  been  the  chief  city  of  that  part  of 
Macedonia,  and  a  colony.  Though  an  inland  town,  Philippi  was  si- 
tuated on  the  river  Strymon,  which  was  the  ancient  boundary  of  Mace- 
donia. It  had  formerly  gone  by  the  name  of  Crenides,  owing  probably 
to  its  springs  or  fountains  of  water ;  for,  according  to  Appiaji,  it  was 
built  upon  a  hill.  Afterwards  it  took  the  name  of  Datus,  because  of 
the  gold  mines  which  were  in  its  neighbourhood.  But  Philip,  the.  fa- 
ther of  Alexander  the  Great,  having  conquered  Thrace,  added  that  part 
of  it  which  lay  between  the  rivers  Nessus  and  Strymon  to  Macedonia, 
and  observing  that  it  might  be  made  a  good  defence  against  the  Tlira- 
cians,  he  fortified  it  and  gave  it  the  name  of  Philippi,  in  honour  of  him- 
self. Lucian,  in  his  dialogue  entitled  The  Fugitives,  introduces  Her- 
cules describing  Philippi  in  the  following  manner:  "  The  plain,  which 
is  very  fertile,  raises  itself  into  little  hills,  which  serve  for  a  defence  to 
the  city  of  Philippi,  whose  walls  are  washed  by  the  river  Hebrus." 
Pierce,  in  his  Synopsis  prefixed  to  this  epistle,  mentions  certain  coins 
of  several  Roman  emperors,  and  particularly  one  of  Claudius,  the  in- 
scription of  which  intimates  that  a  colony  of  Romans  was  planted  at 
Philippi  by  Julius  Ca?sar,  and  afterwards  augmented  by  Augustus,  who 
sent  the  adherents  of  Mark  Anthony  into  this  and  other  cities  of  Mace- 
donia, so  that,  having  twice  received  inhabitants  from  Italy,  of  a  small 
town  it  became  a  great  city,  and  enjoyed  all  the  privileges  of  a  Roman 
colony. 

It  appears  as  though  there  were  but  few  Jews  resident  at  Philippi, 
since  we  find  no  mention  of  any  synagogue  in  it.    There  was,  however, 

*  Acts  xvi.  9,  10. 


Paid  and  Silas  arrive  at  Philippi.  71 

an  Oratory  or  Proseucha,  a  place  in  which  the  Jews  and  their  prose- 
lytes were  accustomed  to  assemble  for  prayer,  without  the  city,  by  the 
river  side,  to  which  Paul  and  his  companions  resorted  on  the  Sabbath- 
day,  and  being  set  down,  they  spake  unto  the  women  which  resorted 
thither.  Among  these  was  Lydia,  a  Jewish  proselyte,  of  the  city  of 
Thyatira,  who  had  taken  up  her  residence  at  Philippi  for  the  sake  of 
commerce.  The  Lord  opened  her  heart  so  that  she  understood  and  be- 
lieved the  doctrine  which  Paul  taught.  Lydia  and  her  domestics  were 
baptized  in  the  name  of  the  Lord  Jesus,  and  with  this  Christian  family 
the  apostle  and  his  associates  afterwards  took  up  their  abode,  during 
their  stay  at  Philippi,  which  is  said  to  have  been  "many  days." 

Upon  several  occasions,  as  they  went  to  the  place  where  the  Jews 
assembled  for  prayer,  they  were  annoyed  by  a  certain  damsel  possess- 
ed with  a  spirit  of  divination,  or  of  the  Pythian  Apollo — probably  a 
species  of  fortune-teller,  by  means  of  which  she  brought  her  employers 
much  gain.  She  seems  to  have  indulged  herself  in  pouring  ridicule 
upon  the  apostle  and  his  companions,  whom  she  followed  through  the 
streets,  exclaiming  aloud,  "these  men  are  the  servants  of  the  Most 
High  God,  which  show  unto  us  the  way  of  salvation."  Paul,  grieved 
with  her  conduct,  ejected  the  evil  spirit  out  of  her — which  greatly  en- 
raged her  masters,  for  they  perceived  that  there  was  now  an  end  to 
their  emoluments  from  that  quarter;  and  seizing  him  and  Silas,  they 
drew  them  before  the  magistrates  and  rulers  of  the  city,  making  bitter 
complaints  against  them  as  persons  who  "  exceedingly  troubled  their 
city,  teaching  customs  which  it  was  not  laAvful  for  them  to  observe, 
being  Romans."  This  speech  incensed  the  populace  against  them,  and 
the  too  credulous  magistrates  used  them  in  a  manner  that  was  both 
shameful  and  barbarous — ordering  the  lictors  to  tear  off  their  clothes 
and  beat  them  with  rods,  which  they  instantly  did,  and  with  great  se- 
verity. We  find  Paul  afterwards  alluding  to  this  cruel  treatment,  1 
Thess.  ii.  2.  and  again  2  Cor.  xi.  23,  where,  reciting  some  of  his  suf- 
ferings he  says,  "  he  had  received  stripes  above  measure."  Not  satis- 
fied, however,  with  this  brutal  outrage,  they  cast  them  into  prison, 
enjoining  the  jailer  to  keep  them  safely.  The  latter  well  understood 
their  meaning,  and  to  comply  with  it,  "  thrust  them  into  the  inner  pri- 
son, and  made  their  feet  fast  in  the  stocks."* 

In  this  situation,  distressing  no  doubt,  and  in  the  eyes  of  many  very 
contemptible,  at  midnight  Paul  and  Silas  prayed  and  sang  praises  to 
God,  in  the  hearing  of  the  other  prisoners.  And  now  the  Lord  caused 
a  great  earthquake  which  opened  all  the  doors  of  the  prison,  and  loosed 
every  one's  bonds.  The  jailer  was  by  the  noise  roused  from  his  slum- 
bers, and  thrown  into  the  utmost  consternation ;  and  finding  all  the 
doors  of  the  prison  open,  he  drew  his  sword  and  was  on  the  eve  of 
committing  suicide,  suspecting  the  prisoners  to  be  fled,  and  probably 
recollecting  the  strict  orders  he  had  received  the  day  before  concerning 
Paul  and  Silas.  The  apostles,  however,  perceiving  that  he  was  about 
to  lay  violent  hands  upon  himself,  cried  with  a  loud  voice,  "Do  thyself 
no  harm,  for  we  (the  prisoners)  are  all  here."     Upon  hearing  which, 

*  Acts  xvi.  24. 


72  History  of  the  Christian  Church. 

the  jailer  called  for  lights,  rushed  into  the  prison,  and  trembling,  fell 
down  before  Paul  and  Silas,  whom  he  brought  out,  and  said,  "  Sirs, 
what  must  I  do  to  be  saved  ?"  The  answer  was  direct  and  unequivo- 
cal  "Relieve  on  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ,  and  thou  shalt  be  saved,  and 

thy  house."  And  they  spake  unto  him  the  word  of  the  Lord,  and  all 
that  were  in  his  house. 

Nothing  could  possibly  be  better  suited  to  the  jailer's  case,  than  the 
doctrine  which  the  apostle  now  preached  unto  him.  It  was  an  imme- 
diate and  an  effectual  relief  under  all  the  horrors  of  a  guilty  conscience. 
He  found  in  it  what  reconciled  his  mind  to  God,  and  filled  him  with 
joy  and  peace,  as  the  sequel  shows  ;  for  believing,  he  rejoiced  in  God 
with  all  his  house,  and  was  baptized,  he  and  all  his  straightway.  The 
fruits  of  his  faith  were  instantly  apparent  in  his  kind  and  tender  treat- 
ment of  Paul  and  Silas  ;  for  he  took  them  the  same  hour  of  the  night,  and 
washed  their  stripes,  and  taking  them  into  his  house,  exercised  towards 
them  that  hospitality  which  became  a  Christian  brother. 

Such  were  the  transactions  of  this  memorable  night.  The  earthquake 
had,  no  doubt,  been  felt  over  the  whole  city ;  and  the  miraculous  open- 
ing of  the  prison  doors  would  soon  be  communicated  to  the  magistrates, 
who,  when  the  morning  arrived,  sent  an  order  for  the  discharge  of  the 
prisoners.  Paul,  however,  did  not  think  it  inconsistent  with  Christian 
meekness  to  demand  from  them  an  apology  for  the  illegal  treatment  he 
and  his  friend  had  sustained,  especially  considering  that  they  were 
Roman  citizens.  Of  this  latter  circumstance,  the  magistrates  seem 
never  to  have  had  the  least  apprehension  ;  but  on  being  told  it,  they 
took  the  alarm,  waited  upon  them  personally,  made  due  acknowledg- 
ments of  the  impropriety  of  their  conduct,  and  besought  them  to  depart 
out  of  their  city.  The  apostle  complied  with  that  request ;  but  his 
conduct  on  this  occasion  shows,  that  while  he  considered  it  to  be  his 
duty  to  demean  himself  as  a  quiet  and  peaceable  subject  of  the  govern- 
ment under  which  he  was  placed,  he  did  not  think  it  inconsistent  there- 
with, to  claim  the  protection  of  that  government,  and  all  the  civil  rights 
and  privileges  to  which  he  was  entitled.  So  quitting  the  prison,  they 
went  to  the  house  of  Lydiato  visit  their  brethren,  and  having  comforted 
them,  took  their  leave  of  Philippi,  leaving,  as  is  supposed,  Luke  behind, 
who  probably  continued  some  years  with  this  infant  society.* 

Thus  have  we  reviewed  the  origin  of  the  church  of  the  Philippians — 

*  The  following  are  some  of  the  grounds  on  which  this  supposition  is  founded. 
The  writer  of  the  Acts  of  the  Apostles,  previous  to  this  event,  carries  on  the 
narrative  in  the  following  manner.  Acts  xvi.  11 — 16.  "Loosing  from  Troas,  we 
came  with  a  straight  course  to  Samothrace — and  on  the  Sabbath  day  we  went 
out  of  the  city,  by  a  river  side — and  it  came  to  pass  as  we  went  to  prayer,"  &c. 
But  after  Paul  and  the  rest  departed  from  Philippi,  the  writer  changes  his  style, 
thus — "Now  when  they  had  passed  through  Amphipolis  and  Apollonia,  they 
came  to  Thessalonica,"  &c.  Nor  does  he  resume  his  former  manner  of  writing', 
until  chap.  xx.  where,  describing  Paul's  voyage  to  Syria,  he  thus  writes — "  These 
goinjr  before  tarried  for  us  at  Troas ;  and  we  sailed  from  Philippi  after  the  days 
of  unleavened  bread,  and  came  unto  them  to  Troas,  where  we  abode  seven  days." 
It  is  therefore  very  probable,  that  Luke  remained  with  the  new  converts  at  Phi- 
lippi, until  Paul,  several  years  afterwards,  in  his  way  from  Corinth  to  Syria,  came 
to  Philippi  and  took  him  with  them. 


Paul  and  Silas  visit  Thessalonica.  73 

a  church  which,  of  all  that  were  planted  by  this  apostle,  seems  to  have 
enjoyed  the  greatest  share  of  his  esteem  and  affection.  But  their  love 
was  evidently  reciprocal.  For  it  is  manifest  that  the  sufferings  which 
the  apostle  had  undergone  in  their  city,  for  the  sake  of  communicating 
to  them  the  knowledge  of  salvation,  more  precious  than  gold,  had  great- 
ly endeared  him  to  the  church  there ;  while,  on  the  other  hand,  the 
brethren  at  Philippi  lost  no  opportunity  of  evincing  their  gratitude  to 
the  apostle  ;  for  when  he  was  at  Thessalonica,  they  twice  sent  him  a 
pecuniary  contribution,  thus  enabling  him  to  make  the  gospel  without 
charge  to  the  Thessalonians.  They  also  sent  him  money  during  his 
first  imprisonment  at  Rome,  that  he  might  want  nothing  necessary  to 
his  comfort  which  they  could  supply.* 

Passing  through  Amphipolis,  a  city  built  in  an  island  formed  by  two 
branches  of  the  river  Strymon,  and  a  colony  of  the  Athenians,  and  from 
thence  through  Apollonia,  they  came  to 

Thessalonica,!  now  the  metropolis  of  all  the  countries  comprehend- 
ed in  the  Roman  province  of  Macedonia.  It  was  the  residence  both  of 
the  proconsul  and  questor  ;  so  that  being  the  seat  of  government,  it  was 
constantly  filled  with  strangers,  some  to  attend  the  courts  of  judicature, 
and  others  to  solicit  offices.  Placed  at  the  bottom  of  the  Thermaic 
gulf,  it  was  conveniently  situated  for  commerce,  and  many  of  its  inha- 
bitants were  merchants,  who  carried  on  an  extensive  trade  with  foreign 
countries.  The  Jews  resorted  to  this  city  in  such  numbers  as  to  form 
a  large  synagogue,  to  which,  according  to  his  usual  custom,  the  apostle, 
on  his  arrival  there,  had  recourse. 

The  account  which  is  left  us,  by  the  sacred  historian,  of  the  apos- 
tle's method  of  procedure  in  the  synagogue  of  Thessalonica,  though 
concise,  is  remarkably  comprehensive.  According  to  his  usual  custom, 
he,  during  three  Sabbath  days,  reasoned  with  them  out  of  the  Scrip- 
tures (of  the  Old  Testament,  which  Avere  esteemed  by  themselves  as 
the  oracles  of  God ;)  unfolding  their  meaning,  and  alleging  from  their 
true  import,  that  the  Messiah  must  necessarily  have  already  come; 
and,  moreover,  that  he  must  have  been  a  suffering  person,  since  their 
own  prophets  had  clearly  described  him  under  this  view ;  nay,  that  he 
must  also  have  risen  again  from  the  dead,  concerning  which  event  the 
spirit  of  prophecy  had  spoken  particularly  ;  and,  finally,  that  this  Jesus 
of  Nazareth,  unto  whom  he  bore  witness,  was  the  Christ,  or  true 
Messiah,  whom  they  were  anxiously  expecting.  The  result  was,  that 
some  of  the  Jews  believed  that  Jesus  whom  he  preached  was  the 
Christ,  the  Son  of  God,  the  Saviour  of  sinners,  and  consequently  con- 
sorted with  Paul  and  Silas,  and  of  the  devout  Greeks  a  great  multi- 
tude, and  of  the  women  of  chief  note  in  the  city  not  a  few4 

It  seems  probable  that  Paul  and  his  associates  continued  their  attend- 
ance on  the  synagogue  worship  no  longer  than  three  Sabbath  days, 
though  it  appears  from  Phil.  iv.  16,  that  they  remained  some  consi- 
derable time  after  that  in   Thessalonica.     But  having  now  repeatedly 

*  See  Phil.  iv.  15,  16,  and  ver.  18.  with  chap.  ii.  25. 

f  Anciently  called  Thermx;  it  still  subsists  as  a  place  of  some  note,  and  is  now 
in  possession  of  the  Turks,  under  the  name  of  Salonichi. 
i  Acts  xvii.  1 — 4. 

7 


74  History  of  the  Christian  Church. 

declared  their  testimony,  they  withdrew,  and  separated  the  disciples. 
After  this  Paul  and  Siias  appear  to  have  preached,  without  reserve, 
among  the  idolatrous  Gentiles,  and  to  have  wrought  many  miracles,  all 
which  were  attended  with  the  most  amazing  success;  for  in  the  first 
epistle,  which  he  wrote  not  long  afterwards  to  this  church,  he  reflects 
with  the  most  grateful  emotions  of  mind  upon  the  success  which  his 
ministry  had  among  them — that  the  gospel  which  he  preached  came 
unto  them  not  in  word  only,  but  in  power,  and  in  the  Holy  Spirit,  and 
in  much  assurance  ;  so  that  they  became  followers  of  the  apostles  and 
of  the  Lord,  having  received  the  word  in  much  affliction,  with  joy  of 
the  Holy  Spirit,  insomuch  that  the  Thessalonians  became  ensamples 
to  all  that  believed  in  Macedonia  and  Achaia — that  the  gospel  sounded 
out  from  them  ;  and  in  every  place  their  faith  towards  God  was  spoken 
of;  so  that  the  unbelieving  Jews  who  persecuted  them,  were  ready  to 
attest  the  power  which  the  gospel  had  upon  these  idolatrous  Gentiles, 
and  how  it  became  the  means  of  turning  them  to  God  from  idols  to  serve 
the  living  and  true  God,  and  to  wait  for  his  Son  from  heaven,  whom 
he  raised  from  the  dead,  even  Jesus,  who  delivered  them  from  the  wrath 
to  come.* 

Paul  and  his  companions  were  at  length  driven  from  this  city,  in 
consequence  of  a  persecution  raised  by  the  envious,  unbelieving  Jews, 
who  instigated  the  rabble  against  them,  setting  all  the  city  in  an  uproar, 
and  assaulting  the  house  of  Jason,  whom  they  drew,  along  with  other 
brethren  before  the  rulers  of  the  city.  In  this  state  of  things  it  was 
judged  prudent  to  withdraw,  which  they  accordingly  did,  unto 

Berea,  where  they  found  a  synagogue  of  the  Jews,  and  into  which 
they  entered,  declaring  their  testimony  as  at  Thessalonica.  To  the 
honour  of  the  Bereans,  it  is  recorded  that  they  received  the  doctrine 
which  the  apostle  preached,  and  with  the  utmost  readiness  of  mind 
examined  the  Scriptures  daily,  whether  the  things  he  declared  were  so 
or  not — the  happy  result  of  which  was  that  "  many  of  them  believed, 
of  honourable  women  which  were  Greeks,  and  of  men  not  a  few." 
Intimation,  however,  having  reached  Thessalonica  that  Paul  was 
preaching  with  great  success  at  Berea,  the  unbelieving  Jews,  who  had 
recently  driven  him  from  that  city,  followed  him  to  Berea,  and  there 
also  excited  the  multitude  against  him.  The  brethren,  therefore,  sent 
him  away,  as  though  he  were  going  towards  the  sea,  reserving  Silas 
and  Timothy  among  them,  who  seem  to  have  been  less  obnoxious  to 
the  Jews  than  Paul  was.  But  the  friends  of  the  latter,  anxious  for  his 
safety,  privately  conveyed  him  to 

Athens,  styled  by  general  consent,  "  the  seat  of  the  muses" — once 
the  first  city  of  Greece  in  every  point  of  view ;  and  though  it  had  at  this 
time  passed  the  zenith  of  its  political  splendour,  it  was  still  as  famous 
for  learning  as  it  had  ever  been :  for  at  the  time  Paul  visited  it,  the 
city  was  full  of  philosophers,  rhetoricians,  orators,  painters,  poets,  sta- 
tuaries, and  of  young  men  who  resorted  thither  to  be  taught  philoso- 
phy and  the  liberal  sciences.  Pausanias  says,  that  there  were  more 
images  in  Athens  than  all   Greece  besides,  and  that  they  worshipped 

*  1  Thess.  i.  5—10. 


Paul's  arrival  at  Athens.  75 

the  gods  more  than  all  Greece  did.  No  place  could  possibly  afford  a 
greater  fund  of  speculation  and  amusement  to  a  curious  mind  than 
Athens.  Temples,  altars,  statues,  historical  memorials,  living  philo- 
sophers of  various  sects,  the  works  of  the  learned  of  every  age,  a  con- 
fluence of  the  most  polite  and  literary  persons  from  various  countries, 
all  indulging  the  luxury  of  learned  leisure,  were  objects  that  must  at 
once  have  obtruded  themselves  upon  the  apostle's  notice.  Nor  was  he 
incapacitated,  either  by  defect  of  natural  taste  or  of  education,  from 
relishing  the  beauties  or  appreciating  the  value  of  such  things.  He  had 
enjoyed  a  liberal  education,  had  read  their  poets,  and  we  have  repeated 
instances  of  his  quoting  striking  passages  from  them.  But  in  Paul, 
the  Christian  predominated  over  the  philosopher  and  the  critic.  He 
plainly  saw,  that  with  all  their  advantages,  they  lacked  "  the  one  thing 
needful" — the  knowledge  of  the  true  God,  and  the  enjoyment  of  his 
life-giving  favour ;  without  which,  all  their  luxury  was  but  splendid 
misery. 

Having  carefully  surveyed  the  city,  Paul  found  the  inhabitants  were 
almost  wholly  devoted  to  idolatry,  and  he  therefore  sent  an  urgent  re- 
quest to  Silas  and  Timothy,  who  were  still  at  Berea,  to  come  to  him 
with  all  possible  expedition.  Finding  a  synagogue  of  the  Jews,  his 
first  object  was  to  dispute  with  them,  and  with  the  Gentiles  proselyted 
to  their  religion  ;  and  after  that,  with  such  of  the  idolatrous  inhabitants 
as  he  met  with  in  the  market-place.  The  apostle  was  soon  attacked  by 
some  of  the  philosophers  belonging  to  two  of  their  most  renowned 
sects,  viz.  the  Epicureans  and  the  Stoics.  The  Epicureans  are  said 
to  have  ascribed  neither  creation  nor  providence  to  God,  but  held  that 
the  world  was  made  by  a  casual  conflux  of  atoms — That  the  gods,  if 
there  were  any,  were  of  human  shape,  who  lay  lolling  upon  the  clouds 
in  ease  and  indolence,  entirely  unconcerned  about  human  affairs.  They 
also  held,  that  in  the  present  state,  pleasure  is  the  chief  good  ;  and  that 
men  are  not  to  expect  a  resurrection  from  the  dead,  or  any  future  state 
of  rewards  and  punishments.  The  Stoics,  who  were  intolerably  proud 
and  arrogant,  held  that  matter  was  eternal,  God  corporeal,  and  that 
either  God  was  the  soul  of  the  world,  or  the  world  itself  a  god.  They 
looked  upon  all  things  as  subject  to  an  irresistible  fatality  ;  that  virtue 
was  its  own  sufficient  reward,  and  vice  its  own  sufficient  punishment. 
They  fluctuated  as  to  their  belief  of  a  future  state  of  rewards  and  pu- 
nishments, though  they  had  some  expectation  of  an  hereafter,  as  well 
as  of  the  conflagration  and  renovation  of  the  world. 

In  the  eyes  of  these  philosophical  gentlemen,  the  apostle  appeared 
a  mere  bladder ;  and  in  the  plenitude  of  their  superior  wisdom,  they 
looked  down  upon  him  with  all  the  pride  and  disdain  that  has  ever  cha- 
racterized persons  of  similar  tenets  and  pretensions.  When  Paul 
preached  to  them  Jesus  and  the  resurrection,  they  regarded  him  as  a 
setter  forth  of  new  deities.  However,  as  it  belonged  to  the  court  of 
Areopagus  to  take  cognizance  of  such  things,  they  brought  Paul  be- 
fore it. 

They  had  at  Athens  two  courts  of  judicature,  of  which  one  was 
chosen  annually,  consisting  of  five  hundred  persons.  The  other  was 
perpetual ;  and  the  members  of  it  were  accustomed  to  assemble  in  the 


76  History  of  the  Christian  Church. 

forum  called  Areopagus,  which  stood  upon  a  hill,  and  was  the  highest 
forum  in  Athens.  The  judges  belonging  to  this  latter  court  were  held 
in  such  veneration,  that,  to  be  an  Areopagite  was  a  term  used  prover- 
bially among  them  for  an  excellent  person.*  They  were  the  Athenian 
senate,  or  standing  court  of  judicature,!  and,  besides  other  things,  mat- 
ters of  religion,  blasphemy  against  the  gods,  contempt  of  the  holy  mys- 
teries, and  all  sorts  of  impiety ;  the  consecration  of  new  gods,  the 
erecting  of  temples  or  altars,  and  the  introduction  of  new  ceremonies 
into  divine  worship,  were  referred  to  the  judgment  of  this  court.  Con- 
ceiving, therefore,  that  the  apostle  had  some  new  object  of  worship  to 
propose  to  the  Athenians,  it  was  perfectly  natural  for  them  to  conduct 
him  before  this  venerable  assembly,  which  having  done,  they  requested 
him  to  explain  himself  concerning  this  new  doctrine  ;  they  frankly  ac- 
knowledged that  he  brought  strange  things  to  their  ears,  in  talking  to 
them  about  Jesus  and  the  resurrection,  and  they  desired  to  know  what 
these  things  meant. 

The  apostle's  discourse  upon  this  occasion  has  always  been  admired 
as  a  model  of  fine  address  and  of  cogent  reasoning.  He  had  carefully 
inspected  their  religious  rites  and  worship;  and,  among  the  multiplicity 
of  their  altars,  had  observed  one  that  was  dedicated  to  "the  unknown 
God."  He  began,  therefore,  by  stating,  that  he  perceived  them  to  be 
extremely  religious  ;±  for  besides  the  number  of  temples  and  altars 
which  they  had  in  common  with  the  other  cities  of  Greece,  he  observed 
one  with  this  peculiar  inscription,  "  To  the  unknown  God."  He  might 
therefore  fairly  presume  that  it  would  not  be  unacceptable  to  them  to  be 
made  acquainted  with  the  character  of  that  Being  whom  they  ignorantly 
worshipped.  "  God,"  says  he,  "  who  made  the  world  and  all  things 
therein,  seeing  that  he  is  Lord  of  heaven  and  earth,  dwelleth  not  in 
temples  made  with  hands,  neither  is  worshipped  with  men's  hands,  as 
though  he  needed  any  thing,  since  he  giveth  to  all  life  and  breath  and 
all  things,  and  hath  made  of  one  blood  all  the  nations  of  the  earth." 
And  here  we  may  remark,  in  passing,  the  different  method  which  the 
apostle  pursued,  in  reasoning  with  the  idolatrous  Gentiles,  from  that 
which  he  uniformly  adopted  with  the  Jews.  The  latter  had  in  their 
.hands  the  writings  of  Moses  and  their  prophets,  which  they  themselves 
acknowledged  to  be  the  oracles  of  God.  In  attempting  to  engage  their 
attention  to  his  testimony,  he  had  nothing  to  do  but  make  his  appeal  to 
those  Scriptures,  and  convince  them  that  their  own  prophets  had  fore- 
told all  that  he  now  testified  unto  them,  for  that  in  reality  "  he  said 
none  other  things  than  what  Moses  and  the  prophets  did  say  should 
come,  viz.  that  Christ  should  sutler,  and  that  he  should  be  the  first  to 
rise  from  the  dead,  and  should  show  light  to  his  people  Israel  and  to  the 
Gentiles."  But  with  the  Athenians,  who  had  no  written  revelation  in 
their  hands,  he  proceeds  upon  quite  other  principles  :  he  appeals  to  the 
volume  of  creation,  and  argues  from  the  impressions  of  power,  wisdom, 
and  goodness  every  where  displayed  before  their  eyes  ;   he  asserts  the 

*  Aulus  Gellius,  b.  12.  ch.  7.  f  Potter's  Gr.  Antiq.  vol.  i.  p.  105. 

t  Very  religious,  for  so  the  word,  dusiaaimonesteroi,  should  be  translated,  as 
lias  been  frequently  remarked  by  critics,  and  not  too  superstitious,  as  our  trans- 
lators have  it. 


Paul  arrives  at  Corinth.  77 

providence  and  the  omnipresence  of  God  ;  that  he  is  the  fountain  of  life 
and  all  its  comforts — the  supreme  disposer  of  all  events,  and  the  com- 
mon lather  of  mankind;  appealing  in  proof  of  this  part  of  his  doctrine 
to  Aratus,  one  of  their  own  most  favourite  poets.  From  these  first 
principles,  founded  in  reason,  and  which  commend  themselves  to  the 
consciences  of  all  men,  the  apostle  justly  infers  the  folly  of  their  idols. 
Admitting  as  they  did,  that  they  themselves  Avere  the  offspring  of  God, 
how  absurd  was  it  in  them  to  imagine  "  the  Godhead  like  unto  gold, 
or  silver,  or  stone  graven  by  artor  man's  device."  Thus,  having  shown 
the  gross  absurdity  of  their  idolatrous  worship,  he  declared  to  them 
that  the  Most  High  had  for  a  course  of  time  allowed  men  to  go  on  in 
their  ignorance,  without  instructing  them  by  messengers  divinely  com- 
missioned, that  he  might  show  them  by  facts  and  their  own  experience, 
the  insufficiency  of  their  reason  in  the  concerns  of  religion.  But  the 
state  of  things  was  now  changed  ;  for  the  time  was  come  when  God 
commanded  all  men,  every  where,  to  repent  of  their  ignorance,  idola- 
try, and  wickedness,  having  "  appointed  a  day  in  the  which  he  will 
judge  the  world  in  righteousness  by  his  Son  Jesus  Christ,  whom  he 
had  raised  from  the  dead,"  and  in  that  event  hath  given  the  highest  cer- 
tainty of  the  fact. 

When  they  heard  of  the  resurrection  of  the  dead,  the  Epicureans 
mocked  him,  and  the  Stoics  found  so  little  interest  in  his  reasoning, 
that  they  gladly  adjourned  the  meeting,  promising,  like  Felix,  upon 
another  occasion,  to  hear  him  again  of  this  matter  at  a  more  convenient 
season.  Some  few  individuals,  however,  were  struck  with  his  doc- 
trine, and  received  it  as  Divine  truth ;  amongst  whom  was  Dionysius, 
one  of  the  Areopagite  judges,  and  a  woman  of  some  note  named  Da- 
maris,  with  a  few  others,  who  consequently  clave  to  the  apostle  and 
consorted  with  him.  The  handful  of  seed,  however,  sown  at  this  time, 
at  Athens,  produced,  in  due  season,  the  harvest  of  a  numerous  church, 
as  will  be  seen  in  the  history  of  the  next  century. 

AVhile  Paul  was  thus  employed  at  Athens,  Timothy  arrived  from 
Berea,  and  informed  him  that  the  enemies  of  the  faith  at  Thessalonica 
had  raised  a  dreadful  persecution  against  the  disciples  there  ;  on  hearing 
which,  the  apostle  thought  it  best  to  be  left  alone  at  Athens,  and  with- 
out delay  despatched  Timothy  to  Thessalonica  to  succour  the  brethren 
in  their  distress  ;  to  comfort  their  hearts,  and  prevent  their  being  turned 
aside  from  the  good  profession  they  had  made,  by  the  afflictions  they 
were  now  enduring.*  Timothy  soon  afterwards  returned  to  the  apos- 
tle bringing  him  a  most  pleasing  account  of  their  steadfastness  in  the 
faith,  their  regard  for  Paul,  and  their  anxious  desire  to  see  him  again, 
all  which  greatly  refreshed  and  cheered  his  mind.t  From  Athens  he 
proceeded  to 

Corinth,  a  city  situated  on  the  narrow  neck  of  land  which  joined 
the  Peloponnesus  to  Greece,  in  consequence  of  which  it  commanded 
the  commerce  of  both  Asia  and  Europe.  On  the  eastern  side  of  the 
isthmus  were  the  ports  of  Cenchrea  and  Sch?enus,  and  being  thus  ad- 
vantageously situated  for  commercial  purposes,  it  soon  became  extreme- 

*  1  Thess.  iii.  1—6.  f  Ibid.  ver.  6,  7. 


History  of  the  Church  of  Christ. 


78 

ly  rich  and  populous.  Its  original  name  was  Ephyre,  but  during  the 
Achaean  war,  the  Roman  consul,  Mummius,  burnt  it  to  the  ground.  It 
was,  however,  rebuilt  by  Julius  Caesar,  afler  having  long  lain  in  ashes, 
and  by  his  command  it  was  colonized  with  the  ancestors  of  those  Gen- 
tiles to  whom  Paul  preached  the  everlasting  gospel.  When  Achaia 
was  made  a  Roman  province,  Corinth,  becoming  the  seat  of  govern- 
ment, soon  regained  its  ancient  celebrity  in  regard  to  commerce  and  its 
attendants,  riches  and  luxury  ;  so  that,  at  the  time  it  was  visited  by  Paul, 
it  was  almost  as  famous  for  learning  and  the  arts  as  Athens  itself.  Here 
philosophers  taught  science,  and  established  academies  for  the  instruc- 
tion of  youth ;  and  in  such  high  reputation  were  its  seminaries,  that  an 
education  at  Corinth  became  proverbial  for  the  most  finished  cultivation 
of  manners,  in  every  polite  and  literary  accomplishment.*  "With  all 
its  advantages,  however,  it  seems  to  have  outstripped  every  city  of 
Greece  in  laxity  of  morals  ;  insomuch  that  a  Greek  word,  formed  by 
the  name  of  this  city,  has  been  used  to  signify  all  lasciviousness  and 
profligate  corruption  which  leave  the  human  heart  enslaved  to  the  basest 
and  most  headstrong  passions.  According  to  Strabo,  there  was  in  it  a 
temple  dedicated  to  Venus,  at  which  no  less  than  a  thousand  priestesses 
attended,  who  made  prostitution  a  part  of  their  devotions  to  the  god- 
dess. 

Paul,  on  his  arrival  in  this  city,  found  a  Jewish  Christian,  of  the 
name  of  Aquilla,  and  his  wife  Priscilla,  just  arrived  from  Italy,  in  con- 
sequence of  a  decree  which  had  been  issued  by  the  Roman  emperor 
Claudius  Caesar,  commanding  all  Jews  to  depart  from  Rome.  It  is 
affirmed  by  Dio,  an  ancient  historian,  that  Claudius  did  not  banish  the 
Jews  from  Rome,  but  only  prohibited  their  assemblies.  This,  however, 
even  though  his  decree  proceeded  no  further,  was  in  effect  banishing 
all  those  who  had  any  conscience  of  religion.  But  Suetonius,  who 
lived  nearer  the  time,  expressly  says,  that  "  he  expelled  the  Jews  from 
Rome,  who  were  continually  making  tumults  ;  Chrestus  being  their 
leader,  or  the  occasion  of  their  disturbances. "t  It  is  a  matter  of  dis- 
pute among  the  learned,  whether  by  Chrestus,  Suetonius  meant  Jesus 
Chiist,  or  not.  The  probability  is,  that  he  did  ;  for  in  other  places  he 
has  shown  himself  peculiarly  virulent  against  the  Christians.^  And, 
admitting  this  to  have  been  his  meaning,  it  shows  us  that  the  decree  of 
Claudius  was  occasioned  by  the  tumults  which  the  unbelieving  Jews 
were  continually  raising  at  Rome  against  the  disciples  of  Christ,  just 
as  they  persecuted  Paul  and  his  party  at  Lystra,  Thessalonica,  and 
Berea,  and  afterwards  at  Corinth,  not  to  mention  their  conduct  in  the 
cases  of  Stephen,  the  apostles,  or  the  Lord  Jesus  himself. 

The  Jews  being  numerous  in  Corinth,  and  having  a  synagogue,  Paul, 
according  to  his  custom,  had  immediate  recourse  to  it ;  and  there,  for 
some  time,  "he  reasoned  every  Sabbath,  and  persuaded  the  Jews  and 
Jewish  proselytes,  testifying  in  the  boldest  manner,  that  Jesus  was  the 
Messiah."     But  when  they  opposed  and  reviled  his  doctrine,  he  shook 

*  Thus  the  Roman  poet  Horace, — 

"  Non  cuivis  homini  contingit  adire  Corinthum." 
f  Life  of  Claudius,  ch.  25.  *  Life  of  Nero,  ch.  16. 


Paul  persecuted  at  Corinth.  79 

his  raiment,  to  indicate  that  he  had  done  with  them,  adding-,  "  Your 
blood  be  upon  your  own  heads,  1  am  clean ;  from  henceforth  I  will  go 
to  the  Gentiles  ;"  on  saying  winch,  he  departed  from  the  synagogue 
and  went  into  the  house  of  Justus,  which  lay  contiguous  to  it.  Crispus, 
however,  the  chief  ruler  of  the  synagogue,  received  Paul's  testimony, 
as  did  also  his  household,  and  "  many  of  the  Corinthians,  hearing,  be- 
lieved, and  were  baptized."* 

It  is  not  improbable  that  the  apostle,  experiencing  so  much  opposi- 
tion as  he  at  first  did  from  the  Jews  in  this  city,  was  about  to  take  a 
speedy  departure  from  it ;  but  if  such  was  his  purpose,  he  was  prevented 
from  carrying  it  into  effect,  by  a  vision  which  he  had  during  the  night. 
The  Lord  Jesus  appeared  to  him,  to  animate  and  encourage  him  to 
persevere  in  preaching  the  gospel  at  Corinth.  "  Be  not  afraid,"  were 
his  gracious  words,  "but  speak,  and  hold  not  thy  peace, for  I  am  with 
thee,  and  no  man  shall  set  on  thee  to  hurt  thee,  for  I  have  much  peo- 
ple in  this  city."  Thus  encouraged,  he  continued  there  a  year  and 
six  months,  teaching  the  word  of  God,  who  gave  testimony  to  the  word 
of  his  grace,  and  made  the  labours  of  his  servants  instrumental  in  gather- 
ing a  numerous  church,  enriched  with  a  plenitude  of  spiritual  gifts. 
While  here,  he  also  wrote  his  First  Epistle  to  the  Thessalonians,  which 
is  generally  thought  to  have  been  the  first  written  of  all  his  fourteen 
epistles.  By  some,  however,  it  is  thought  he  had  previously  written 
his  epistle  to  the  churches  of  Galatia,  and  that  he  did  it  at  Antioch,  be- 
fore he  left  that  city  to  take  his  present  journey  into  Greece. 

During  these  eighteen  months  that  Paul  is  said  to  have  passed  at 
Corinth,  it  seems  probable  that  he  made  an  excursion  from  that  city 
into  the  region  of  Achaia,  or  the  Peloponnesus,  where  were  many 
synagogues  of  the  Jews,  and  from  whence  he  returned  again  to  Corinth, 
(2  Cor.  ch.  xi.  ver.  10.) ;  and  if  we  consider  that  his  second  epistle  is 
addressed  "to  the  saints  which  are  in  all  Achaia,"  it  plainly  shows 
that  he  had  made  many  converts  at  other  places  in  that  quarter  besides 
the  city  of  Corinth.  Accordingly  his  return  to  it  is  spoken  of  as  a 
second  coming  to  Corinth,  for  he  tells  them,  2  Cor.  xii.  14.  and  chap, 
xiii.  1,  that  he  was  then  coming  to  them  the  third  time,  though  in  the 
Acts  of  the  Apostles  there  is  no  mention  of  his  having  been  at  Corinth 
more  than  once  before  he  wrote  his  second  epistle  to  that  church. 

The  great  success  which  crowned  the  apostle's  ministry  at  this  time, 
seems  to  have  exasperated  his  enemies  to  the  highest  pitch.  They 
formed  a  conspiracy  to  apprehend  him,  in  which  they  succeeded,  and 
dragged  him  before  the  judgment-seat  of  the  deputy  of  Achaia,  com- 
plaining bitterly  that  he  persuaded  men  to  worship  God  contrary  to 
the  law  of  Moses.  Gallio  was  the  present  proconsul,  and  had  just 
entered  upon  his  new  dignity.  This  man  was  the  elder  brother  of  the 
famous  Seneca,  the  Stoic  philosopher  and  tutor  to  Nero,  and  it  is  con- 
jectured he  obtained  the  office  through  the  interest  of  his  brother 
Seneca.  The  latter  has  described  Gallio,t  as  a  man  of  the  most 
mild  and  amiable  disposition,  of  great  suavity  of  manners,  and  be- 
nign   to    men   in   general.      Dion  Cassius  also  commends  him  as  a 

*  Acts  xviil.  8.  f  Senecx  Prsefut.  ad  Natural.  Quest,  lib.  4. 


80  History  of  the  Church  of  Christ. 

man  of  great  wit  and  good  sense.*  As  his  conduct  regards  the  case  of 
Paul,  he  has  been  severely  censured  by  many  Christian  writers,  but 
probably  without  due  consideration.  He  rather  seems  to  have  been 
aware  of  the  futility  of  the  charge  which  these  Jews  alleged  against 
the  apostle,  and  like  a  wise  magistrate,  who  considered  matters  of  opi- 
nion quite  beyond  his  province,  so  long  as  they  did  not  disturb  the 
peace  of  society,  he  told  the  Jews  that  if  they  had  any  accusation  to 
prefer  against  Paul  for  a  breach  of  the  civil  law,  he  was  ready  to  listen 
to  them  ;  but  if  it  was  merely  a  question  of  words  and  names,  and  mat- 
ters regarding  their  law,  they  must  settle  it  among  themselves,  for  he 
would  be  no  judge  in  affair's  of  that  nature  ;  Avhich  having  said,  he 
drove  them  from  his  judgment-seat. 

After  this  the  apostle  prolonged  his  stay  some  time  at  Corinth,  from 
whence  it  would  seem  that  the  rulers  were  not  unfriendly  towards 
him  ;  but  afterwards,  taking  his  leave  of  the  brethren,  he  sailed  from 
the  port  of  Cenchrea,  accompanied  by  Aquilla  and  Priscilla ;  and  the 
vessel  touching  at  Ephesus,  Paul  left  them  there ;  for,  having  come 
under  a  vow  while  at  Cenchrea,  it  was  necessary  he  should  offer  the 
appointed  sacrifices  at  Jerusalem,  at  the  ensuing  feast  of  the  passover, 
which  was  then  just  at  hand.  He  therefore  bade  them  farewell;  yet 
perceiving  that  Ephesus  stood  much  in  need  of  the  light  of  the  glorious 
gospel,  he  promised  to  return  to  them,  when  the  Lord  should  permit; 
and  quitting  that  city,  he  landed  at  Caesarea,  from  whence  he  went  up 
to  Jerusalem  and  saluted  the  church,  performed  his  vow,  and  returned 
to  Antioch.  After  spending  some  time  there  with  his  old  friends,  he 
went  over  all  the  country  of  Galatia  and  Phrygia,  in  order,  strength- 
ening the  disciples;  and  passing  through  the  upper  coasts,  he  at  length 
returned  to 

Ephesus,  which  was  at  that  time  the  metropolis  of  the  province  of 
Asia,  and  an  exceedingly  populous  city.  It  was  situated  upon  the  ri- 
ver Layster,  and  famous,  among  other  things,  for  an  immense  temple 
dedicated  to  the  worship  of  the  goddess  Diana.  This  amazing  edifice 
was  four  hundred  and  twenty-five  feet  long,  and  two  hundred  and 
twenty  broad,  supported  by  an  hundred  and  twenty-seven  stately  pil- 
lars, each  of  them  sixty  feet  high,  the  work  of  a  king,  who  erected 
them  as  a  token  of  his  piety  and  magnificence.  The  entire  structure 
was  two  hundred  and  twenty  years  in  building,  and  reared  at  the  com- 
mon charge  of  all  Asia  propria  ;  and  so  admirable  was  it,  that  it 
ranked  as  one  of  the  seven  wonders  of  the  world.  It  had  been  twice 
destroyed  by  lire  previous  to  its  present  enlarged  and  improved  state  ; 
the  first  time,  on  the  very  day  that  Socrates  was  poisoned,  and  the 
second  on  the  night  in  which  Alexander  the  Great  was  born,  when  it 
was  designedly  set  on  fire  by  Erastratus,  who,  being  condemned  to  die 
for  it,  confessed  that  he  had  destroyed  so  exquisite  a  structure,  solely 
"that  he  might  be  remembered  in  future  ages."  The  common  coun- 
cil of  Asia,  however,  not  only  put  him  to  death,  but  passed  a  decree 
that  "  his  name  should  never  be  mentioned  more."  The  fame  of  Eras- 
tratus,  nevertheless,  survived  their  decree ;    for   though  silence  may 

•  Lib.  10.  p.  688,  Sec. 


The  Church  at  Ephesus.  81 

have  been  imposed  upon  that  generation,  his  conduct  has  been  record- 
ed by  almost  every  historian  who  has  written  of  those  times.  It  was, 
however,  again  rebuilt  upon  a  plan  of  the  celebrated  architect  Deno- 
crates,  and  most  magnificently  adorned  by  the  Ephesians.  When 
Paul  visited  the  city,  this  temple  was  in  all  its  glory.  Here  a  prodi- 
gious concourse  of  people  always  resorted ;  some  to  worship  the  god- 
dess Diana,  others  to  learn  the  arts  of  sorcery  and  magic,  which  were 
taught  and  practised  with  such  reputation  at  Ephesus,  that  the  magical 
words  or  sentences  used  in  sorcery  were  taken  from  the  name  of  the 
city,  being  called  Ephesian  letters.  Many  came  to  prosecute  law- 
suits, or  to  solicit  offices  from  the  Roman  governor  of  the  province, 
who  resided  here ;  to  all  which  may  be  added,  that  multitudes  resorted 
to  it  for  the  purposes  of  commerce,  or  were  continually  passing  through 
it  in  their  way  to  -and  from  Europe. 

But  that  Avhich  more  especially  renders  Ephesus  interesting  to  the 
ecclesiastical  historian  is,  that  Satan  had  there  erected  his  very  throne 
of  idolatry,  superstition,  and  magic  ;  and  reigned  over  the  minds  of  his 
deluded  subjects  with  uncontrolled  sway.  The  apostle  on  his  way  to 
Jerusalem,  had  caught  a  transient  glimpse  of  the  state  of  things  in 
that  city,  and  having  discharged  his  vow,  he  returned  as  expeditiously 
as  was  consistent  with  his  purpose  in  visiting  the  countries  that  lay  in 
his  way,  now  to  invade  this  empire  of  darkness,  and  storm  the  strong- 
holds of  the  prince  of  the  power  of  the  air.*  Thus  Ephesus  became 
his  residence  during  a  space  of  three  years. 

On  his  arrival,  accompanied  by  Gaius  and  Aristarchus,  two  of  the 
brethren  out  of  Macedonia,  called  his  companions  in  travel,t  and  by 
Timothy,  and  Erastus  the  chamberlain  or  treasurer  of  the  city  of  Co- 
rinth, and  probably  by  Titus  also,  Paul  found  here  twelve  men  who 
had  been  the  disciples  of  John  the  Baptist,  and,  as  some  understand, 
baptized  by  him.  These  men  appear  to  have  believed  the  preaching 
of  John,  as  it  respected  the  immediate  appearance  of  the  Messiah  and 
the  setting  up  of  his  kingdom,  but  they  seem  not  to  have  been  ac- 
quainted with  Christ  or  his  apostles,  nor  to  have  known  that  the  Mes- 
siah had  actually  appeared,  that  he  had  been  crucified,  and  was  risen 
again.  They,  therefore,  knew  nothing  of  the  pouring  out  of  the  Holy 
Spirit  upon  the  disciples,  in  his  miraculous  operations,  which  was  now 
communicated  to  them  by  the  apostle,  in  consequence  of  which  they 
spake  with  divers  tongues  and  prophesied.  After  this  the  apostle 
went  into  the  synagogue  of  the  Jews  which  he  found  there,  and  for 
three  months  reasoned  with  them,  and  persuaded  them  concerning  the 
things  of  the  kingdom  of  God;  but  finding  many  of  them  obstinate, 
their  minds  filled  with  prejudices,  and  that  they  began  to  revile  him 
and  his  doctrine,  Paul  separated  the  disciples  :  and  from  that  pe- 
riod met  daily  in  the  school  of  Tyrannus,  who  had  probably  himself 
been  converted  by  the  preaching  of  the  apostle.  And  this  continued 
during  the  space  of  two  years,  which  gave  an  opportunity  to  many 
who  resided  in  distant  parts  of  the  province,  and  who  had  heard  of 
Paul's  preaching  and  miracles,  to  visit  Ephesus,  and  to  hear  the  word 

*  Eph.  ii.  2,  3.  f  Acts  xix.  29. 


82  History  of  the  Christian  Church. 

of  God  from  his  mouth,  so  that  by  this  means  the  knowledge  of  the 
gospel  was  communicated  to  all  Asia. 

And  now  the  Divine  power  manifested  itself  remarkably,  in  owning 
the  mission  and  doctrine  of  Paul ;  for  "  God  wrought  special  miracles 
by  his  hands  ;" — diseases  vanished,  not  only  at  his  touch  but  at  his 
word,  and  evil  spirits  were  ejected  out  of  many  that  were  possessed 
with  them.  Some  of  the  wandering  Jews  who  had  practised  the  art 
of  exorcism,  supposing  that  Paul's  miracles  bore  some  affinity  to  their 
own  tricks,  undertook  to  imitate  them,  by  expelling  a  daemon  out  of 
one  that  was  possessed  ;  but  when  they  invoked  the  name  of  Jesus 
whom  Paul  preached,  "  the  man  in  whom  the  evil  spirit  was,  leaped 
on  them,  and  overcame  them,  and  prevailed  against  them,  so  that  they 
fled  out  of  that  house  naked  and  wounded,"  to  the  consternation  of  all 
the  Jews  and  Greeks  that  dwelt  at  Ephesus  ;  "  and  fear  fell  on  them 
all,  and  the  name  of  the  Lord  Jesus  was  magnified."  The  most  amaz- 
ing consequences  succeeded  this  display  of  Divine  power;  for  many  of 
the  necromancers  received  the  apostolic  testimony,  and  came  and  con- 
fessed their  diabolical  practices,  and  the  arts  by  which  they  had  deceiv- 
ed the  multitude.  Many  of  those  also  who  had  been  engaged  in  the 
devices  of  exorcism,  conjuration,  and  magic,  brought  their  books,  in 
which  were  prescribed  the  various  forms  of  incantation,  and  spontane- 
ously set  fire  to  them  in  the  presence  of  all  the  people  ;  and  they  com- 
puted their  value,  and  found  it  fifty  thousand  pieces  of  silver,  equal  to 
seven  thousand  five  hundred  pounds  sterling — an  amazing  effect  of  the 
prevalence  of  divine  truth  over  all  the  powers  of  darkness ! 

Yet,  notwithstanding  the  success  of  his  ministry,  Paul  had  many 
adversaries  at  Ephesus.  A  number  of  the  inhabitants  enriched  them- 
selves, by  manufacturing  representations  in  miniature  of  the  temple  of 
Diana,  and  of  the  image  that  was  said  to  have  fallen  down  from  Jupi- 
ter ;  by  means  of  which  they  amassed  considerable  wealth.  Perceiv- 
ing that  if  Paul's  doctrine  were  suffered  to  spread,  their  trade  would 
be  ruined,  they  convened  a  meeting  of  all  that  were  of  the  same  occu- 
pation, and  very  gravely  deliberated  what  was  best  to  be  done,  in  or- 
der to  check  the  growing  evil :  "  Sirs,"  said  one  of  them,  "  ye  know 
that  by  this  craft  we  have  our  wealth.  It  is  evident,  moreover,  that 
not  only  at  Ephesus,  but  almost  throughout  all  Asia,  this  Paul  hath 
turned  away  much  people,  saying  that  they  are  no  gods  which  are  made 
with  hands  ;  so  that  not  only  our  trade  is  in  danger  of  being  destroy- 
ed, but  also  that  the  temple  of  the  great  goddess  Diana  will  be  despis- 
ed, and  her  magnificence  destroyed,  whom  all  Asia  and  the  world  wor- 
shipped!." Interest  is  a  powerful  stimulus  to  the  passions  of  men  ; 
and  on  this  occasion  the  speech  of  Demetrius,  which  was  founded 
upon  it,  produced  the  desired  effect,  for,  "  when  they  heard  these 
tilings,  they  were  full  of  wrath,  and  cried  out,  saying,  '  Great  is  Diana 
of  the  Ephesians.'  "  The  utmost  confusion  ensued  throughout  the 
city  :  the  artificers  ran  about  the  streets,  spreading  the  alarm  to  the 
multitude  ;  and  having  seized  two  of  Paul's  companions,  viz.  Gaius 
and  Aristarchus,  they  ran  with  one  accord  into  the  theatre,  intending, 
probably,  to  cast  them  to  the  wild  beasts  usually  kept  there.  The 
apostle  would  himself  have  also  entered,  but  his  friends  dissuaded  him. 


Paul  preaching  at  Ephesus.  83 

Anarchy  had  now  reached  its  highest  pitch, — some  exclaimed  one 
thing,  and  some  another, — the  multitude  was  confounded,  and  the 
greater  part  knew  not  the  cause  of  their  coming  together  ;  they  con- 
tinued, however,  for  the  space  of  two  hours,  crying  out,  "  Great  is 
Diana  of  the  Ephesians."  The  rage  of  the  rioters  became  at  length 
exhausted ;  the  proconsul's  secretary  appeased  the  people,  and  ad- 
dressed them  to  the  following  effect ;  "  Ye  men  of  Ephesus,  who  is 
there  that  knows  not  that  the  city  of  the  Ephesians  worshippeth 
the  great  goddess  Diana?  since  this  is  evident,  ye  ought  to  be  quiet, 
and  to  do  nothing  rashly.  For  ye  have  brought  hither  these  men, 
whom  ye  have  not  yet  proved  to  be  either  spoilers  of  temples,  or  blas- 
phemers of  the  goddess ;  if,  therefore,  Demetrius  and  his  craftsmen 
have  any  thing  to  allege  against  them,  the  courts  of  law  are  open, 
where  the  matter  may  be  fairly  tried."  He  also  reminded  them,  that 
they  were  in  danger  of  being  called  to  account  by  the  Romans  for  the 
riot  they  had  raised,  there  being  no  justifiable  cause  for  it.  On  say- 
ing which,  he  liberated  Gaius  and  Aristarchus,  and  dismissed  the  as- 
sembly. 

During  Paul's  stay  at  Ephesus,  a  church  had  not  only  been  gather- 
ed, but  set  in  order  with  its  bishops  and  deacons.*  By  means  of  his 
preaching,  multitudes  had  been  converted  to  the  Christian  faith, 
amongst  whom  were  "  certain  of  the  chiefs  of  Asia,"  supposed  to 
have  been  priests  of  the  temple  of  Diana,  who  had  the  care  of  the 
games  celebrated  in  honour  of  that  goddess.t  These,  the  apostle  hav- 
ing called  together  after  the  uproar,  embraced  them,  and  then  taking  his 
leave,  departed  for  Macedonia.  Having  visited  the  churches  in  that 
country,  and  given  them  much  exhortation,  he  went  into  Greece,  and 
there  continued  about  three  months  ;  after  which  he  went  down  to 
Troas,  a  place  he  had  formerly  visited, £  and  where  he  preached  with 
great  success. § 

The  disciples  of  Christ  being  at  this  period  reduced  to  great  straits 
in  Judea,  Paul  had  written  to  the  Gentile  churches  in  Macedonia  and 
Greece  to  assist  them  by  a  general  contribution ;  and  during  his  abode 
among  them  at  this  time,  he  received  the  various  collections  which 
those  churches  had  made  for  their  relief.  Having  carried  into  effect 
this  important  service,  he  sailed  for  Syria,  and  landed  at  the  port  of 
Tyre,  from  whence  passing  along  by  Ptolemais,  and  thence  to  Caesa- 
rea,  he  arrived  at  Jerusalem,  where  he  delivered  the  contributions,  and 
was  most  cordially  received  of  the  brethren. 

*  Acts  xx.  17,  28.  f  See  Whitbv  on  Acts  xix.  31. 

*  Acts  xiv.  8.  §2  Cor.  ii.  12,  13. 


84  History  of  the  Christian  Church. 


SECTION  V. 

the  subject  continued. 

from  Paul's  arrival  at  Jerusalem  with  the  contributions  from 
asia,  to  the  period  of  his  death. 

We  are  now  arrived  at  a  period  in  the  life  of  the  great  apostle  of  the 
Gentiles,  when  a  circumstance  arose  which  has  occasioned  no  little 
perplexity  to  commentators,  and  drawn  from  many  of  them  either  un- 
merited reproaches  or  needless  apologies. 

It  seems  that  previous  to  the  apostle's  arrival  in  Judea,  a  report  had. 
got  into  circulation,  that  he  was  in  the  practice  of  teaching  the  Jews 
who  were  dispersed  throughout  the  Gentile  countries,  "to  forsake  the 
law  of  Moses,  and  neither  circumcise  their  children,  nor  walk  after  the 
Jewish  customs."*  This  was  an  unfounded  representation  of  his  con- 
duct in  regard  to  this  matter.  He  indeed  taught  the  Gentiles  that  they 
should  observe  none  of  these  things  ;  but  he  well  knew  that  the  time 
which  God  had  appointed  for  putting  an  end  to  the  political  constitution 
of  the  Jews,  had  not  yet  arrived.  He,  therefore,  conformed  to  the 
riets  of  Judaism  himself,  though  aware  that  the  whole  of  that  typical 
dispensation  had  been  virtually  abolished  by  the  death  of  Christ ;  and 
he  instructed  his  Jewish  brethren  to  do  the  same,  until,  by  the  destruc- 
tion of  their  temple  and  city,  the  providence  of  God  should  co-operate 
with  his  word  in  rendering  it  impossible  for  them  any  longer  to  adhere 
to  Moses.  It  was,  therefore,  necessary  that  the  Jews  in  Jerusalem 
should  be  undeceived  in  this  matter  ;  and,  in  order  to  this,  it  was  re- 
commended to  him  by  James  the  apostle,  and  the  elders  of  the  church, 
to  give  a  proof  to  all  his  Jewish  brethren  that  what  they  had  heard  of 
him  was  incorrect,  by  joining  himself  to  four  men  who  were  under  a 
vow,  and  subjecting  himself  to  the  charges  that  were  necessary  to  the 
performance  of  it,  "  that  all  might  know  that  the  things  which  they  had 
heard  concerning  him  were  nothing,  but  that  he  himself  walked  orderly 
and  kept  the  law."  Paul  complied  with  this  advice  ;  and  the  follow- 
ing day,  purifying  himself  with  them,  they  all  entered  into  the  temple, 
to  signify  to  the  priest  their  resolution  to  accomplish  the  seven  days  of 
their  purification.  But  before  these  were  ended,  the  Jews  from  Asia, 
seeing  him  in  the  temple,  stirred  up  all  the  people  against  him,  and  ap- 
prehending him  by  violence,  cried  out,  "Men  of  Israel,  help;  this  is 
the  man  that  teacheth  all  men  every  where  against  the  people,  and  the 
law,  and  this  place,  and  hath  polluted  this  holy  temple  by  bringing 
Greeks  into  it."  By  this  means  an  universal  ferment  was  excited 
throughout  Jerusalem,  for  the  people  ran  together,  and  seizing  Paul, 
drew  him  out  of  the  temple,  closing  the  doors,  being  resolved,  it  would 
seem,  to  put  him  to  death.  At  this  critical  moment,  when  they  were 
actually  engaged  in  beating  him,  Claudius  Lysias,  the  commander  of 
the  Roman  garrison,  interposed  with  a  band  of  soldiers  and  rescued 

*  Acts  xxi.  21. 


Paul  before  the  Jewish  Sanhedrim.  85 

Paul,  demanding  to  know  who  he  was  and  what  he  had  done.  Find- 
ing it  impossible,  however,  from  the  contrariety  of  their  reports,  to  ar- 
rive at  any  certainty  in  theaffair,  he  ordered  the  soldiers  to  take  him 
into  the  castle,  whither  he  was  pursued  by  the  multitude,  crying  out, 
"  away  with  him." 

Having  reached  the  top  of  the  stairs,  Paul  asked  leave  of  the  chief 
captain  to  address  them ;  which  being  granted,  he  beckoned  to  them 
with  his  hand,  and  when  he  had  obtained  silence,  accosted  them  in  the 
Hebrew  tongue,  recapitulating  the  most  material  circumstances  of  his 
history,  particularly  his  conversion  to  the  Christian  faith  ;  appealing 
to  the  high-priest  and  elders  for  the  truth  of  what  he  said ;  and  closing 
the  narrative  with  stating  the  commission  he  had  received  from  Jesus 
Christ,  to  go  and  preach  the  gospel  to  the  Gentiles.  The  very  men- 
tion of  this  was  enough  for  these  Jews.  Hitherto  they  had  listened  to 
him  patiently,  but  no  sooner  had  he  spoken  of  his  commission  to  the 
Gentiles,  than  they  became  outrageous,  exclaiming,  "  Away  with  such  a 
fellow  from  the  earth ;  it  is  not  fit  that  he  should  live  :"*  on  saying 
which,  they  rent  off  their  clothes  and  threw  dust  into  the  air. 

Lysias,  in  all  probability,  understood  nothing  of  what  Paul  had 
spoken  in  Hebrew  ;  but  seeing  the  effects  which  his  speech  had  pro- 
duced upon  the  Jews,  and  that  they  were  driven  to  frenzy  by  it,  he 
concluded  that  certainly  he  must  be  some  notorious  malefactor,  and, 
therefore,  commanding  him  to  be  brought  into  the  castle,  he  was  pre- 
paring to  have  recourse  to  the  Roman  custom  of  extorting  a  confession 
from  his  own  lips,  by  means  of  torture, — one  method  of  which  was  by 
binding  the  person  to  a  pillar  and  severely  scourging  him.t 

When  the  soldiers  had  stripped  Paul,  and  were  extending  his  arms 
to  the  utmost  stretch,  that  they  might  bind  him  with  thongs  to  the  pil- 
lar, he  inquired  from  the  centurion,  whether  it  were  lawful  for  him  to 
scourge  a  freeman  of  Rome,  before  he  was  convicted  of  any  crime  ? 
The  officer,  upon  receiving  this  hint,  that  the  apostle  was  a  Roman 
citizen,  desisted  from  his  purpose,  and  apprized  the  chief  captain  of  the 
fact,  who,  interrogating  Paul,  and  finding  that  he  was  free-born,  began 
to  regret  what  he  had  done,  and  liberated  him  from  his  bonds. 

On  the  following  day  the  apostle  was  brought  before  the  Jewish  San- 
hedrim, with  the  view  of  having  his  conduct  investigated  before  that 
great  national  council.  When  placed  in  the  midst,  he  surveyed  the 
assembly  with  earnestness  and  composure,  and  was  proceeding  to 
renew  his  vindication  before  them,  but  the  first  sentence  he  uttered  pro- 
voked the  high-priest,  who  commanded  the  by  standers  to  smite  him 
on  the  mouth.  Paul  complained  of  this  as  an  unjust  procedure  on  the 
part  of  his  judges  :  probably  he  was  not  aware  whence  the  order  to 
smite  him  originated  ;  at  any  rate,  he  was  not  apprized  that  it  came 
from  the  high-priest,  whose  office  was  then  become  quite  a  marketable 
commodity,  and  in  which  the  Romans  were  of  course  making  frequent 
changes.  The  apostle,  however,  recalled  his  words,  and  apologized  for 
them  ;  but  continuing  to  look  round  upon  the  council,  and  perceiving 

*  Acts  xxii.  1—22.  .  .    :  , „    .   •_   •  ■„>  ^ 

f  See  Suetonius'  Life  of  Augustus,  ch.  19.  Tacit.  Annals,  b.  15.  ch.  56,  57. 
Joseph.  Antiq.  b.  16.  ch.  10.  sect.  2 — 5. 


86  History  of  the  Christian  Church. 

that  one  part  of  them  were  Pharisees,  and  the  other  Sadducees,  he 
made  an  appeal  to  the  former,  that  he  had  been  one  of  their  sect,  and 
that  he  was  now  called  to  answer  for  the  hope  which  he  had,  of  a 
resurrection  from  the  dead — a  doctrine  wholly  denied  by  the  latter. 
A  contention  immediately  arose  between  the  two  parties,  and  the  San- 
hedrim became  divided.  In  this  state  of  confusion,  the  chief  captain, 
fearing  Paul  might  be  sacrificed  between  them,  ordered  a  company  of 
soldiers  to  go  down  and  take  him  by  force,  and  bring  him  into  the 
castle. 

In  the  ensuing  night  the  Lord  Jesus  appeared  in  vision  to  his  ser- 
vant, encouraging  him  to  "  be  of  good  cheer,"  and  telling  him,  that 
as  he  had  borne  witness  of  him  in  Jerusalem,  he  must  now  also  do  the 
same  at  Rome.  A  conspiracy  was  formed  among  forty  of  the  Jews, 
the  next  morning  to  put  him  to  death;  "they  bound  themselves  by  a 
curse,"  that  they  would  neither  eat  nor  drink  till  that  object  was  accom- 
plished. The  stratagem,  however,  failed  and  the  plot  was  defeated. 
Paul's  sister's  son  got  intimation  of  it,  and  conveyed  it  to  his  uncle, 
who  called  one  of  the  centurions  of  the  garrison,  desiring  him  to  intro- 
duce the  young  man  to  Lysias,  the  tribune,  he  having  something  to 
communicate  to  him.  Paul's  nephew  developed  the  whole  plot  to 
Lysias,  who,  enjoining  upon  him  the  utmost  secrecy,  immediately 
gave  orders  for  two  hundred  soldiers,  with  the  same  number  of  spear- 
men, and  seventy  horsemen,  to  be  got  ready  against  nine  o'clock  at 
night,  and  also  to  provide  a  horse  for  Paul  to  ride  upon  to  Caesarea,  to 
which  place  he  was  accordingly  conveyed  in  safety,  with  a  letter  from 
Lysias  to  the  Roman  governor  there,  explaining  the  reasons  of  the 
procedure. 

Felix  was  at  this  time  governor  of  Caesarea ;  and  Lysias,  having 
now  transferred  the  whole  affair  between  Paul  and  his  adversaries  to 
his  jurisdiction,  he  ordered  the  high-priest  and  some  others  of  the  San- 
hedrim to  appear  before  him  in  five  days,  which  they  did,  accompa- 
nied by  Tertullus,  an  advocate  or  Roman  orator,  who  was  to  lay  Paul's 
crimes  before  the  governor.  When  the  day  arrived,  the  apostle  was 
brought  into  court,  and  the  orator,  in  a  pompous  speech,  interspersed 
with  flattering  compliments  to  Felix,  accused  him  vehemently  of  being 
a  pestilent  fellow,  an  exciter  of  seditions  among  the  Jews  every  where, 
a  ringleader  of  the  sect  of  the  Nazarenes,  who  had  profaned  their  holy 
temple,  and  that  they  would  have  judged  him  according  to  the  Jewish 
law,  had  they  not  been  prevented  by  the  conduct  of  Lysias,  who  took 
him  out  of  their  hands ;  to  the  truth  of  all  which,  the  Jews  gave  their 
assent. 

By  the  Roman  law  both  parties  were  to  be  heard  before  sentence  was 
passed.  When,  therefore,  the  governor  had  beckoned  with  his  hand  for 
Paul  to  speak,  he  addressed  them  in  a  firm  and  undaunted  manner,  de- 
nying the  accusation  which  they  had  thought  proper  to  prefe,  against 
him  of  being  an  exciter  of  tumult  and  sedition,  and  boldly  challenging 
his  enemies  to  the  proof.  He  admitted,  indeed,  that  after  the  way 
which  they  called  "  heresy,"  so  worshipped  he  the  God  of  his  fathers, 
believing  all  things  that  were  written  in  the  law  and  in  the  prophets; 
and  this  he  did  in  the  confident  expectation,  that  there  would  be  a  re- 


Paul's  Defence  before  Felix.  87 

surrection  from  the  dead,  both  of  the  just  and  unjust.  Felix,  who  was 
no  doubt  tolerably  well  acquainted  with  the  affairs  of  the  Christians,  and 
the  temper  of  the  Jews  towards  them,  put  off  the  decision  of  the  case 
for  the  present,  promising  that  when  Lysias  came  down  to  Caesarea,  he 
•would  institute  a  more  strict  inquiry  into  the  subject;  and  in  the  mean 
time  Paul  was  remanded  to  the  care  of  a  centurion,  who  was  instructed 
to  allow  him  all  the  liberty  that  was  consistent  with  his  being  a  prison- 
er, and  to  prohibit  none  of  his  Christian  brethren  from  having  free 
access  to  him. 

Felix  was  at  this  time  living  in  an  adulterous  intercourse  with  Dru- 
silla,  a  Jewess.  One  day  during  the  apostle's  confinement  at  Caesarea, 
they  sent  for  Paul,  wishing  to  hear  him  concerning  the  faith  in  Christ. 
The  apostle  wisely  adapted  his  address  to  the  characters  of  his  audi- 
ence ;  he  stated  the  obligation  under  which  all  mankind  are,  to  obey  the 
law  of  God ;  the  guilt  and  wrath  incurred  by  a  breach  of  it;  and  the 
final  account  to  be  given  in  the  great  day  of  retribution.  Nothing  could 
be  more  strikingly  calculated  to  arouse  the  consciences  of  Felix  and 
Drusilla.  Tacitus,  speaking  of  the  former,  says,  he  exercised  the  au- 
thority committed  to  him  with  all  manner  of  cruelty  and  lewdness: 
and  as  for  Drusilla,  with  whom  he  cohabited,  she  was  the  lawful  wife 
of  Azizus,  king  of  the  Emesenians.  How  pertinent,  therefore,  were 
the  topics  of  Paul's  reasoning,  viz.  righteousness,  temperance,  and  a 
future  judgment !  The  portrait  which  the  apostle  drew  of  an  iniquitous 
and  licentious  governor,  so  exactly  corresponded  to  the  original  before 
him,  that  Felix  could  not  help  shuddering  at  the  representation  of  his 
own  moral  deformity;  while  conscience,  that  faithful  monitor  within, 
made  the  application,  and  told  him  that  the  mirror  in  which  Paul  showed 
him  the  features  of  an  abandoned  heart,  did  him  no  injustice.  "  Felix 
trembled,  and  said,  Go  thy  way  for  this  time  ;  when  I  have  a  more  con 
venient  season  I  will  send  for  thee."  He  did,  indeed,  again  send  for 
him,  and  communed  often  with  him,  but  it  was  under  the  expectation  ol 
having  his  avarice  gratified,  by  obtaining  from  the  prisoner  a  sum  of 
money  to  purchase  his  release.  No  attempt,  however,  being  made  to 
gratify  the  governor  in  that  way,  he  detained  him  during  the  remaining 
years  of  his  government;  and  even  when  he  was  compelled  to  leave 
the  province,  he  declined  releasing  him,  from  a  wish  to  please  the 
Jews,  who  earnestly  desired  to  have  Paul  put  to  death. 

Felix  was  succeeded  in  the  government  by  PorciusFestus,  who  went 
up  to  Jerusalem  three  days  after  his  landing  at  Caesarea.  And  now  the 
Jews  interceded  with  him,  to  have  the  apostle  sent  back  to  their  city  for 
trial,  intending  to  lay  wait  for  him  and  kill  him.  Festus,  however,  was 
aware  of  their  design,  and  refused  his  consent.  Paul,  he  said,  should 
be  kept  at  Caesarea;  and  if  they  had  any  thing  to  lay  to  his  charge 
they  might  go  down  there  and  accuse  him  of  it.  After  continuing  ten 
days  among  them  at  Jerusalem,  Festus  returned,  and  the  following  day 
ordered  Paul  to  be  brought  before  him.  The  Jews  were  again  present, 
and  laid  many  grievous  complaints  against  him,  which  they  could  not 
prove ;  against  all  which  Paul  defended  himself.  But  when  Festus, 
with  a  view  to  gratify  the  Jews,  proposed  that  he  should  go  up  to  Jeru- 
salem and  there  be  judged,  the  apostle  objected  to  it,  telling  the  gover- 


88  History  of  the  Christian  Church. 

nor  that  if  he  had  done  any  thing  worthy  of  death,  he  would  not  refuse 
to  die ;  that,  (as  Festus  very  well  knew)  he  had  done  the  Jews  no  in- 
jury; that  they  could  not  prove  any  of  the  things  which  they  alleged 
against  him,  consequently  that  he  ought  not  to  be  delivered  into  their 
hands  ;  and  he  further  added,  that  he  stood  at  Caesar's  judgment-seat, 
where  he  ought  to  be  judged,  and  to  Caesar  he  made  his  appeal ;  for  it 
was  one  of  the  privileges  of  the  freemen  of  Rome,  that  if  they  suspected 
justice  would  not  be  done  them,  they  could,  before  sentence  was  pass- 
ed, appeal  to  the  emperor,  and,  having  made  that  appeal,  they  were 
then  reserved  to  be  judged  by  the  emperor  himself.  After  conferring 
some  time  with  his  council  what  was  best  to  be  done,  Festus  yielded 
to  Paul's  request,  and  informed  him  he  should  be  sent  to  Rome. 

Previous,  however,  to  Paul's  departure  from  Caesarea,  king  Agrippa, 
accompanied  by  his  sister  Bernice,  came  there  to  pay  their  respects  to 
Festus.  The  iatter,  when  they  had  been  with  him  some  days,  men- 
tioned Paul's  case  to  the  king,  and  what  had  already  taken  place  in  re- 
gard to  it.  Agrippa  expressed  a  wish  to  see  him ;  and  on  the  following 
day,  when  the  king,  his  sister,  and  all  the  tribunes  and  principal  men 
of  the  city,  had  entered  into  court,  the  apostle  was  brought  before 
them.  Festus,  in  a  short  address,  stated  to  Agrippa  and  all  that  were 
present,  what  already  had  been  done  in  the  affair,  and  how  the  Jews 
had  failed  to  make  good  their  charges  against  Paul — that  he  had  once 
more  brought  him  into  court,  that  the  king  himself  might  have  an  op- 
portunity of  examining  him  previous  to  his  being  sent  to  Rome. 

Agrippa  then  addressed  Paul,  and  told  him  he  was  permitted  to  speak 
for  himself;  upon  which  the  apostle  stretched  forth  his  hand,  and  de- 
clared how  happy  he  thought  himself  in  being  permitted  to  answer  the 
accusations  of  the  Jews,  before  one  who  was  so  expert  in  the  Jewish 
religion  and  laws,  as  the  king  was.  He  then  went  over  the  particulars 
of  his  birth,  education,  and  manner  of  life  to  the  time  of  his  conversion; 
the  remarkable  circumstances  of  which,  he  laid  before  the  monarch  in 
the  most  striking  manner,  declaring  how  Jesus  had  appeared  to  him, 
and  remonstrated  with  him  upon  his  conduct,  in  persecuting  his  disci- 
ples as  he  had  done,  and  finally,  that  he  had  given  him  a  commission 
.  to  go  and  preach  the  gospel  to  the  Gentiles.  He  avowed,  in  the  most 
explicit  manner,  the  effect  which  this  heavenly  vision  had  had  upon 
him — that  he  did  not  attempt  to  resist  it,  but  had  showed  to  the  Jews 
at  Damascus,  and  at  Jerusalem,  and  throughout  all  Judea,  the  necessity 
that  there  was  for  their  repentance  and  turning  to  God.  These  were 
the  things  for  which  the  Jews  sought  to  kill  him;  but  "  having  obtain- 
ed help  from  God,  he  continued  unto  this  day,  saying  none  other  things 
than  what  Moses  and  the  prophets  did  say  should  come ;  that  the  Mes- 
siah should  suffer,  and  should  be  the  first  to  rise  from  the  dead,  and  to 
show  light  to  the  people  and  to  the  Gentiles." 

This  noble  defence  seems  to  have  completely  arrested  the  attention 
of  both  Festus  and  Agrippa.  The  former  could  endure  it  no  longer, 
but  cried  out,  "Paul,  thou  art  beside  thyself;  much  learning  doth  make 
thee  mad."  The  apostle,  with  that  dignity  which  always  becomes  the 
advocate  of  divine  truth,  replied,  "  I  am  not  mad,  most  noble  Festus, 
but  speak  forth  the  words  of  truth  and  soberness."     And  then,  address- 


Pauls  voyage  to  Rome.  89 

ing  himself  to  the  king,  he  boldly  appealed  to  him  for  the  truth  of  what 
he  had  said  concerning  his  conversion  ;  the  facts  were  notorious ;  they 
were  not  done  in  a  corner.  Besides,  as  to  what  he  had  stated  concern- 
ing the  voices  of  the  prophets,  he  knew  that  Agrippa  acknowledged 
their  divine  authority,  and  was  competent  to  judge  how  far  he  was  right 
in  quoting  them.  This  appeal  forced  from  Agrippa  an  acknowledgment, 
that  Paul's  address  had  "  almost  persuaded  him  to  be  a  Christian." 
The  apostle  replied  in  the  most  benevolent  and  prophetic  manner,  "  I 
would  to  God  that  not  only  thou,  but  all  that  hear  me,  were  not  only 
almost,  but  altogether  such  as  I  am,  except  these  bonds." 

It  being  now  determined  to  send  Paul  to  Rome,  he  was  committed 
to  the  custody  of  a  centurion,  named  Julius,  with  whom  he  embarked 
in  a  vessel  that  was  on  a  trading  voyage  to  several  parts  of  the  Lesser 
Asia.  Aristarchus,  and  some  other  of  his  friends,  went  with  him  ;  and 
particularly  Luke  the  evangelist.  On  the  following  day  they  touched 
at  Sidon,  where  the  centurion  gave  him  liberty  to  refresh  himself,  and 
visit  his  friends.  At  the  next  port,  which  was  Myra  in  Lycia,  a  ves- 
sel offering,  which  Avas  bound  direct  for  Italy,  they  went  on  board  her. 
In  the  beginning  of  their  passage  they  were  retarded  by  contrary  winds. 
At  length  they  reached  the  island  of  Crete,  now  called  Candia,  and 
having  put  into  a  port  called  "  the  Fair  Havens,"  Paul  wished  to  per- 
suade them  to  continue  there  for  the  present,  intimating,  that  as  the 
winter  was  now  advancing,  they  would  be  subject  to  many  inconve- 
niences and  dangers,  if  they  ventured  to  proceed  any  farther.  His  re- 
monstrance, however,  was  overruled,  the  centurion  preferring  the  opi- 
nion of  the  master  of  the  ship  to  that  of  Paul.  It  was  also  thought 
best,  if  possible,  to  reach  another  haven  at  the  west  end  of  the  island, 
which  was  considered  more  commodious  and  safe  than  the  place  Paul 
proposed ;  and  a  favourable  wind  springing  up  from  the  south,  deter- 
mined their  resolution. 

Their  hopes,  however,  were  soon  blasted ;  for  immediately  after 
sailing,  they  were  overtaken  by  a  sudden  and  violent  storm.  The 
name  given  it  by  the  historian,  Euroclydon,  expresses  its  direction  to 
have  been  from  the  east,  and  also  its  energy  upon  the  waves.  The 
tempest  irresistibly  overpowered  the  mariners,  and  rendered  their  skill 
impracticable  and  vain.  They  were  compelled  to  abandon  the  ship 
to  the  direction  of  the  wind,  and  were  hurried  away  they  knew  not 
whither.  Considering  themselves  to  be  in  the  utmost  jeopardy,  they 
had  recourse  to  various  expedients  for  securing  the  ship,  at  one  time 
by  undergirding  it  with  ropes,  and  at  another  by  throwing  a  considera- 
ble part  of  the  cargo  into  the  sea.  In  this  perilous  situation,  expect- 
ing every  hour  to  be  either  swallowed  up  by  the  waves,  or  dashed  to 
pieces  against  unknown  rocks  or  shores,  they  continued  fourteen  days. 
When,  nearly  exhausted  with  hardship,  anxiety,  and  hunger — the  sea- 
men having  seen  neither  sun  nor  stars  for  many  days — and  when  all 
hope  of  safety  had  forsaken  them,  Paul  stood  forth  in  the  midst,  and 
exhorted  them  to  be  of  good  courage,  and  take  their  food  ;  for  that  God, 
to  whom  he  belonged,  and  whom  he  served,  had  given  him  assurance 
by  an  angel,  not  only  of  his  own  safety,  but  that  the  lives  of  all  on 
board  should  for  his  sake  be  preserved.  Paul's  words  were  verified  ; 
8* 


90  History  of  the  Christian  Church. 

the  ship  indeed  was  wrecked,  but  the  whole  crew,  consisting  of  two 
hundred  and  seventy-six  persons,  were  ultimately  brought  safe  to  land. 

The  island  on  which  they  were  cast,  is  called  by  Luke,  Melita,  and 
many  have  contended  that  it  is  the  present  Malta ;  but  the  latter  island 
is  not  in  the  Adriatic  Sea,  and  it  has  been  convincingly  shown,*  that 
it  was  an  island  belonging  to  Dalmatia,  formerly  called  Melite,  but 
now  Mleet,  by  the  Sclavonians,  and  is  subject  to  Ragusa.  Here,  the 
inhabitants,  though  called  barbarians,  received  and  accommodated  them 
with  great  humanity,  and  manifested  a  tenderness  not  always  found 
among  those  who  bear  the  Christian  name.  They  brought  them  un- 
der cover,  and  kindled  fires  to  warm  and  dry  them.  As  Paul  was 
assisting  in  supplying  the  fire  with  fuel,  a  viper  came  out  of  the  heat, 
and  fastened  on  his  hand.  The  inhabitants  of  the  island  Avho  were 
spectators,  no  sooner  saw  the  venomous  animal  suspended  from  his 
hand,  than  they  said  among  themselves,  "  No  doubt  this  man  is  a 
murderer,  whom,  though  he  hath  escaped  shipwreck,  vengeance  suf- 
fereth  not  to  live."  Under  this  conviction,  they  confidently  expected 
to  see  him  fall  down  dead ;  but  when  they  saw  the  apostle  shake  the 
viper  into  the  fire,  and  found  that  he  had  not  received  the  least  injury 
from  its  bite,  they  changed  their  opinions  of  him,  and  said  that  he  was 
a  god. 

The  apostle  and  his  friends  were  for  three  days  courteously  enter- 
tained by  Publius,  the  governor  of  the  island;  and  during  his  stay  there, 
he  wrought  many  miracles  upon  persons  that  were  sick  and  diseased, 
among  whom  was  the  father  of  Publius,  who  at  that  time  lay  ill  of  a 
fever  and  bloody  flux.  These  kind  offices  procured  them  many  favours 
from  the  inhabitants  ;  and  when,  after  a  residence  among  them  of  three 
months,  they  were  about  to  depart,  they  liberally  supplied  them  with 
every  necessary  accommodation  for  their  journey. 

Sailing  from  thence  in  a  ship  of  Alexandria,  which  had  wintered  at 
the  island,  they  proceeded  to  Syracuse  in  Sicily,  where  they  tarried 
three  days,  and  soon  after  arrived  at  Rhegium,  and  from  thence,  in  two 
days  at  Puteoli  near  Naples,  where  they  disembarked,  and  continued  a 
week,  in  compliance  with  the  wishes  of  the  Christian  brethren  whom 
they  found  there.  From  Puteoli  to  Rome,  their  journey  was  about  a 
hundred  miles  by  land. 

Several  of  the  disciples  at  Rome,  hearing  of  Paul's  approach,  pro- 
ceeded to  meet  him  at  Appii-forum,  and  the  Three  Taverns ;  the  for- 
mer place  being  about  fifty,  and  the  latter,  thirty  miles  from  the  city. 
The  sight  of  these  Christian  brethren  inspired  the  apostle  with  new 
life  and  vigour,  for  it  is  said,  "  When  he  saw  them  he  thanked  God 
and  took  courage."  And  thus  in  the  month  of  February,  of  the  six- 
teenth year  of  the  Christian  sera,  and  seventh  of  the  reign  of  the  em- 
peror Nero,  the  apostle  arrived  at 

Rome,  the  imperial  city,  and  metropolis  of  the  whole  world,  situated 
in  Italy,  on  the  banks  of  the  Tiber,  at  a  distance  of  about  sixteen 
miles  from  the  sea.     The  foundations  of  this  celebrated  city  were  laid 

•  See  Bryant's  Observations  on  Ancient  History,  and  Pliny's  Natural  Historv, 
b.  3.  ch.26.  } 


FauVs  Arrival  at  Rome.  91 

by  Romulus,  753  years  before  the  birth  of  Christ,  at  which  time  it 
consisted  of  only  a  small  castle  on  the  summit  of  Mount  Palatine  I  But 
it  had  risen,  by  gradual  and  almost  imperceptible  degrees,  to  the  proud 
eminence  of  being  the  first  city  in  the  world,  in  point  of  extent,  popu- 
lation, and  splendour.  The  populousness  of  that  great  capital,  says 
Gibbon,  cannot  perhaps  be  exactly  ascertained ;  but  the  most  modest 
calculation  will  not  surely  reduce  it  lower  than  a  million  of  inhabi- 
tants.* It  was  built  upon  seven  hills,t  and  is  said  to  have  been  twen- 
ty miles  in  circumference.  There  were  in  it  no  less  than  four  hun- 
dred and  twenty  temples,  crowded  with  statues ;  the  priests  were 
numerous,  and  each  divinity  had  a  separate  college  of  sacerdotal  ser- 
vants. Previous  to  the  establishment  of  Christianity  in  the  empire, 
the  worship  and  sacrifices  of  the  Romans  were  uncommonly  supersti- 
tious. The  will  of  the  gods  was  consulted  upon  every  occasion  ;  and 
no  general  marched  to  an  expedition,  without  the  previous  assurance 
from  the  augurs  that  the  omens  were  propitious.  Their  wars  were 
declared  in  the  most  awful  and  solemn  manner,  and  prayers  were  al- 
ways offered  in  the  temples  for  the  prosperity  of  Rome,  when  a  defeat 
had  been  sustained  or  a  victory  won.  They  raised  altars,  not  only  to 
the  gods,  who,  as  they  supposed,  presided  over  their  city,  but  also  to 
the  deities  of  conquered  nations,  as  well  as  to  the  various  passions  and 
virtues. 

The  gospel  had  found  its  way  to  this  imperial  city  long  before  it  was 
visited  by  Paul,  who  had  himself  written  his  epistle  to  the  church 
there,  several  years  prior  to  his  being  brought  thither  as  a  prisoner.  It 
seems  very  probable  that  the  knowledge  of  Christ  was  conveyed  to 
Rome  soon  after  the  day  of  Pentecost ;  for,  it  is  expressly  mentioned, 
that,  among  the  multitude  who  were  witnesses  of  the  miraculous  gift  of 
tongues,  there  were  "  strangers  from  Rome,  both  Jews  and  prose- 
lytes."J  Such  of  these  as  were  converted  to  the  Christian  faith,  would, 
on  their  return  home,  carry  with  them  the  glad  tidings  of  salvation,  and 
communicate  it  to  others.  When  Paul  wrote  his  epistle  to  that  church, 
it  must  have  been  numerous,  for  he  acknowledges  that  "  their  faith  was 
spoken  of  throughout  the  whole  world. "§  He  mentions  a  considerable 
number  of  them  by  name  in  his  last  chapter,  though  he  had  never  been 
among  them  ;  and  they  must  have  made  great  progress  in  their  Chris- 
tian profession,  for  he  declares  that  "  he  was  persuaded  of  them  that 
they  were  full  of  goodness,  filled  with  all  knowledge,  able  also  to 
admonish  one  another. "||  The  apostle  had  had  "  a  great  desire  for 
many  years''^  to  visit  that  church,  and  had  been  long  arranging  his 
plans  to  accomplish  his  wish  ;**  but  his  purpose  was  now  effected  in  a 
manner  altogether  different  from  what  he  had  been  expecting. 

*  Decline  and  Fall,  vol.  2.  ch.  15. 

■j"  Hence  it  was  called  Urbis  septicollis,  and  a  festival  was  celebrated  in  Decem- 
ber, called  Septimontium  festus,  to  commemorate  the  addition  of  the  seventh 
hill.  The  names  were  Mons  Palatinus,  Capitolinus,  Aventinus,  Quirinalis,  Coe- 
lius,  Viminalis,  and  Exquilinus.  There  is  a  very  striking  allusion  to  this  local 
circumstance,  Rev.  xvii.  9.  and  the  reader  may  see  the  subject  ably  illustrated 
in  Hurd's  Introductory  Sermons,  vol.  ii.  Serm.  11. 

*  Acts  ii.  10.  §  Rom.  i.  8.  ||  Rom.  xv.  14. 

1  Rom.  xv.  23.  »*  Rom.  i.  11—13. 


92  History  of  the  Christian  Church. 

During  the  whole  voyage,  it  is  evident  that  Paul  had  been  treated  by 
Julius,  the  Roman  officer,  to  whose  custody  he  was  committed,  with 
erreai  humanity  and  kindness.  At  Sidon  he  allowed  him  to  go  on  shore 
to  visit  his  Christian  friends.  And  when  they  were  shipwrecked  on 
the  island  of  Melite,  he  kept  the  soldiers  from  killing  the  prisoners, 
that  he  might  save  Paul.  "When  Paul's  friends  at  Puteoli  wished  him 
to  remain  with  them  a  week,  probably  that  they  might  enjoy  his  com- 
pany on  the  Sabbath,  he  kindly  granted  their  request.  Julius  had  been 
favoured  with  many  opportunities  of  knowing  the  character  of  his  pri- 
soner; he,  no  doubt,  knew  the  favourable  opinion  which  was  enter- 
tained of  his  case  by  Festus  and  Agrippa,  and  all  the  tribunes  at  Caesa- 
rea;  but  the  things  that  had  occurred  during  the  voyage,  must  also  have 
tended  greatly  to  increase  his  respect  for  him  ;  and,  it  is  highly  proba- 
ble, that,  to  the  esteem  which  Julius  had  for  him,  the  apostle  was 
indebted  for  the  indulgence  which  was  shown  him  immediately  on  his 
arrival  at  Rome.  For  he  was  not  shut  up  in  a  common  jail  with  the 
other  prisoners,  but,  from  the  very  first,  was  permitted  to  dwell  in  his 
own  hired  house,  attended  by  a  soldier  who  guarded  him  by  means  of 
a  long  chain  fastened  to  his  right  wrist  and  the  soldier's  left  arm.  In 
this  manner  Herod  Agrippa  was  chained  to  a  soldier  when  he  was 
thrown  into  prison  by  Tiberius.* 

On  the  fourth  day  after  his  arrival,  Paul  called  the  chief  of  the  Jews 
together,  and  explained  to  them  the  circumstances  of  his  case ;  the 
treatment  he  had  received  in  his  own  country ;  how  he  had  been  deli- 
vered at  Jerusalem  a  prisoner  into  the  hands  of  the  Romans,  who  after 
investigating  his  affair,  would  have  liberated  him,  had  not  the  clamour 
of  the  Jews  prevented  it ;  and,  in  short  that  it  was  '*  for  the  hope  of 
Israel"  he  was  bound  with  the  chain  which  they  then  saw.  It  seems 
Paul's  accusers  had  not  yet  arrived  from  Judea.  The  Jews  whom  he 
had  called  together,  therefore,  confessed  that  they  had  not  received  any 
letters  from  that  quarter,  nor  any  information  concerning  him  through  any 
other  medium ;  they  were  desirous,  nevertheless,  of  knowing  his 
opinion  of  the  Christian  sect,  which  was  every  where  spoken  against. 
A  day  was  therefore  appointed,  on  which  many  came  to  his  lodgings, 
to  whom,  from  morning  till  evening,  he  narrated  fully  the  history  of 
Jesus,  testifying  concerning  the  nature  of  the  kingdom  of  God,  and  per- 
suading them  both  from  the  law  of  Moses  and  from  the  writings  of  the 
prophets.  The  result  was  that  some  believed  the  things  that  were 
spoken,  and  others  believed  not.  Thus  the  apostle  having  discharged 
his  duty  in  first  making)  known  the  glad  tidings  of  salvation  to  his  own 
brethren  according  to  the  flesh,  took  his  leave  of  them,  and  thencefor- 
ward associated  with  the  Gentiles,  who  had  been  previously  formed 
into  a  church  in  this  city,  and  to  whom  he  had  already  addressed  his 
important  and  invaluable  epistle.  "  And  Paul  dwelt  two  whole  years 
in  his  own  hired  house,  and  received  all  that  came  in  unto  him,  preach- 
ing the  kingdom  of  God,  and  teaching  those  things  which  concern  the 
Lord  Jesus  Christ  with  all  boldness,  unmolested  by  any  one."  And 
with  this  information  the  inspired  historian  closes  his  narrative  of  the 
great  apostle  of  the  Gentiles. 

*  Joscphus' Antiq.  b.  18.  ch.  6.  sect.  6,  7. 


Paul's  subsequent  Travels.  93 

During  the  two  years  that  Paul  was  detained,  on  this  occasion,  a  pri- 
soner at  Rome,  he  Avrote  several  of  those  epistles  to  the  churches 
which  now  enrich  the  Scriptures,  and  constitute  so  important  a  part  of 
Divine  revelation.  Amongst  these  are  enumerated,  that  to  the  Ephe- 
sians — to  the  Philippians — to  the  Colossians — and  the  short  letter  to 
Philemon;  and,  it  is  thought,  that  immediately  on  his  release  he  wrote 
the  epistle  to  the  Hebrews.  From  these  letters  we  may  collect,  that, 
during  his  imprisonment  at  Rome,  he  was  attended  by  many  of  the  dis- 
ciples and  friends,  who  either  accompanied  him  from  Judea,  or  followed 
him  to  Italy.  Of  this  number  was  Tychicus,  by  whom  he  sent  his 
epistle  to  the  Colossians,  ch.  iv.  7,  and  Onesimus,  ver.  9,  and  Mark, 
ver.  10,  and  also  Jesus,  who  was  called  Justus,  all  of  the  circumcision, 
ver.  11,  except  Onesimus.  Demas  too  was  with  him,  ver.  14. -and 
Timothy,  Phil.  i.  1  ;  and  Aristarchus,  who  was  imprisoned  for  his  zeal 
in  preaching  the  gospel,  Col.  iv.  10;  and  Luke,  the  beloved  physician 
and  evangelist,  ver.  14.  He  also  enumerates  Epaphras,  who  seems  to 
have  been  one  of  the  pastors  of  the  Colossian  church,  ver.  12;  and 
Epaphroditus,  a  member  of  the  church  at  Philippi,  Phil.  ii.  25.  All 
these  Christian  brethren,  residents  of  very  remote  countries,  appear  to 
have  been  with  the  apostle  during  his  first  confinement  at  Rome. 

Of  the  circumstances  attending  his  trial  and  release,  we  have  no  au- 
thentic particulars ;  but  that  he  was  liberated  after  a  period  of  two  years, 
seems  deducible  from  the  words  with  which  the  sacred  historian  closes 
the  book  of  the  Acts  of  the  Apostles.  Nor  have  we  any  certain  infor- 
mation concerning  his  travels  and  preaching,  from  this  time  till  his 
death.  Intimations,  indeed,  are  given  in  the  epistles  which  he  wrote 
from  Rome,  of  his  purposes,  from  which  some  writers  have  undertaken 
to  sketch  the  transactions  of  the  latter  period  of  his  life,  and  there  is  at 
least  a  probability  that  it  was  to  the  following  effect. 

After  being  released,  in  the  spring  of  the  year  62,  he  embarked  with 
Titus,  and  probably  with  Timothy  also,  at  some  of  the  ports  of  Italy, 
and  touched  at  the  Island  of  Crete,  where  he  preached  in  many  cities, 
and  collected  the  disciples  into  societies ;  but  finding  it  requisite  to  quit 
Crete,  he  left  Titus  there,  to  set  in  order  the  things  that  were  wanting, 
and  to  ordain  elders  in  every  city.*  From  thence  he  proceeded  to 
Judea,  to  fulfil  the  promise  which  he  had  made,  in  his  epistle  to  the 
Hebrews,  chap.  xiii.  23,  of  visiting  the  church  at  Jerusalem,  and  the 
other  churches  in  that  country.  After  spending  some  time  among 
them,  accompanied  by  Timothy,  he  left  Judea  to  visit  the  churches  of 
the  Lesser  Asia  taking  Antioch  in  his  way,  and  travelling  through  Cili- 
cia  into  Galatia,  from  whence  he  went  to  Colosse,  where  he  had  de- 
sired Philemon  to  provide  him  a  lodging,t  as  he  had  intended  to  spend 
some  time  in  that  city. 

While  at  Colosse  he  wrote  his  epistle  to  Titus  in  Crete,  and  from 
thence  proceeded  to  Ephesus,  where  he  left  Timothy  to  direct  the  af- 
fairs of  that  numerous  church.!  From  Ephesus,  Paul  went  into  Ma- 
cedonia, calling  at  Troas  in  his  way,  where,  lodging  with  Carpus,  he 
left  behind  him  the  cloak  (which  some  suppose  his  father  had  received 

*  Titus i.  5.  f  Philemon,  ver.  12.  *  1  Tim.  i.  3. 


94  History  of  the  Christian  Church. 

as  a  badge  of  his  Roman  citizenship,)  and  likewise  some  parchments 
(probably  the  autographs  or  original  copies  of  his  epistles  to  the 
churches.)  These  he  afterwards  requested  Timothy  to  bring  with 
him,  when  he  came  to  visit  him  at  Rome,  during  his  second  imprison- 
ment.* In  Macedonia  he  visited  the  church  at  Philippi,  agreeably  to 
the  intimation  he  had  given  them  in  his  letter,!  and  from  thence  pro- 
ceeded to  Epirus,  where  he  spent  the  winter,  at  the  city  of  Nicopolis,J 
and  where  he  had  desired  Titus  to  come  from  Crete  and  give  him  the 
meeting.  Here  also,  or  at  Philippi,  he  wrote  his  first  epistle  to  Timo- 
thy, instructing  him  how  to  conduct  himself  in  the  house  of  God,  fear- 
ing it  would  not  be  in  his  power  to  return  to  Ephesus  at  the  time  he 
proposed.§  Accordingly,  Titus  having  brought  him  such  a  report  of 
the  state  of  the  churches  in  Crete,  as  made  it  necessary  for  the  apostle 
to  visit  them,  he  set  out  early  in  the  spring  from  Nicopolis  for  that 
island,  accompanied  by  Titus,  Trophimus,  and  Erastus,  and  taking  Co- 
rinth in  his  way,  Erastus,  who  was  a  native  of  that  city  chose  to  abide 
there.  When  they  arrived  at  Crete,  Trophimus  fell  sick,  and  was  left 
in  Miletum,  a  city  of  that  island. || 

But  while  Paul  was  thus  employed  in  conveying  the  glad  tidings  of 
mercy  to  guilty  men,  or  confirming  the  churches  in  the  truths  they  had 
already  learned,  a  dreadful  storm  was  gathering  at  Rome,  which  burst 
upon  the  church  there  with  tenfold  fury.  Nero,  who  had  swayed  the 
imperial  sceptre  about  ten  years,  and  who  had  arrived  at  such  a  pitch 
of  wickedness  as  to  prepare  the  minds  of  his  subjects  for  the  belief  of 
any  act  of  tyranny,  cruelty,  or  vileness  which  was  reported  of  him,  is 
said  to  have  set  fire  to  the  city  of  Rome,  on  the  10th  of  July,  A.  D.  64, 
in  consequence  of  which  a  great  part  of  it  was  laid  in  ashes.  Mischief 
and  the  misery  of  others  were  his  delight;  and  he  is  said  to  have  ex- 
pressed great  pleasure  at  the  spectacle,  indulging  himself  in  singing  the 
burning  of  Troy  while  his  own  city  was  in  flames.  He,  however,  very 
soon  became  the  suspected  incendiary,  and  consequently  the  object  of 
popular  hatred.  To  clear  himself  from  the  odious  charge,  he  endea- 
voured to  fix  the  crime  on  the  Christians  ;  and,  having  thus  falsely  and 
tyrannically  imputed  the  guilt  to  them,  he  put  them  to  death  by  various 
methods  of  exquisite  cruelty.  The  account  which  is  given  us  by  Ta- 
citus, a  heathen  historian,  is  too  remarkable  to  be  omitted.  Speaking 
of  Nero,  and  the  conflagration  of  Rome,  he  thus  proceeds  ;  "  To  divert 
suspicion  from  himself,  he  substituted  fictitious  criminals,  and  with  that 
view  inflicted  the  most  exquisite  tortures  on  those  men,  who,  under  the 
vulgar  appellation  of  Christians,  were  already  branded  with  deserved 
infamy.  The  confessions  of  those  who  were  seized,  discovered  a  great 
multitude^  of  their  accomplices,  and  they  were  all  convicted,  not  so 

•  2  Tim.  \v.  23.  fPhil.  i.  25,  26. 

\  Titus  ill.  12.  §  1  Tim.  iii.  14,  15.  ||  2  Tim.  iv.  20. 

\  "  Tngens  jnultitudo,"  is  the  expression  of  Tacitus,  the  literal  translation  of 
which  is,  "  a  very  great  multitude."  It  is  impossible  for  us,  in  the  present  day, 
to  ascertain  the  exact  import  of  this  phrase  :  Gibbon,  who  evinces  no  solicitude 
to  overrate  the  number  of  Christians,  has  ingeniously  compared  these  words  of 
Tacitus  with  the  import  of  the  same  words  as  used  by  Livy  on  another  occasion  ; 
a  careful  inquirv  into  the  meaning  of  which  had  furnished" the  result  to  be  seven 
thousand.     JJeclme  and  Fall,  vol.  2.  ch.  15. 


Nero  persecutes  the  Christians.  95 

much  for  the  crime  of  setting  fire  to  the  city,  as  for  their  hatred  of  hu- 
man kind.  They  died  in  torments;  and  these  were  embittered  by  in- 
sult and  derision.  Some  were  nailed  on  crosses,  others  sewed  up  in 
the  skins  of  wild  beasts,  and  exposed  to  the  fury  of  dogs, — others  again 
were  smeared  over  with  combustible  materials,  and  used  as  torches  to 
illumine  the  darkness  of  the  night.  The  gardens  of  Nero  were  destined 
for  the  melancholy  spectacle,  which  was  accompanied  by  a  horserace 
and  honoured  with  the  presence  of  the  emperor,  who  mingled  with  the 
populace  in  the  dress  and  attitude  of  a  charioteer.  The  guilt  of  the 
Christians  deserved,  indeed,  the  most  exemplary  punishment ;  but  the 
public  abhorrence  was  changed  into  commiseration,  from  the  opinion 
that  these  unhappy  wretches  were  sacrificed,  not  so  much  to  the  rigour 
of  justice,  as  to  the  cruelty  of  the  jealous  tyrant."* 

Intelligence  of  these  cruelties  being  brought  to  Paul  while  at  Crete, 
and,  thinking  his  presence  might  be  useful  in  comforting  the  minds  of 
his  brethren,  he  set  out  for  Italy,  and  probably  arrived  at  Rome  in  the 
beginning  of  the  year  65,  where  he  was  apprehended,  as  being  a  chief 
man  among  this  obnoxious  sect.  He  appears  to  have  been  twice 
brought  before  the  emperor  or  his  prefect,  whence  it  is  presumed  that 
he  had  been  confined  at  least  a  year  before  he  was  condemned. 

We  may  easily  conceive  how  perilous  it  must  have  been  for  any  of 
Paul's  friends  to  avow  an  open  attachment  to  him,  under  existing  cir- 
cumstances ;  and,  indeed,  it  appears  from  the  Second  Epistle  to  Timo- 
thy, which  he  wrote  while  waiting  his  execution,  that  most  of  them 
fled  the  city.     Of  the  conduct  of  Onesiphorus,  however,  he  makes  the 
most  honourable  mention,  (2  Tim.  i.  16 — 18.)     During  the  apostle's 
stay  at  Ephesus,  he  had  been  extremely  kind  to  him.     But  having  oc- 
casion to  visit  Rome,  while  Paul  was  in   confinement,  Onesiphorus 
"  sought  him  out  very  diligently  and  found  him."     He  was  not  ashamed 
of  the  apostle  because  he  was  immured  in  a  jail   and  loaded  with  a 
chain ;  on  the  contrary,  he  bestowed  upon  him  the  most  kind  and  ten- 
der assiduities,  and  cheerfully  ministered  to  his  temporal  necessities. 
Paul  could  not  reflect  upon  this  affectionate  behaviour  of  his    friend, 
without  having  all  the  sensibilities  of  his  soul  excited  ;  and  he  gave  vent 
to  them,  by  offering  up  his  prayer  to  God  that  he  would  "  grant  merey 
to  the  house  of  Onesiphorus  in  the  great  day  of  account;"  repeating  his 
supplication,   "  the  Lord  grant  unto  him  that  he  may  find  mercy  of  the 
Lord  in  that  day."     But  Onesiphorus  had  now 'returned  to  Ephesus: 
Luke  alone  was  with  him  ;  and  even  he  appears  to  have  been  so  inti- 
midated that,  at  the  apostle's  first  examination,  he  was  afraid  to  stand 
by  him.     In  this  state  of  things,   "  about  to  be  offered  up,  and  viewing 
the  hour  of  his  departure  at  hand,"  he  urged  Timothy  to  hasten  to  him 
to  receive  his  last  instructions,  and  assist  him  in  the  ministry  during  the 
short  time  he  had  to  live.     And  thus,  according  to  the  most  credible 
records,  he  was  condemned  and  put  to  death  in  the  twelfth  year  of  the 
reign  of  Nero,  answering  to  the  sixty-sixth  of  the  Christian  a?ra.  Two 
years  after  that,  Nero  put  an  end  to  his  own  life,  and  to  this  terrible 
persecution,  which  had  raged  during  a  period  of  four  years,  and  swept 
off  a  prodigious  number  of  the  disciples  of  Christ. 

*  Tacit.  Annal.  b.  15.  c.  44. 


96  History  of  the  Christian  Church. 

SECTION  VI. 

THE  SUBJECT  CONTINUED. 

FROM  THE    PERIOD  OF  THE  DEATH  OF  PAUL,  A.    D.    66,  TO    THE  CLOSE  OF 
THE  FIRST  CENTURY. 

It  has  been  pertinently  remarked  by  one  of  the  ancients,  that  the 
writer  of  the  Acts  of  the  Apostles  leaves  the  reader  thirsting  for  more. 
But  concise  as  his  narrative  is,  it  ought  to  be  regarded  by  us  as  an  in- 
valuable part  of  the  sacred  writings  ;  and  for  this  reason  among  others, 
because  it  shows  us  in  what  sense  the  apostles  understood  the  commis- 
sion which  their  Lord  had  given  them,  previous  to  his  ascension  into 
heaven.  From  their  discourses,  recorded  in  that  book,  we  learn  what 
were  the  doctrines  they  preached  ;  what  the  laws  and  institutions  they 
enforced  upon  the  disciples  ;  and  the  manner  in  which  they  set  up  his 
kingdom  in  the  world.  In  attempting  a  sketch  of  this  interesting  sub- 
ject, we  have  hitherto  prosecuted  our  journey  under  the  light  of  divine 
Revelation  ;  but,  henceforward,  we  must  be  content  to  explore  our 
way  under  more  uncertain  guides. 

A  mind  accustomed  to   reflection,   naturally  inquires,  how  were  the 
other  apostles  of  Christ  occupied  during  the  period  that  Paul  was  en- 
gaged in  conveying  the  glad  tidings   of  salvation  throughout  the  Gen- 
tile countries.     But  the  volume  of  revelation  does  not  give  such  ample 
information  upon  this  subject  as  we  might  wish.     It  mpy,  however,  be 
remarked,  that  as  Jerusalem    was    the  place  from   whence,  according 
to  ancient  prophecy,   "  the  word  of  the  Lord   was   to  go  forth,  and 
the  law  to  proceed  out   of  Zion,"  so  we  may  see  special  reasons  why 
the  Lord  appointed  them  their  stations  for  a  season   in  that  church.  It 
seems  evident,  that  at  the  first,  they  not  only  discharged  the  apostolic 
office  in  giving  forth  the  New  Testament  revelation  of  doctrine,  and  de- 
livering to  the  churches  the  ordinances   of  public   worship,   but  they 
also  acted  as  bishops,  elders,  pastors,  or  ministers  of  the  word,  and  al- 
so as  deacons,  having  the  care  of  the  poor.     In  process  of  time,  how- 
ever, we  find  other  persons  appointed  to  fulfil  the  two  last  mentioned 
offices,*  and  that,  even  while  some  of  the  apostles  still  remained  with 
the  church  at  Jerusalem.       We  may  also  infer,  that  though  the  twelve 
were  stationed  there  by  the  Head   of  the  church,  they,  nevertheless, 
made  occasional   excursions  into  different  parts  of  Judea  and  Samaria, 
to  propagate  the  knowledge  of  Christ,  and  gather  his  disciples  into 
churches  as  we  see  Peter  doing,  (Acts  ix.  32  ;)   and  that  when   it  be- 
came no  longer  necessary  for  them  to  remain  with  that  church,  they 
proceeded  to  carry  into  effect  the  commission  which   the  Lord  Jesus 
had  given  them,  to  "  go  into  all   the  world,    and  preach  the  gospel  to 
every  creature. "t 

It  appears  from  credible  records,  that  the  gospel  was  preached  in 
Idumea,   Syria,  and   Mesopotamia,   by  Jude ;  in   Egypt,    Mamorica, 

*  Compare  Acts  vi.  5,  with  xi.  30,  and  xv.  6 — 22,  23.         f  Mark  xvi.  15. 


Spread  of  the  Gospel.  97 

Mauritania,  and  other  parts  of  Africa,  by  Mark,  Simeon,  and  Jude  ;  in 
Ethiopia,  by  the  Eunuch  and  Matthias  ;  in  Pontus,  Galatia,  and  the 
neighbouring  parts  of  Asia,  by  Peter  ;  in  the  territories  of  the  seven 
Asiatic  churches  by  John  ;  in  Parthia,  by  Matthew  ;  in  Scythia,  by 
Philip  and  Andrew  ;  in  the  northern  and  western  parts  of  Asia,  by 
Bartholomew ;  in  Persia,  by  Simeon  and  Jude ;  in  Media,  Carmania, 
&c.  by  Thomas  ;  from  Jerusalem  and  round  about  unto  Illyricum,  by 
Paul,  who  also  published  it  in  Italy,  and  probably  in  Spain,  Gaul,  and 
Britain.* 

James,  the  brother  of  the  apostle  John,  and  son  of  Zebedee,  as  we 
have  formerly  noticed,  had  been  put  to  death  by  Herod ;  and,  if  we 
may  credit  Jerome,  Peter  was  also  put  to  death  in  the  twelfth  year  of 
the  reign  of  Nero,  about  the  same  time  that  Paul  finished  his  course 
and  was  taken  to  receive  the  crown  of  righteousness  which  his  Divine 
Master  had  promised  to  bestow  upon  him.  By  this  time  also  James, 
the  Lord's  brother,  had  sealed  his  testimony  with  his  blood.  The  fol- 
lowing account  of  his  death  is  given  us  by  Josephus  the  Jewish  his- 
torian. "  Ananus,  who  had  seized  the  office  of  high  priest,  was  a  man 
bold  in  his  temper,  and  very  insolent.  He  was  also  of  the  sect  of  the 
Sadducees,  who  surpass  all  the  other  Jews  in  their  rigid  manner  of 
judging  offenders ;  and  he  thought  he  now  had  a  proper  opportunity 
of  exercising  his  authority.  Festus  was  dead,  and  Albinus,  who  had 
been  sent  into  Judea  to  succeed  him,  was  upon  his  journey  thither.  So 
he  assembled  the  Sanhedrim  of  Judges,  and  brought  before  him  the 
brother  of  Jesus,  who  was  called  Christ,  whose  name  was  James,  and 
some  others  of  his  companions,  and  when  he  had  formed  an  accusation 
against  them  as  breakers  of  the  law,  he  delivered  them  to  be  stoned."  J 
Eusebius,  the  ecclesiastical  historian,  gives  a  somewhat  different  ac- 
count of  the  death  of  James,  and  thinks  he  was  killed,  not  in  conse- 
quence of  a  judicial  trial,  but  in  a  popular  tumult,  the  occasion  of 
which  he  thus  explains.  "  When  Paul  had  appealed  unto  Caesar,  and 
had  been  sent  to  Rome  by  Festus,  the  Jews  who  had  aimed  at  his 
death,  turned  their  rage  against  James,  the  Lord's  brother,  who  had 
been  appointed  by  the  apostles,  bishop  of  Jerusalem. "J  These  different 
accounts  are  certainly  not  irreconcilable,  and  the  fact  itself  is  unques- 
tionable, that  he  was  put  to  death  by  the  Jews,  about  the  year  64,  and 
only  a  short  time  after  the  writing  of  that  excellent  epistle  which  forms 
a  part  of  the  sacred  canon. 

The  divine  long-suffering  was,  however,  now  fast  drawing  towards 
a  close  with  the  devoted  city  and  people  of  Jerusalem.  The  measure 
of  their  iniquities  was  at  length  filled  up.  To  all  their  former  crimes 
they  had  now  added  these,  that  "  they  had  both  killed  the  Lord  Jesus, 
and  persecuted  his  servants  the  apostles,"  even  unto  death  ;  and  the 
wrath  of  heaven  was  about  to  come  upon  them  to  the  uttermost. 
Christ  himself,  during  his  personal  ministry,  had  foretold  their  doom, 
and  bewailed  it  in  the  most  pathetic  strains.     "  O  Jerusalem,  Jerusa- 

*  Young's  History  of  Idolatrous  Corruptions  in  Religion,  vol.  ii.  p.  216 — 240. 
See  also  a  Sermon  by  Dr.  Geo.  Campbell,  entitled  "  The  Success  of  the  Gospel, 
a  Proof  of  its  Truth." 

f  Antiq.  b.  20.  ch.  9.  }  Eccles.  Hist.  b.  2,  ch.  23. 

9 


98  History  of  the  Christian  Church. 

leva,  thou  that  killest  the  prophets  and  stonest  those  that  are  sent  unto 
thee,  how  often  would  I  have  gathered  thy  children  together,  even  as 
a  hen  gathereth  her  chickens  under  her  wings,  and  ye  would  not :  be- 
hold your  house  is  left  unto  you  desolate."*  For  "  the  days  shall 
come  upon  thee,  when  thine  enemies  shall  cist  a  trench  about  thee 
and  compass  thee  round,  and  keep  thee  in  on  every  side  and  shall  lay 
thee  even  with  the  ground,  and  thy  children  within  thee,  and  they 
shall  not  leave  in  thee  one  stone  upon  another."!  As  the  accomplish- 
ment of  these  predictions  ended  in  the  utter  abolition  of  the  Jewish 
church  and  state,  a  constitution  which  was  originally  founded  in  Di- 
vine appointment,  and  had  existed  during  a  period  of  fifteen  hundred 
years  ;  and,  as  it  was  unquestionably  the  most  awful  revolution  in  all 
the  religious  dispensations  of  God,  and  which,  moreover,  in  various 
ways,  contributed  greatly  to  the  success  of  the  gospel,  it  seems  to  me- 
rit a  more  detailed  account  than  is  generally  to  be  found  of  it  in  the  his- 
tories of  the  Christian  church. 

Nero,  the  Roman  emperor,  whose  death  has  been  already  adverted 
to,  left  the  empire  in  a  state  of  extreme  confusion,  and  Judea  partook 
of  it  in  a  remarkable  degree.  To  him  succeeded  Galba,  who  reigned 
from  June  the  9th,  68,  to  January  loth,  69,  when  he  was  followed  by 
Otho,  who  scarcely  swayed  the  imperial  sceptre  three  months.  Then 
came  Vitellius,  who  reigned  no  longer  than  to  December  21st  of  the 
same  year — there  having  been,  if  we  includ^Nero  who  preceded,  and 
Vespasian  who  followed,  no  less  than  five  different  emperors  in  the 
short  space  of  eighteen  months  ;  during  which  the  empire  was  a  scene 
of  confusion,  desolation  and  misery.  It  has  been  remarked,  that  Chris- 
tianity at  first  derived  some  advantages  from  the  abandoned  characters 
of  the  Roman  emperors,  who  at  this  time  swayed  the  sceptre.  They 
had  other  crimes  and  other  mischiefs  in  view,  and  this  left  them  little 
leisure  to  harass  a  sect  so  contemptible,  when  compared  with  Pagan- 
ism, as  was  that  of  the  Christians.  Accordingly,  from  the  death  of 
Christ  to  that  of  Vespasian,  for  about  the  space  of  thirty-seven  years, 
the  Romans  paid  little  regard  to  the  progress  of  the  gospel.  They  were 
ruled  by  weak,  frantic,  or  vicious  emperors  ;  the  magistrates  and  sena- 
tors, and  every  worthy  man  of  any  note,  stood  in  continual  fear  for  their 
own  lives.  Nero,  indeed,  had  destroyed  many  of  the  Christians  at 
Rome ;  but  it  was  for  a  supposed  crime  of  which  all  the  world  knew 
them  to  be  innocent ;  so  that  this  cruel  treatment  raised  compassion,  and 
rather  did  service  than  harm  to  the  Christian  cause,  and  the  persecution 
was  soon  over. 

After  the  death  of  king  Herod  Agrippa,  the  particulars  of  which  the 
reader  will  find  recorded,  Acts  xii.  Judea  again  became  a  province  of 
the  Roman  empire,  and  Cuspius  Fadus  was  sent  to  be  its  governor. 
Upon  his  arrival  he  found  the  country  infested  with  banditti,  which 
were  grown  both  numerous  and  powerful,  whom  he  was  compelled  to 
suppress,  and  also  to  quell  an  insurrection  which  the  Jews  had  raised 
against  the  inhabitants  of  Philadelphia,  formerly  the  city  of  Rabbah, 
the  capital  of  the  Ammonites.  During  the  government  of  Fadus,  there 
arose  a  notable  impostor,  named  Theudas,  who  drew  great  numbers  of 

•  Matt,  xxiii.  37.  f  Luke  xix.  42. 


Remarks  on  the  state  of  Judea.  99 

the  deluded  Jews  after  him,  inviting  them  to  follow  him  beyond  Jordan, 
and  promising  them  that  he  would  divide  the  waters  of  that  river,  as 
Joshua  had  done  by  his  single  word.  Fadns  sent  some  military  troops 
against  him  and  his  followers,  who  killed  some  and  took  others  prison- 
ers, and  among  the  latter,  Theudas  himself,  whom  he  caused  to  be  be- 
headed, and  his  head  brought  to  Jerusalem.*  Fadus  was  soon  after- 
wards succeeded  by  Tiberius  Alexander,  an  apostate  Jew,  who  very 
shortly  gave  way  to  make  room  for 

Ventidius  Cumanus,  during  whose  government  of  Judea,  those  trou- 
bles began  which  ended  in  the  ruin  of  the  Jewish  nation.  The  great 
concourse  of  people  which  their  festival  brought  to  Jerusalem,  obliged 
the  Romans  at  such  times  to  keep  a  guard  before  the  gate  of  the  temple 
to  prevent  tumults.  It  was  now  the  passover,  when  one  of  the  Roman 
soldiers  upon  duty,  had  the  impudence,  probably  intended  an  insult  to 
the  Jews,  by  showing  that  he  was  not  of  the  circumcision,  to  expose 
his  nakedness.  This  indignity  roused  the  resentment  of  the  Jews  to 
such  a  height,  that  they  went  and  complained  of  it  to  Cumanus,  and 
very  insultingly  told  him,  that  the  affront  was  offered  by  his  order,  not 
merely  to  the  nation,  but  to  their  God.  Cumanus  at  first  tried  to  ap- 
pease them  by  fair  means,  but  finding  them  grow  more  tumultuous,  he 
ordered  all  his  troops  to  the  spot,  which  so  alarmed  them  that  they  fled 
in  the  greatest  consternation,  ionsmueh,  that  ten  thousand  (Eusebius 
and  Jerome  say  thirty  thousand)  were  stifled  to  death  in  their  flight,  by 
running  over  one  another  in  the  confined  avenues  that  led  to  and  from 
the  temple. t 

Cumanus  was  soon  afterwards  succeeded  in  the  government  of  Judea 
by  Claudius  Felix,  under  whom  the  Jewish  affairs  proceeded  in  a 
progressive  course  of  deterioration.  The  country  swarmed  with  rob- 
bers and  insurgents,  and  Jerusalem  itself  became  the  prey  of  false  pro- 
phets, and  pretended  workers  of  miracles,  who  were  continually  blowing 
the  embers  of  discontent  and  sedition.  Add  to  which,  that  numbers  of 
Sicdrii  or  assassins  crowded  into  all  the  cities  and  towns  of  the  country, 
committing  the  most  horrible  murders,  under  the  pretext  of  zeal  for 
their  religion  and  liberties.  Felix  did  not  content  himself  with  merely 
inflicting  punishment  upon  those  who  violated  the  public  peace,  but  he 
extended  it  to  almost  all  others  indiscriminately,  whom  his  avarice  or 
resentment  marked  out  for  destruction.  His  cruel  behaviour  induced 
a  very  old  priest,  named  Jonathan,  who  had  been  instrumental  in  pro- 
curing him  the  office,  to  complain  of  his  ill  conduct ;  which  Felix  at 
length  becoming  unable  to  bear,  procured  a  person,  in  whom  Jonathan 
reposed  great  confidence,  to  assassinate  the  latter,  and  it  was  accordingly 
done.  This  murder  going  unpunished,  because  the  person  who  should 
have  avenged  it  was  the  instigator  to  it,  proved  the  occasion  of  an  al- 
most infinite  number  of  others,  which  were  committed  every  where, 
the  temple  not  excepted;  insomuch, -that  the  Jewish  chiefs,  and  even 
the  pontiffs,  made  no  hesitation  of  hiring  the  assassins  above-mentioned 
to  rid  them  of  all  such  persons  as  were  obnoxious  to  them. J 

Felix  was  succeeded  in  the  government  by  Festus,§  who,  on  coming 
into  the  province,  found  the  very  priesthood  engaged  in  a  civil  war 

*  Joseph.  Antiq.  b.  20.  ch.  1,  and  5.  f  lb.  b.  20.  ch.  5. 

±  Ibid.  b.  2.  ch.  13.  §  Acts  xiv.  27. 


100  History  of  the  Christian  Church. 

among  themselves,  occasioned  by  the  frequent  depositions  of  the  pon- 
tiffs (or  high  priests)  and  their  continuing  to  insist  upon  being  allowed 
a  greater  portion  of  the  tithes,  than  the  inferior  priests  could  afford 
them.  Agrippa  had  the  preceding  year  deposed  Ananias,  and  put  Ish- 
mael  in  his  room.  There  were  still  several  other  discarded  pontiffs 
alive,  all  of  whom  claimed  the  same  share  in  the  tithes  which  they 
had  enjoyed  while  in  office  ;  the  yielding  of  which,  must  of  course  im- 
poverish the  inferior  priests,  who  therefore  resisted  the  demand.  Their 
rancour  at  length  arose  to  such  a  height,  that  each  party  was  accustomed 
to  walk  the  streets,  accompanied  by  a  troop  of  the  Sicarii,  and  upon 
every  rencontre  they  fell  foul  on  each  other,  killing  all  that  opposed 
them,  and  filling  both  city  and  country,  and  even  the  very  temple  itself, 
oftentimes  with  blood.  Festus,  therefore,  had  a  threefold  task  upon  his 
hands  ;  he  had  to  suppress  the  violence  of  the  priesthood  against  each 
other — that  of  the  seditious  laity  against  the  Romans,  and  such  as  con- 
tentedly submitted  to  their  government — and  that  of  the  banditti  abroad, 
who  infested  the  whole  country,  and  robbed,  plundered,  and  massacred 
every  where  without  mercy.*  These  concerns  occupied  the  greater 
part  of  his  time,  during  his  short  government. 

Festus  dying  soon  after  Paul  was  brought  before  hhn,t  Nero  nomi- 
nated as  his  successor  Albinus,  of  whom  we  had  lately  occasion  to 
speak,  the  high-priesthood  having  in  the  mean  time  been,  by  Agrippa, 
transferred  to  Ananus.  Of  this  governor  it  is  x-elated  by  historians,  that 
he  was  such  a  cruel  and  rapacious  monster,  that  Felix  and  Festus,  with 
all  their  faults,  were  angels  when  compared  with  him.  His  first  care, 
however,  was  to  suppress  the  Sicarii,  robbers,  and  banditti,  which 
were  now  grown  more  numerous  and  daring  than  ever.  He  punished 
with  the  utmost  severity  as  many  as  came  into  his  hands  ;  yet  the  rest 
only  became  thereby  more  bold  and  impudent.  Albinus,  after  a  two 
years  tenure  of  office,  was  recalled  by  Nero,  and  succeeded  by 

Gessius  Florus,  the  last  and  Avorst  governor  that  Judea  ever  had. 
Josephus  seems  at  a  loss  for  language  sufficiently  strong  in  which  to 
paint  him  correctly,  or  a  monster  black  enough  with  which  to  com- 
pare him.  His  rapines,  and  cruelties,  and  acts  of  oppression ;  his 
compromising  with  the  banditti  for  large  sums  of  money ;  and,  in 
short,  his  whole  behaviour,  was  so  openly  flagitious,  that  the  Jews 
were  disposed  to  regard  him  rather  as  a  bloody  executioner  sent  to  tor- 
ture than  as  a  magistrate  to  govern  them.  His  design  seemed  to  be 
that  of  goading  them  to  a  open  rebellion,  either  that  he  might  have  the 
brutal  satisfaction  of  seeing  them  destroy  each  other,  or  to  prevent 
them  from  inquiring  into  his  own  oppressions  and  atrocities.  And, 
indeed,  he  but  too  well  succeeded  in  this ;  for,  by  his  means  a  war 
was  kindled,  which  only  ended  with  the  total  ruin  of  the  Jewish  na- 
tion.;}; My  confined  limits  render  it  inexpedient  to  go  into  any  ample 
detail  of  this  dreadful  catastrophe,  and  I  shall  therefore  restrict  myself 
to  a  few  of  the  leading  particulars,  referring  such  of  my  readers,  as 
desire  a  more  full  account  of  the  matter,  to  the  volumes  of  Josephus. 

While  Felix  was  governor  of  Judea,  a  dispute  arose  between  the 
Jews  and  the  Syrians,  concerning  the  city  of  Caesarea — the  former 

*  Joseph.  Antiq.  b.  20.  ch.  8.         f  Acts  xxvi.         *  Joseph.  Antiq.  b.  20.  ch.  11. 


Hie  Jews  revolt  against  the  Romans.  101 

maintaining  that  it  belonged  to  them,  because  it  had  been  built  chiefly 
by  Herod;  the  latter  insisting  that  it  had  always  been  esteemed  a 
Greek  city,  inasmuch  as  their  monarch  had  erected  temples  and  sta- 
tues in  it.  From  words  they  proceeded  to  blows,  and  took  up  arms 
against  each  other.  Felix,  for  the  moment,  put  an  end  to  the  contest, 
by  sending  some  of  the  chief  men  of  each  nation  to  Rome,  to  plead 
their  cause  before  the  emperor.  The  latter  decided  in  favour  of  the 
Syrians ;  but  the  decision  was  no  sooner  announced  in  Judea  than  it 
becamethe  signal  for  a  general  revolt — the  Jews  every  where  taking  up 
arms  ;  and  thus  began  the  fatal  war,  in  the  second  year  of  the  govern- 
ment of  Florus,  in  the  twelfth  of  Nero's  reign,  and  in  the  sixty-ninth 
year  of  Christ.  Agrippa,  who  was  at  Jerusalem  at  the  beginning  of 
the  revolt,  used  every  exertion  to  moderate  their  rage  ;  they  pelted  him 
with  stones,  and  compelled  him  to  leave  the  city,  which  was  instantly 
in  a  flame.  Florus  beheld  all  this  with  inhuman  pleasure,  and  with- 
out lifting  his  finger  to  quell  the  tumult.  The  evil  spread  throughout 
all  Judea,  and  nothing  was  to  be  heard  of  but  robberies,  murder,  and 
every  species  of  cruelty — cities  and  villages  filled  with  the  dead  of  all 
ages  and  of  each  sex,  and  of  every  quality  down  to  the  tender  infant. 
The  Jews,  who  were  almost  every  where  the  sufferers,  on  their  part, 
spared  neither  Syrians  nor  Romans,  but  retaliated  their  cruelties  wher- 
ever they  got  the  better  of  them,  in  consequence  of  which  many  of 
their  peaceful  brethren  were  murdered  in  their  places  of  abode.  The 
Csesareans-  fell  suddenly  on  those  of  their  city,  and  massacred  twenty 
thousand  of  them  ;  two  thousand  were  murdered  at  Ptolemais  ;  and 
fifty  thousand  at  the  city  of  Alexandria  in  Egypt.  At  Jerusalem, 
Florus  one  day  caused  his  troops  to  go  and  plunder  the  market,  and  to 
kill  all  they  met;  and  they  accordingly  murdered  three  thousand  five 
hundred  persons,  men,  women,  and  children.  This,  however,  was 
far  from  satiating  the  monster — the  streets  of  the  city  continued  day 
after  day  to  be  deluged  with  human  blood.  Bernice,  the  sister  of 
Agrippa,  happening  to  be  detained  at  Jerusalem  during  this  time,  to 
perform  the  vow  of  the  Nazarene,  which  required  thirty  days  for  its 
accomplishment,  used  every  entreaty  to  soften  the  brutish  prator,  even 
at  the  risk  of  her  own  life.  And  when  repulsed  one  day,  she  repeated 
her  exertions  on  the  next,  going  barefoot,  and  throwing  herself  at  the 
footstool  of  his  tribunal,  in  the  most  submissive  terms  beseeching  him 
to  put  a  stop  to  the  shedding  of  so  much  blood.  He  disdained. to 
show  her  the  least  token  of  common  respect,  and  she  ran  the  risk  of 
being  torn  to  pieces  before  she  could  reach  her  own  home.  Florus 
wrote  to  Cestius,  the  governor  of  Syria,  casting  all  the  blame  of  these 
horrible  cruelties  upon  the  Jews.* 

The  revolt  still  spreading  wider,  the  Jews  at  length  carried  their 
conquests  beyond  Jordan,  where  they  took  the  fortress  of  Cyprus, 
raised  it  to  the  ground,  and  put  all  the  Romans  to  the  sword.  Ces- 
tius, whom  I  have  just  mentioned,  and  who  had  hitherto  kept  himself 
an  idle  spectator  of  these  mutual  devastations,  began  to  think  it  high 
time  to  exert  himself  in  putting  a  stop  to  their  further  progress.     He, 

*  Joseph.  Wars  of  the  Jews,  b.  2.  ch.  14,  15. 


102  History  of  the  Christian  Church. 

therefore,  marched  into  Judea  with  a  powerful  army,  burned  all  the 
towns  and  villages  in  his  way,  massacred  all  the  Jews  he  could  come 
at,  and  then  encamped  before  Gibeon  about  the  feast  of  tabernacles. 
The  Jews  at  Jerusalem  no  sooner  heard  of  his  approach,  than  forsak- 
ing the  solemnities  of  their  religion,  and,  even  though  it  was  on  the 
Sabbath-day,  they  flew  to  arms,  and  proceeded  to  meet  him  with  such 
fury,  that  had  not  the  cavalry  arrived  at  the  moment  to  the  support  of 
his  infantry,  he  had  sustained  a  signal  defeat.  He  lost  five  hundred 
men,  while  the  Jews  lost  but  twenty-two.  Here  Cestius  tried  to  con- 
ciliate the  latter  by  sending  two  of  his  principal  officers  to  offer  them 
a  pardon  and  terms  of  peace.  Instead  of  listening  to  his  proposals 
they  put  one  of  them  to  death,  and  wounded  the  other,  who  narrowly 
escaped  with  his  life — an  action  so  base  and  treacherous,  that  it  was 
condemned  by  the  more  moderate  of  the  Jews  themselves.  Cestius 
enraged  at  this,  pursued  them  almost  to  Jerusalem,  and  halting  at  a 
village  called  Scopas,  about  a  mile  from  the  city,  waited  three  days,  in 
the  hope  that  their  terror  would  induce  them  to  relent ;  but  not  find- 
ing that  to  be  the  case,  he  advanced  in  order  of  battle  on  the  30th  of 
October,  69,  and  put  them  in  such  consternation,  that  they  abandoned 
all  the  outworks  and  retired  into  the  inner  cincture  near  the  temple. 
Cestius  set  fire  to  the  former,  and  began  to  lay  siege  to  the  latter,  ta- 
king up  his  head  quarters  in  the  royal  palace.* 

Had  the  governor  vigorously  pushed  the  siege,  it  is  probable  he 
might  have  succeeded  at  this  time  in  putting  an  end  to  the  sedition  ; 
but  that  sinful  nation  was  to  be  reserved  for  much  sorer  evils.  Means 
were  found  to  corrupt  his  generals,  which  gave  new  life  to  the  insur- 
gents. They  made  a  sortie  and  succeeded  in  repulsing  him,  pursued 
him  to  his  camp  at  Gibeon,  harassing  his  rear,  whilst,  having  secured 
the  passes,  they  attacked  his  army  in  flank.  Hemmed  in  on  all  sides, 
the  mountains  re-echoed  with  the  hideous  cries  of  his  soldiers,  and 
having  lost  four  thousand  foot  and  two  hundred  horse,  favoured  by  the 
intervening  night,  they,  on  the  8th  of  November,  happily  found  a  pass 
through  the  narrow  straits  of  Bethoron  and  escaped.t 

Intelligence  being  brought  to  Nero  of  the  ill  success  of  Cestius,  and 
that  the  Jews  were  making  the  most  vigorous  preparations  to  carry  on 
war  against  the  Romans,  he  gave  orders  to  Vespasian,  who  had  greatly 
signalized  himself,  both  in  Germany  and  Britain,  to  march  speedily 
into  Judea  with  a  powerful  army.  In  the  beginning  of  the  ensuing 
year,  accompanied  by  his  son  Titus,  at  the  head  of  sixty  thousand 
men,  all  well  disciplined,  he  entered  Galilee,  and  having  burnt  Gadara, 
was  marching  to  besiege  Jotapata.  Josephus,  the  celebrated  Jewish 
historian  was  at  that  time  governor  of  the  province ;  and  being  ap- 
prized of  the  intention  of  Vespasian,  he  threw  himself  into  Jotapata, 
which,  during  a  period  of  forty-seven  days,  he  defended  with  great 
hraverv.  It  was  at  length  taken  by  assault,  about  the  beginning  of 
July,  and  given  up  to  fire  and  sword ;  not  one  Jew  escaped  to  convey 
the  dreadful  tidings,  but  all  were  either  murdered  or  made  prisoners. 
Of  the  former,  the  number  was  computed  at  forty  thousand,  and  of  the 

*  Joseph.  Wars,  b.  2.  ch.  18.  f  Joseph.  Wars,  b.  2.  ch  19. 


Vespasian's  Success  in  Judea.  ]  03 

atter  only  twelve  hundred,  among  whom  was   Josephus  the  gover- 
nor.*! 

Whilst  Vespasian  was  carrying  on  the  siege  of  Jotapata,  his  son  Ti- 
tus was  sent  against  Jaffa  in  the  neighbourhood,  which  he  subdued  on 
the  20th  of  June.  On  taking  possession  of  the  town,  the  inhabitants 
made  a  desperate  resistance  in  the  streets  during  the  space  of  six  hours; 
but  being  at  last  overpowered  all  the  men  were  put  to  the  sword,  and 
the  women  and  children  taken  prisoners.  A  week  after,  the  Sama- 
ritans, who  had  assembled  upon  Mount  Gerizim,  with  the  intention 
of  defending  themselves,  having  been  closely  surrounded  by  a  Roman 

*  Joseph.  "Wars,  b.  3.  ch.  7. 

f  Josephus,  whose  "  History  of  the  Wars  of  the  Jews"  is  too  well  known  to 
need  any  description  from  me,  was,  by  his  father,  of  the  race  of  the  priests,  and 
of  the  first  of  the  twenty-four  courses;  and  by  his  mother  he  was  descended  from 
the  Asmonxan' family,  in  which  the  royal  power  was  united  with  that  of  the  high- 
priesthood.  He  was  born  at  Jerusalem,  in  the  first  year  of  Caius  Caligula.  At 
sixteen  years  of  age,  he  began  to  inquire  into  the  sentiments  of  the  different  sects 
among  the  Jews, — the  Pharisees,  Sadducees,  and  Essenes.  At  twenty-six  he 
went  to  Rome,  to  petition  the  emperor  Nero  in  behalf  of  several  priests  of  his 
acquaintance,  whom  Felix  had  sent  bound  to  Rome.  At  Puteoli  he  became  ac- 
quainted with  Alitui'us,  a  Jewish  comedian,  who  had  ingratiated  himself  with 
Nero.  Through  this  man  he  was  introduced  to  Poppaea,  the  wife  of  Nero,  by 
whose  interest  he  succeeded  in  obtaining  liberty  for  his  friends,  and  from  whom 
he  also  obtained  many  considerable  presents.  The  following  year  he  returned 
into  Judea,  when  he  saw  every  thing  tending  to  a  revolt  tinder  Gessius  Florus. 
In  the  beginning  of  the  Jewish  war,  he  commanded  in  Galilee.  When  Vespa- 
sian, who  was  a  general  of  the  Roman  army  under  the  reign  of  Nero,  had  con- 
quered that  country,  Josephus  was  taken  at  Jotapata.  He  and  forty  more  Jews 
had  concealed  themselves  in  a  subterraneous  cavern,  where  they  formed  the 
desperate  resolution  of  killing  each  other  rather  than  surrender  themselves  to 
the  Romans.  Josephus,  having  been  governor  of  the  place,  and  therefore  en- 
titled to  priority  in  point  of  rank,  it  was  at  first  proposed  by  the  rest  to  yield  it  to 
him  as  an  honour,  to  become  the  first  victim.  He,  however,  contrived  to  divert 
their  minds  from  this,  by  proposing  to  cast  lots  for  the  precedency;  and  after 
thirty-nine  of  them  had  balloted  and  killed  one  another,  he,  and  the  other  who 
survived,  agreed  not  to  lay  violent  hands  upon  themselves,  nor  to  imbrue  their 
hands  in  one  another's  blood,  but  deliver  themselves  up  to  the  Romans.  Upon 
this,  Josephus  surrendered  himself  up  to  Nicanor,  who  conducted  him  to  Vespa- 
sian. When  brought  into  the  presence  of  the  latter,  Josephus  told  him  that  he 
had  something  to  communicate  to  him  which  would  probably  strike  him  with 
much  surprise,  and  perhaps  not  obtain  his  immediate  credit — it  was  that  he,  Ves- 
pasian, should  become  emperor  of  Rome,  in  less  than  three  years.  Aware  that 
the  general  might  think  this  was  merely  a  stratagem  on  the  part  of  Josephus  to 
save  his  life,  the  latter  told  him  that  he  did  not  ask  for  his  liberty, — he  was  con- 
tent to  be  kept  as  a  close  prisoner  during  the  intei-val;  and  that,  should  his  pre- 
diction not  be  realized,  he  was  content  to  be  then  put  to  death.  Vespasian  yield- 
ed to  his  request,  although  he,  at  first,  placed  no  credit  in  what  Josephus  had 
said.  He,  however,  kept  the  latter  with  him,  as  a  prisoner,  while  he  himself 
continued  in  these  parts;  but  when  he  heard  that  he  had  been  elected  emperor 
at  Rome,  he  gave  him  his  liberty,  and  raised  him  to  his  confidence  and  favour. 
Josephus  continued  with  his  son  Titus,  who  took  the  command  of  the  army  af- 
ter his  father  Vespasian  was  gone  to  Rome.  He  was  present  at  the  siege  of  Je- 
rusalem, and  was  a  spectator  of  the  awful  desolations  of  the  city,  temple,  and 
country;  and  soon  after  wrote  his  History  of  the  Jewish  Wars,  and  Jewish  Anti- 
quities". The  whole  were  finished  in  the  56th  year  of  his  age,  in  the  loth  of 
Domitian,  and  Anno  Christi,  93. 


104  History  of  the  Christian  Church. 

detachment,  were  reduced  to  the  utmost  distress  for  want  of  water. 
Many  of  them  died  with  thirst,  and  those  who  refused  to  surrender 
were  all  put  to  the  sword.  Joppa,  which  had  been  laid  waste  by  Ces- 
tius,  being  again  repeopled  by  a  great  number  of  seditious  Jews,  who 
infested  the  adjoining  countries,  Vespasian  sent  troops  to  take  it, 
which  they  soon  achieved.  Above  four  thousand  of  them  endeav- 
oured to  escape  the  massacre,  by  fleeing  to  their  ships.  A  sudden  tem- 
pest drave  them  back,  so  that  they  were  all  either  drowned  or  put  to 
the  sword.  Tarichea  and  Tiberias  were  next  taken — after  the  reduc- 
tion of  which,  all  the  other  cities  of  Galilee  submitted  to  the  Romans, 
except  Gischala,  Gamala,  and  Mount  Tabor.* 

Gamala  was  situated  upon  the  lake  Genesareth,  opposite  to  Tari- 
chea, and  stood  the  siege  of  Agrippa,  near  seven  months;  but,  still 
holding  out,  the  Romans  were  obliged  to  come  to  his  assistance.  But 
of  all  the  places  which  they  had  been  called  to  subdue,  none  put  the 
courage  and  strength  of  the  Romans  so  severely  to  the  test  as  Gamala. 
Having  at  length  succeeded  in  beating  down  one  of  its  towers,  the  ar- 
my entered  in  at  the  breach,  and  put  four  thousand  of  its  inhabitants  to 
the  sword  ;  while  a  much  greater  number  perished  by  their  own  hands, 
precipitating  themselves  down  from  the  rocks  and  walls,  as  well  as  by 
other  violent  methods.  In  the  mean  time  Placidus,  a  Roman  general, 
by  a  dexterous  stratagem  succeeded  in  obtaining  possession  of  Mount 
Tabor.t 

The  inhabitants  of  Gischala,  against  which  Vespasian  sent  his  son 
Titus,  seemed  disposed  to  make  a  voluntary  surrender  of  themselves, 
to  which  Titus,  who  by  this  time  was  satiated  with  the  carnage  that 
had  ensued  at  Gamala,  earnestly  exhorted  them.  The  voice  of  the  more 
peaceable  citizens,  however,  was  overruled  by  that  of  a  factious  and 
vile  fellow,  named  John,  the  son  of  Levi,  who  succeeded  in  getting  the 
mob  at  his  beck,  and  overawed  the  whole  city.  It  being  the  Sabbath, 
this  wretched  man  begged  of  Titus  to  forbear  hostilities  till  the  morrow, 
when  he  would  accept  of  his  offer ;  but,  succeeding  in  his  request,  he 
in  the  mean  time  fled  to  Jerusalem,  where  he  was  the  occasion  of  much 
mischief.  On  the  morrow  the  citizens  went  out  and  surrendered  them- 
selves, informing  Titus  of  John's  flight,  supplicating  his  clemency  to- 
wards the  innocent,  and  beseeching  him  that  he  would  only  punish  the 
factious.  Titus  readily  yielded  to  their  request,  and  despatched  some 
of  his  horse  after  the  fugitives.  John  himself  reached  Jerusalem  ;  but 
the  Romans  put  to  death  six  thousand  of  his  followers  upon  the  road, 
and  brought  back  three  thousand  women  and  children  prisoners.  The 
taking  and  garrisoning  of  this  place  completed  the  conquest  of  Galilee, 
Titus  on  this  rejoined  his  father  at  Caesarea,  where  diey  gave  their 
troops  a  respite  before  they  proceeded  to  besiege  Jerusalem.^ 

Here  it  may  be  proper  to  digress  a  little,  and  compare  with  the  pre- 
ceding melancholy  detail,  the  predictions  of  Jesus  Christ  concerning 
this  devoted  people.  He  had  been  foretelling  the  destruction  of  the 
temple,  when  his  disciples  came  and  asked  him,  "  But  when  shall  these 
things  be,  and  what  sign  will  there  be  when  these  things  shall  come 
to  pass  ?     And  he  said,  let  no  man  deceive  you,  for  many  shall  come, 

•  Joseph.  Wars,  b.  3.  ch.  7,  9,  10.  f  Ibid.  b.  4.  ch.  1.  *  Ibid.  ch.  2- 


Predictions  of  Jesus  Christ.  105 

saying,  I  am  the  Christ;  and  the  time  draweth  near — go  ye  not  after 
them.  But  when  ye  shall  hear  of  wars  and  commotions  be  not  terrified, 
for  these  things  must  first  come  to  pass,  but  the  end  is  not  yet — for 
nation  shall  rise  against  nation,  and  kingdom  against  kingdom  ;  and 
there  shall  be  great  earthquakes  in  divers  places,  and  famines  and  pesti- 
lences, and  great  signs  shall  there  be  from  heaven.  For  these  are  the 
days  of  vengeance,  that  all  things  that  are  written  may  be  fulfilled.  But 
wo  unto  them  that  are  with  child,  and  to  those  that  give  suck  in  those 
days !  for  there  shall  be  great  distress  in  the  land,  and  wrath  upon  this 
people,  and  they  shall  fall  by  the  edge  of  the  sword,  and  shall  be  led 
away  captive  into  all  nations ;  and  Jerusalem  shall  be  trodden  down  of 
the  Gentiles,  until  the  times  of  the  Gentiles  be  fulfilled.  And  there 
shall  be  signs  in  the  sun,  and  in  the  moon,  and  in  the  stars ;  and  upon 
the  earth  distress  of  nations,  with  perplexity ;  the  sea  and  the  waves 
roaring ;  men's  hearts  failing  them  for  fear,  and  for  looking  after  those 
things  which  are  coming  on  the  earth,  for  the  powers  of  heaven  shallbe 
shaken."* 

It  may  be  useful  to  keep  these  things  in  view,  while  we  now  proceed 
to  mark  the  accomplishment  of  this  awful  prophecy  in  the  prosecution 
and  final  issue  of  this  dreadful  siege. 

Vespasian  discovered  no  haste  to  depart  from  Caesarea,  and  commence 
the  siege  of  Jerusalem,  but  prolonged  his  stay,  insomuch  that  his  of- 
ficers began  to  be  amazed  at  his  inactivity,  and  took  the  liberty  to  remind 
him  that  he  was  losing  the  most  favourable  opportunity  of  making  him- 
self master  of  that  city  and  of  all  Palestine.  But  that  prudent  general 
soon  made  them  sensible  that  his  continuing  thus  idle  at  Csesarea  was 
the  surest  means  of  effecting  the  conquest  of  which  thay  were  speaking, 
with  the  least  difficulty  and  risk  of  his  troops.  There  can  be  little 
doubt  that  he  was  fully  apprized  of  the  shocking  state  of  things  within 
the  city,  which  at  this  time  was  given  up  to  such  intestine  broils  and 
massacres  that  the  strength  of  the  Jews  was  daily  exhausting  itself, 
while  the  Romans  were  nourishing  theirs.  In  fact,  the  whole  nation 
was  at  this  moment  divided  into  two  opposite  parties  ;"':  one  of  which, 
foreseeing  that  the  war,  if  continued,  must  end  in  the  total  ruin  of  thei 
country,  were  for  putting  an  end  to  it  by  a  speedy  submission  to  the 
Romans;  while  the  other  breathed  nothing  but  hostility,  confusion,  and 
cruelty;  and  opposed  all  peaceable  measures  with  invincible  obstinacy. 
This  latter  party  was  by  far  the  most  numerous  and  powerful;  besides 
which,  it  consisted  of  men  of  the  vilest  and  most  profligate  characters 
that  perhaps  the  pen  of  the  historian  ever  recorded.  They  were  proud, 
ambitious,  cruel,  rapacious,  and  addicted  to  the  most  horrid  crimes.  If 
we  may  credit  Josephus,  their  own  historian,  they  acted  more  like  in- 
fernal beings  than  men.  John  of  Gischala,  formerly  mentioned,  was 
then  at  the  head  of  this  party  in  Jerusalem.  Upon  one  occasion  they 
put  to  death  twelve  thousand  persons  of  noble  extraction  and  in  the 
flower  of  their  age,  butchering  them  in  the  most  horrid  manner.  In 
short,  their  rage  and  cruelty  had  grown  to  such  a  height,  that  the  whole 
nation  trembled  at  their  very  name,  while  none  durst  be  seen  or  heard 
to  weep  for  the  murder  of  their  nearest  relatives,  nor  even  to  give  them 
burial. t 

*  Luke  xxi.  Mat.  xxiv.  Mark  xiii.  f  Joseph.  Wars,  b.  4.  ch.  6. 


106  History  of  the  Christian  Church. 

Thus  every  thing-  succeeded  to  the  wish  of  Vespasian.  The  party 
of  John  of  Gischala,  having  massacred  or  driven  away  their  opponents, 
began  to  turn  their  murderous  weapons  against  each  other.  In  the 
mean  time,  the  Roman  general,  having  past  his  winter  at  Caesarea, 
marched  out  in  the  beginning  of  the  spring,  and  penetrated  Idumea,  plun- 
dering and  burning  every  place  through  which  he  passed,  except  where 
he  thought  it  necessary  to  leave  a  garrison  to  keep  the  country  in  awe.* 

A  few  months  previous  to  this  time  he  had  received  the  news  of 
Nero's  death,  and  of  Galba  being  appointed  his  successor.  Titus,  his 
son,  was  therefore  despatched  to  Rome  to  compliment  the  new  emperor, 
and  to  know  his  pleasure  about  prosecuting  the  war  against  the  Jews. 
Taking  his  journey  by  sea,  and  detained  by  adverse  winds,  he  had 
reached  no  further  than  Achai,  when  the  news  arrived  that  Galba  was 
murdered,  after  a  reign  of  seven  months,  and  Otho  proclaimed  in  his 
stead.  The  latter,  in  about  three  months,  shared  the  fate  of  his  pre- 
decessor, and  was  succeeded  by  Vitellius,  whose  short  reign  issued  in 
Vespasian  being  chosen  emperor.  Suetonius,  describing  the  state  of 
things  at  this  period,  compares  Rome  to  a  ship  at  sea,  tossed  about  by 
contrary  winds,  and  ready  at  every  moment  to  sink.  And  such  was  its 
fluctuating  state,  when  the  election  of  Vespasian  happily  restored  tran- 
quillity to  the  empire.  As  soon  as  he  had  received  the  news  that  his 
election  was  confirmed  at  Rome,  he  left  the  best  of  his  troops  with  his 
son,  ordering  him  to  go  and  besiege  Jerusalem  and  utterly  destroy  it, 
while  himself  returned  to  the  capital  of  his  empire. 

Titus  lost  no  time  in  carrying  into  effect  the  injunctions  of  his  father; 
and,  accordingly,  in  the  beginning  of  April,  near  the  time  of  the  feast 
of  the  passover,  he  put  his  army  in  motion;  and,  advancing  as  close  to 
the  city  as  he  thought  expedient,  went  personally,  attended  only  by  six 
hundred  horse,  to  reconnoitre  its  strength  and  avenues.  It  was  strongly 
situated  by  nature ;  surrounded  by  three  stout  walls,  and  many  stately 
and  strong  towers.  The  first  or  old  wall,  which,  by  reason  of  its  vast 
thickness,  was  looked  upon  as  impregnable,  had  no  less  than  sixty  of 
these  towers,  lofty,  firm,  and  strong.  The  second  had  fourteen,  and 
the  third  eighty.  The  former,  besides  its  extraordinary  height  and 
thickness,  was  raised  on  a  high  and  steep  mountain,  having  beneath  it 
a  valley  of  prodigious  depth.  The  other  two  were,  high  and  strong  in 
proportion.  The  whole  circumference  of  the  city  was  nearly  four 
English  miles.J 

Before  he  commenced  a  regular  siege,  Titus  despatched  Josephus, 
the  Jewish  historian,  with  offers  of  peace  to  the  inhabitants,  but  they 
were  indignantly  rejected.  He  was  sent  a  second  time  with  fresh  over- 
tures, but  with  no  better  success.  Titus  now  resolved  to  begin  the 
assault  in  good  earnest.  In  fourteen  days  a  breach  was  made  in 
the  first  wall,  by  means  of  the  battering  rams  which  played  against  it, 
at  which  the  Romans  entered,  and  the  Jews  abandoning  this  last  en- 
closure, retired  behind  the  next.  Titus,  in  five  days  more,  succeeded 
in  destroying  a  tower  in  the  second  enclosure,  which  gave  his  troops 
admittance  into  that  also ;  but  being  bent  on  saving  the  city,  he  would 
not  suffer  any  part  of  the  wall  or  streets  to  be  demolished,  which  left 

♦  Joseph.  Wars,  b.  4.  ch.  9.        f  lb.         \  Ibid.  b.  4.  ch.  11.  andb.  5.  ch.  2,  and  4. 


Dreadful  Famine  in  Jerusalem.  107 

the  breach  and  lanes  so  narrow,  that  when  his  soldiers  were  repulsed 
by  the  besieged,  they  experienced  great  inconvenience,  and  many  of 
them  were  killed.  The  oversight  was  speedily  rectified,  and  the  attack 
renewed  with  such  vigour,  that  they  resumed  their  advantage  in  four 
days  after  the  first  repulse. * 

At  this  time  the  internal  state  of  the  city  was  beyond  description 
horrible.  For  besides  that  faction  prevailed  against  faction,  and  the 
streets  became  deluged  with  the  blood  of  the  people,  famine  raged  in  a 
terrible  manner  among  them,  which  was  soon  followed  by  a  pestilence; 
and  as  these  two  dreadful  judgments  increased,  so  did  the  fury  of  the 
factions,  who  by  their  intestine  feuds,  had  destroyed  such  quantities  of 
provisions,  that  they  were  forced  to  prey  upon  the  people  with  un- 
heard of  cruelty.  They  broke  into  their  houses,  and,  if  they  found 
any  store  of  provisions,  put  them  to  death  for  not  apprizing  them  of 
it ;  and  if  nothing  was  found  but  bare  walls,  which  was  generally  the 
case,  they  inflicted  torture  upon  them,  under  the  pretext  that  they  had 
some  provisions  concealed.  "  I  should  undertake  an  impossible  task," 
says  Josephus,  "  were  I  to  enter  into  a  detail  of  all  the  cruelties  of 
these  impious  wretches  ;  let  it  suffice  to  say,  that  I  do  not  think  that, 
since  the  creation  of  the  world,  any  city  ever  suffered  such  dreadful 
calamities,  or  abounded  with  men  so  fertile  in  every  species  of  wicked- 
ness."! 

Titus  was  not  unapprized  of  their  miserable  condition,  and  was  still 
desirous  of  sparing  them.  He  granted  them  four  days  for  reflection, 
during  which  he  caused  his  army  to  be  mustered,  and  provisions  to  be 
distributed  to  them  in  the  sight  of  the  Jews,  who  flocked  upon  the 
walls  to  see  it.  He  then  sent  Josephus  to  expostulate  with  them, 
which  he  did,  exhorting  them  not  to  run  themselves  into  inevitable 
ruin,  by  obstinately  persisting  to  defend  a  place  which  could  hold  out 
but  a  very  little  longer,  and  which  the  Romans  already  looked  upon  as 
their  own.  Josephus  has  given  us  a  copy  of  his  elaborate  and  pathetic 
speech  on  this  occasion,  which  he  tells  us  drew  a  flood  of  tears  from 
his  eyes.  They  requited  his  kindness  by  darting  their  arrows  at  him, 
and  rejected  the  merciful  overtures  of  Titus.J 

It  is  difficult  for  us  in  the  present  day  to  form  any  adequate  concep- 
tion of  the  extremity  of  wretchedness  to  which  the  inhabitants  of  this 
devoted  city  were  reduced.  While  the  poor  were  carried  out  at  the 
gates,  to  be  buried  at  the  public  expense,  Titus  was  informed  by  a  de- 
serter, that  at  one  of  the  gates  where  he  was  stationed,  there  were 
carried  out  one#hundred  and  fifteen  thousand,  eight  hundred  and  eighty, 
between  the  14th  of  April,  when  the  siege  commenced,  and  the  1st 
of  July.  Another  told  him  that  they  had  carried  out  at  all  the  gates 
six  hundred  thousand,  and  that  then,  being  unable  to  carry  them  all 
out,  they  had  filled  whole  houses  with  them,  and  shut  them  up. 

I  must  not  disgust  the  reader  by  reciting  in  this  place,  the  miserable 
resources  to  which  the  wretched  inhabitants  were  now  reduced,  in 
order  to  prolong  the  sad  remains  of  life ;  but  one  circumstance  is  so 
materially  connected  with  the  narrative,  that  it  cannot  with  any  pro- 

*  Joseph.  Wars,  ch.  7—9.      +  Ibld-  b-  5-  ch-  19>  an<1  b-  6»  cb-  4-      *  lb.  ch.  1 


108  History  of  the  Christian  Church. 

priety  be  suppressed.  It  was  in  this  sad  and  pinching  conjuncture 
that  an  unhappy  mother  was  reduced  to  the  extremity  of  feeding  upon 
her  own  child!  This  lady,  whose  name  was  Miriam,  had  taken  re- 
fuge, with  many  others,  in  this  devoted  city,  from  the  breaking  out  of 
the  war.  As  the  famine  increased,  her  house  was  repeatedly  plunder- 
ed of  such  provisions  as  she  had  been  able  to  procure.  She  had  vain- 
ly endeavoured  by  her  entreaties,  to  prevail  upon  them,  or  by  her 
execrations  to  provoke  them,  to  put  an  end  to  her  miserable  existence, 
but  the  mercy  was  too  great  to  be  granted  her.  Frantic  at  length  with 
fury  and  despair,  she  snatched  her  infant  from  her  bosom,  cut  its 
throat,  and  broiled  it ;  and  having  satiated  her  present  hunger,  con- 
cealed the  rest.  The  smell  of  it  soon  drew  the  voracious  human 
tigers  to  her  house ;  they  threatened  her  with  the  most  excruciating 
tortures,  if  she  did  not  discover  her  provisions  to  them.  Upon  which 
she  set  before  them  the  relics  of  her  mangled  infant,  bidding  them  eat 
heartily  and  not  be  squeamish,  since  she,  its  once  tender  mother,  had 
made  no  scruple  to  butcher,  dress,  and  feed  upon  it.  At  the  sight  of 
this  horrid  dish,  inhuman  as  they  were,  they  stood  aghast,  petrified 
with  horror,  and  departed,  leaving  the  astonished  mother  in  possession 
of  her  dismal  fare.* 

When  the  report  of  this  spread  through  the  city,  the  horror  and 
consternation  were  as  universal  as  they  were  inexpressible.  They 
now,  for  the  first  time,  began  to  think  themselves  forsaken  of  the  pro- 
vidence of  God,  and  to  expect  the  most  awful  effects  of  his  anger. 
Nor  were  their  fears  either  unreasonable  or  ill-founded  ;  for  no  sooner 
had  Titus  heard  of  this  inhuman  deed,  than  he  vowed  the  total  extir- 
pation of  the  city  and  people.  "Since,"  said  he,  "  they  have  so  often 
refused  my  proffers  of  pardon,  and  have  preferred  war  to  peace,  rebel- 
lion to  obedience,  and  famine  to  plenty,  I  am  determined  to  bury  that 
cursed  metropolis  under  its  ruins,  that  the  sun  may  never  more  dart 
his  beams  on  a  city,  where  the  mothers  feed  on  the  flesh  of  their  chil- 
dren, and  the  fathers,  no  less  guilty  than  themselves,  choose  to  drive 
them  to  such  extremities,  rather  than  lay  down  their  arms."t 

This  dreadful  event  happened  about  the  end  of  July,  by  which  time 
the  Romans  had  got  possession  of  the  fortress  or  castle  of  Antonia, 
which  obliged  the  Jews  to  set  fire  to  the  stately  galleries  that  joined  it 
to  the  temple,  lest  it  should  facilitate  a  passage  to  the  besiegers  into  it. 
On  the  seventeenth  day  of  that  month,  the  daily  sacrifices,  for  the  first 
time,  ceased,  there  being  no  proper  person  remaining  to  offer  them  up. 
On  the  28th  of  July,  Titus  set  fire  to  the  north  gallery  of  the  temple, 
which  enclosed  the  outer  court,  from  fort  Antonia  to  the  valley  of 
Cedion,  by  means  of  which  he  got  an  easy  admittance  into  it,  and 
forced  the  besieged  into  that  of  the  priests.  Six  days  he  tried  to  batter 
down  one  of  the  galleries ;  yet  such  was  the  strength  of  the  wall,  that 
it  eluded  the  force  of  his  battering  rams,  as  well  as  the  art  of  sapping. 
His  next  attempt  was  to  get  possession  by  scaling ;  but  his  men  were 
so  vigorously  repulsed,  and  with  such  loss  that  he  was  obliged  to  de- 
sist. The  gates  were  then  set  on  fire,  which,  being  plated  with  silver, 
burnt  all  that  night,  whilst  the   metal  dropped  down   in  the  melting. 

*  Josep.  Wars,  b.  6.  ch.  3.  f  Ibid. 


The  Temple  destroyed.  109 

The  flame  communicated  itself  to  the  porticos  and  galleries,  which  the 
besieged  beheld  without  offering  to  stop  it,  contenting  themselves  with 
sending  out  vollies  of  impotent  curses  against  the  Romans.  On  the 
ninth  of  August,  Titus  gave  orders  to  extinguish  the  fire,  and  called  a 
council  to  determine  whether  the  remainder  of  the  temple  should  be 
saved  or  not.  He  himself  was  for  the  former — but  most  of  his  officers 
for  the  latter,  alleging  that  it  was  no  longer  a  temple,  but  a  scene  of 
war  and  slaughter,  and  that  the  Jews  would  never  be  at  rest,  so  long  as 
any  part  of  it  was  standing.  But  when  they  found  Titus  so  inflexibly 
bent  on  preserving  so  noble  an  edifice,  against  which  he  told  them  he 
could  have  no  quarrel,  they  all  came  over  to  his  mind.  The  next  day, 
August  the  10th,  was  therefore  determined  upon  for  a  general  assault.* 

In  the  mean  time,  something  on  the  part  of  the  Jews,  having  turned 
up,  which  exasperated  the  Roman  soldiers,  or  as  Josephus  thinks, 
pushed  by  the  hand  of  Providence,  one  of  them  of  his  own  accord, 
took  up  a  blazing  fire-brand,  and  getting  on  his  comrade's  shoulders, 
threw  it  into  one  of  die  apartments  that  surrounded  the  sanctuary, 
through  a  window,  and  instantly  set  the  whole  north  side  in  a  flame, 
up  to  the  third  story.  Titus,  who  was  gone  to  rest  himself  awhile  in 
his  pavilion,  was  awaked  at  the  noise,  and  ran  immediately  to  give  or- 
ders for  the  fire  to  be  extinguished.  He  called,  entreated,  threatened, 
and  even  caned  his  men,  but  all  to  no  purpose.  The  confusion  was  so 
great,  and  the  soldiers  so  obstinately  bent  upon  destroying  all  that  was 
left,  that  he  was  neither  heard  nor  regarded.  Those  that  flocked 
thither  from  the  camp,  instead  of  obeying  his  orders,  were  busy,  either 
in  killing  the  Jews  or  increasing  the  flames.  Observing  that  all  his 
endeavours  were  ineffectual,  Titus  entered  into  the  sanctuary  and  most 
holy  place,  the  remaining  grandeur  and  riches  of  which,  even  yet,  sur- 
passed all  that  had  been  told  him  of  it.t  Out  of  the  former  he  saved  the 
golden  candlestick,  the  table  of  the  shew  bread,  the  altar  of  incense,  all 
of  pure  gold,  and  the  book  of  the  'aw,  wrapped  up  in  a  rich  golden 
tissue.  Upon  his  quitting  that  sacred  place,  some  soldiers  set  fire  to 
it,  obliging  those  who  had  staid  behind  to  come  out  also — in  conse- 
quence of  which,  they  all  began  to  plunder  it,  carrying  off  the  costly 
utensils,  robes,  gold  plating  of  the  gates,  &c.  insomuch  that  there  was 
not  one  of  them  who  did  not  enrich  himself  by  it. 

A  horrid  massacre  succeeded  to  this,  in  which  many  thousands  per- 
ished, some  by  the  flames,  others  falling  from  the  battlements,  and  a 
greater  number  still  by  the  enemy's  sword,  which  spared  neither  age, 
sex,  nor  quality.  Among  them  were  upwards  of  six  thousand  per- 
sons, who  had  been  seduced  thither  by  a  false  prophet,  who  had  pro- 
mised them  that  they  should  find  a  miraculous  deliverance  on  that  very 
day.  The  Romans  carried  their  fury  to  the  burning  of  all  the  treasure- 
houses  of  the  place,  though  they  were  full  of  the  richest  furniture, 
vestments,  plate,  and  other  valuable  articles,  there  laid  up  for  security  ; 
nor  did  they  cease  the  dreadful  work  of  devastation,  till  they  had  de- 
stroyed all  except  two  of  the  temple  gates,  and  that  part  of  the  court 
that  was  destined  for  the  women.     The  city  was  now  abandoned  to 

•  Joseph.  Wars,  b.  6.  ch.  4.  f  Ibid.  b.  6.  ch.  4. 

10 


110  History  of  the  Christian  Church. 

the  fury  of  the  soldiers,  who  proceeded  forthwith  to  plunder  it,  setting 
it  on  fire  in  every  direction,  and  murdering  all  that  fell  into  their  hands 
— whilst  the  factious  party  among  the  Jews,  that  had  hitherto  escaped, 
went  and  fortified  themselves  in  the  royal  palace,  where  they  killed 
eight  thousand  of  their  own  countrymen  that  had  there  taken  refuge.* 

Preparations  were  now  making  for  a  vigorous  attack  on  the  upper 
city,  and  particularly  on  the  royal  palace,  and  this  occupied  Titus  from 
the  20th  of  August  to  the  7th  of  September,  during  which  time,  great 
numbers  came  and  made  their  submission  to  him,  among  whom  were 
forty  thousand  citizens  of  the  inferior  classes,  including,  in  all  proba- 
bility, the  Christian  church,  to  whom  he  gave  permission  to  go  and 
settle  where  they  would.  On  the  8th  of  September  the  city  was  taken 
and  entered  by  Titus. 

Justus  Lirsius  has  been  at  the  pains  to  compute  the  numbers  of 
Jews  that  are  said  by  Josephus  to  have  perished,  from  the  beginning 
to  the  conclusion  of  the  war  ;  and,  for  the  reader's  satisfaction,  I  sub- 
join them. 

JEWS    KILLED  IN  AND  OUT  OF  JUDEA. 

At  Jerusalem,  by  order  of  Floras         -----  3,630 

At  Caesarea,  by  the  inhabitants        -----  20,000 

At  Scythopolis  in  Syria     ---.---  30,000 

At  Ascalon,  by  the  inhabitants 2,500 

At  Ptolemais 2,000 

At  Alexandria  in  Egypt,  under  Tiberius  Alexander            -  50,000 

At  Damascus 10,000 

At  the  taking  of  Joppa 8,400 

In  the  mountain  of  Cabula 2,000 

In  a  battle  at  Ascalon               -  10,000 

In  an  ambush             -- 8,000 

At  the  taking  of  Apheck          ------  15,000 

Upon  Mount  Gerizim 11,600 

Drowned  at  Joppa,  in  a  sudden  storm      -         -         -         -  4,200 

Killed  at  Teriehea 6,500 

at  Gamala    -  ' 9,000 

in  their  flight  from  Gischala 2,000 

— —  at  the  siege  of  Jotapata 30,000 

of  the  Gadarenes,  besides  many  drowned              -         -  13,000 

in  the  villages  of  Idumea 10,000 

at  Gerisum 1,000 

at  Macheron          -------  1,700 

in  the  desart  of  Jardes 3,000 

Slew  themselves  at  Massala 960 

In  Cyrene,  by  the  governor  Catulus 3,000 

Perished  at  Jerusalem,  by  the  sword,  pestilence,  famine,  and 

during  the  siege 1,100,000 

1,357,490 

*  Joseph.  Wars,  b.  7.  ch.  1. 


Computation  of  Jews  destroyed.  Ill 

According  to  this  account,  the  whole  amounts  to  1,357,490,  besides 
a  vast  multitude  that  died  in  the  caves,  woods,  wildernesses,  common 
sewers,  in  banishment,  and  various  other  ways,  of  whom  no  computa- 
tion could  be  made.  To  which  must  also  be  added,  ten  thousand  slain 
at  Jotapata  more  than  our  author  has  mentioned ;  for  Josephus  express- 
ly mentions  forty  thousand,  but  he  only  thirty  thousand.  To  these  if 
we  add  ninety  thousand  taken  prisoners,  apparently  doomed  to  a  cap- 
tivity worse  than  death,  and  eleven  thousand,  who  are  said  to  have 
perished  either  through  the  neglect  of  their  keepers  or  their  own  sullen 
despair,  the  amount  will  be  scarcely  less  than  a  million  and  a  half  ! 
The  reader  must  also  keep  in  view,  that  a  great  proportion  of  these 
were  strangers,  who  had  been  invited  from  remote  parts  of  the  world, 
to  come  to  Jerusalem  and  assist  them  in  the  defence  of  their  religion 
and  liberties,  their  country,  city,  and  temple  ;  in  doing  which,  they 
shared  in  the  common  ruin.  Thus  did  the  providence  of  God  order  it, 
that  those  who,  by  their  opposition  to  the  gospel,  in  all  parts  of  their 
dispersion,  had  participated  in  the  guilt  of  crucifying  the  Lord  Jesus, 
and  persecuting  his  apostles,  should  also  be  involved  in  their  punish- 
ment. 

It  is  not  a  little  remarkable  that  Titus,  though  a  heathen,  was  fre- 
quently obliged,  during  this  war,-  to  acknowledge  an  overruling  provi- 
dence, not  only  in  the  extraordinary  success  with  which  he  had  been 
favoured  against  them,  but  also  in  the  invincible  obstinacy  through 
which  they,  to  the  last,  preferred  their  total  destruction  to  that  of  ac- 
cepting his  repeated  overtures  of  mercy.  Again  and  again  did  he,  in 
the  most  solemn  manner,  appeal  to  heaven  that  he  was  innocent  of  the 
blood  of  these  wretched  people.*  In  almost  every  chapter,  we  find 
Josephus  also  ascribing  these  dreadful  calamities,  and  the  final  ruin  of 
his  nation,  city,  and  temple,  to  an  overruling  power ;  to  the  offended 
Deity,  to  the  sins  of  the  people  :  but  nowhere  more  pathetically,  than 
in  that  chapter,  in  which  he  sums  up  a  number  of  dreadful  warnings 
sent  beforehand,  not  so  much  to  reduce  them  to  obedience,  as  to  make 
them  discern  the  almighty  hand  that  was  now  pouring  out  the  awful 
vials  of  his  wrath  upon  them.t 

As  soon  as  the  Romans  had  completed  their  destructive  work  of  fire 
and  slaughter,  Titus  set  them  to  demolish  the  city,  with  all  its  noble 
structures,  fortifications,  palaces,  towers,  walls,  and  other  ornaments, 
down  to  the  level  of  the  ground;  as  though  he  had  nothing  in  view  but 
to  fulfil  the  predictions  of  Christ  concerning  its  destruction,  as  contain- 
ed in  the  twenty-fourth  chapter  of  Matthew's  gospel.  He  left  nothing 
standing  but  a  piece  of  the  western  wall  and  three  towers,  which  he  re- 
served merely  as  a  monument  to  future  ages  of  what  had  been  the 
strength  of  the  city,  and  the  skill  and  valour  of  its  conqueror.  His 
orders  were  executed  so  punctually,  that,  except  what  has  been  just 
mentioned,  nothing  remained  which  could  serve  as  an  index  that  that 
ground  had  been  once  inhabited ;  insomuch,  that  when  Titus  himself, 
some  time  afterwards,  passed  through  it,  in  his  way  from  Caesarea  to 
Alexandria,  in  order  to  embark  for  Rome,  he  wept  profusely  at  the  sight 

•  Joseph.  Wars,  b.  5.  ch.  12.         f  Joseph.  Wars,  b.  6.  ch.  5.  and  b.  5.  ch.  13. 


112  History  of  the  Christian  Church. 

of  a  devastation  so  dreadful,  cursing  the  wretches  that  had  compelled 
him  to  be  the  author  of  it.* 

Such  was  the  dreadful  issue  of  this  war,  terminating  in  the  utter 
downfall  of  the  Jewish  state  and  nation,  from  which  it  has  never  reco- 
vered to  this  day  ;  it  involved  in  it  the  destruction  of  the  temple  and  the 
discontinuance  of  the  services  annexed  to  it.  The  desolation  of  the 
country  itself  went  on  increasing ;  till,  from  being,  for  its  size,  one  of 
the  most  fertile  and  populous  countries  in  the  world,  it  is  now  become 
the  most  barren  and  desolate,  the  latest  computation  of  the  number  of 
its  inhabitants  scarcely  exceeding  fifty  thousand. 

All  these  calamities  were,  no  doubt,  accomplished  by  natural  causes  ; 
and  were  therefore  such  as  might  have  been  expected  from  a  thorough 
knowledge  of  the  tempers  of  the  inhabitants,  their  refractory  disposition 
towards  the  Romans,  their  factions  among  themselves,  and  their  pre- 
sumptuous confidence  in  supernatural  assistance  joined  to  a  knowledge 
of  their  weakness  when  contrasted  with  the  overbearing  power  of  the 
Romans.  But  who  besides  the  Supreme  Being  could  have  foreseen  all 
these  circumstances,  or  have  known  that  the  operation  of  them  would 
lead  to  this  catastrophe,  when  the  rebellion  might  have  terminated  in 
many  other  ways,  instead  of  the  total  ruin  of  the  country  and  the  dis- 
persion of  its  inhabitants  ?  The  divine  foresight  is  conspicuous  there- 
fore, in  our  Saviour's  clear  prediction  of  these  events,  with  all  their 
leading  circumstances,  when  it  does  not  appear  that  any  other  person 
entertained  the  least  apprehension  of  such  a  thing.  The  Jews,  indeed, 
now  tell  us,  that  Jesus  Christ  found  all  that  he  predicted  concerning 
the  destruction  of  their  city  and  temple  in  the  prophecies  of  Daniel ; 
but  it  is  natural  to  ask,  why  did  not  their  own  Scribes,  the  professed 
interpreters  of  the  law  and  the  prophets ;  and  why  did  not  also  the 
leading  men  of  their  own  nation  discover  the  same  things  in  that  book  ? 

Not  only  the  wisdom  but  the  justice  of  God  is  also  conspicuously 
displayed  in  this  great  event.  A  particular  Providence  had  ever  at- 
tended that  people.  They  had  always  been  favoured  with  prosperity 
while  obedient  to  God  and  his  prophets ;  and  on  the  other  hand,  cala- 
mity of  some  kind  had  been  the  never-failing  consequence  of  their  dis- 
obedience. But  the  measure  of  their  iniquities  was  now  filled  up  ;  and 
the  wrath  of  heaven  came  upon  them  to  the  uttermost.  Never  had  the 
nation  in  general  shown  a  more  perverse  and  obstinate  disposition  to- 
wards any  of  their  prophets,  than  was  now  evinced  towards  Christ  and 
his  apostles,  though  none  of  their  prophets  had  ever  been  sent  to  them 
with  such  evident  marks  of  a  divine  mission.  Their  inveteracy  to 
Christianity  continues  to  this  day,  and  so  does  their  dispersion,  though 
they  are  still  a  distinct  people,  and  never  mix,  so  as  to  be  confounded, 
with  any  of  the  nations  among  whom  they  have  settled. 

But  I  quit  this  subject  with  a  reflection  or  two.  The  reader  will 
perceive,  that  the  history  of  the  Jewish  war,  as  detailed  by  their  own 
historian,  Josephus,  in  many  instances  a  witness  of  the  facts  he  attests, 
forms  a  commentary  upon  the  prophecies  of  Christ.  Amongst  other 
things,  he  has  given  a  distinct  account  of  the   "  fearful  sights  and  great 

*  Joseph.  Wars,  b.  6.  ch.  8,  9. 


Reign  of  Vespasian — Titus — Domitian.  113 

signs  from  heaven,"  which  preceded  the  destruction  of  Jerusalem;  and 
Tacitus  has  confirmed  the  narration  of  Josephus.*  If  Christ  had  not 
expressly  foretold  these  things,  some  might  have  suspected  that  Jose- 
phus exaggerated,  and  that  Tacitus  was  misinformed;  but  as  the  testi- 
monies of  these  historians  confirm  the  predictions  of  Christ,  so  do  the 
predictions  of  Christ  confirm  the  wonders  recorded  by  these  historians. 

We  may  also  remark,  that  by  these  terrible  events,  an  end  was  at 
length  put  to  the  Mosaic  economy ;  for,  with  the  destruction  of  their 
city  and  temple,  the  whole  of  the  Jewish  polity  and  church  state  was 
also  subverted.  From  that  time,  the  remnant  of  that  once  highly  fa- 
voured nation  have  been  dispersed  throughout  the  world ;  despised  and 
hated  by  all;  subjected,  from  age  to  age,  to  a  perpetual  succession  of 
persecutions  and  miseries,  yet  under  all  these  disadvantages,  upheld  by 
Divine  Providence,  a  distinct  people.  They  have  ever  since  remained 
"  without  a  king,  without  a  prince,  and  without  a  sacrifice  :  without  an 
altar,  without  an  ephod,  and  without  divine  manifestations ;"  as  monu- 
ments every  where  of  the  truth  of  Christianity — yet,  with  this  promise, 
that  "  the  children  of  Israel  shall  return  and  seek  the  Lord  their  God; 
and  David  their  king;  and  shall  fear  the  Lord  and  his  goodness  in  the 
latter  days."t 

The  accession  of  Vespasian  to  the  imperial  dignity,  connected  with 
the  termination  of  the  Jewish  war,  by  the  arms  of  his  son  Titus,  hap- 
pily restored  tranquillity  and  peace  to  the  world.  He  reigned  ten  years, 
much  to  the  happiness  of  his  subjects,  and  Avas  succeeded  in  the  throne 
by  his  son,  who,  though  rather  unpopular  at  the  commencement  of  his 
reign,  nevertheless,  conducted  himself  in  such  a  manner  as  to  acquire 
the  greatest  reputation  of  any  of  the  Roman  emperors.  During  all  this 
period  the  churches  enjoyed  a  state  of  outward  peace,  and  the  gospel 
was  every  where  crowned  with  success.  To  the  inexpressible  grief  of 
his  subjects,  however,  at  the  age  of  forty-one,  and  after  the  short  reign 
of  two  years,  two  months,  and  twenty  days,  Titus  was  snatched  away, 
having,  as  was  suspected,  been  poisoned  by  his  own  brother  Domitian, 
who  succeeded  to  the  throne  in  the  year  81. 

Domitian,  in  his  temper  and  disposition,  inherited  all  the  savage 
cruelty  of  the  monster  Nero.  Yet  he  spared  the  Christians  in  a  con- 
siderable degree,  until  about  the  year  95,  when  several  were  put  to 
death,  and  others  banished,  on  account  of  their  religion,  both  in  Rome, 
and  throughout  all  the  provinces.  Among  those  put  to  death  was  his 
own  cousin  and  colleague  in  the  consulship,  Fabius  Clemens;  and, 
among  the  banished,  the  wife  and  niece  of  the  latter,  both  named  Fla- 
vian Domitillge.  At  this  time,  the  apostle  John  was  banished  to  the 
island  of  Patmos,  from  whence  he  wrote  his  epistles  to  the  seven 
churches  in  Asia.  He  is  said  to  have  survived  the  persecution  of  Do- 
mitian, though  it  is  uncertain  how  long ;  and  to  have  died  at  Ephesus 
in  the  reign  of  Nerva  or  Trajan,  at  which  city  he  was  buried.  The 
crime  alleged  against  the  Christians  at  this  period,  and  which  drew 
down  upon  them  the  cruel  hand  of  persecution,  was  that  of  Atheism, 
by  which  is  to  be  understood,  that  they  refused  to  throw  a  grain  of  in- 

*  Tacit.  Annal.  b.  5.  f  Hos.  iii.  4,  5. 

10* 


114  History  of  the  Christian  Church. 

cense  on  the  altars  of  the  heathen  deities.  The  storm,  however,  was  of 
short  duration ;  for  hoth  Eusebius  and  Tertullian  inform  us,  that  Do- 
mitian  revoked  the  edict  which  he  had  issued  against  the  Christians, 
and  recalled  from  banishment  those  who  had  been  driven  away.  Hav- 
ing caused  the  earth  to  groan  under  his  cruelties  and  excesses,  he  was 
at  length  assassinated,  in  the  sixteenth  year  of  his  reign,  and  was  suc- 
ceeded in  the  empire  by 

Nerva,  a  prince  of  a  most  gentle  and  humane  disposition,  under 
whom  the  Romans  lived  as  happy  as  during  the  former  reign  they  had 
been  miserable.  He  pardoned  all  that  were  imprisoned  for  treason, 
called  home  such  as  had  been  banished,  restored  the  sequestrated  es- 
tates, punished  informers,  redressed  grievances  to  the  utmost  of  his 
power,  and  acted  with  universal  beneficence  towards  all  descriptions  of 
his  subjects.  According  to  Dio  Cassius,  he  forbade  the  persecution  of 
any  persons  either  for  Judaism,  or  for  impiety  ;  by  which  is  to  be 
understood,  Christianity;  for  so  the  Heathens  termed  the  latter,  on 
account  of  its  being  hostile  to  their  worship  ;  and  because  Christians, 
having  neither  temples,  altars,  nor  sacrifices,  were  generally  considered 
by  them  to  be  also  without  religion.  After  a  short  but  brilliant  reign 
of  sixteen  months  and  eight  days,  Nerva  died,  A.  D.  98,  and  was  suc- 
ceeded by  Trajan,  whom  he  had  previously  nominated  as  his  heir,  a 
man  well  skilled  in  martial  and  cabinet  affairs.  In  his  deportment 
courteous,  affable,  humane,  and  just ;  and,  perhaps,  not  undeservedly 
esteemed  one  of  the  best  princes  with  which  Rome  had  ever  been 
favoured. 


(     115     ) 


CHAPTER  II. 


HISTORY  OF  THE  CHRISTIAN  CHURCH  FROM  THE  CLOSE  OF  THE  FIRST  CEN- 
TURY, TO  THE  ESTABLISHMENT  OF  CHRISTIANITY  UNDER  CONSTANTINE, 
A.  D.  315. 


SECTION  I. 


THE  STATE  OF  THE  CHRISTIAN  PROFESSION  UNDER  THE  REIGN  OF  TRAJAN. 
A.    D.    98    to    117. 

There  is  more  truth  than  would  at  first  strike  the  mind  of  a  super- 
ficial observer,  in  Dr.  Jortin's  remark,  that  Christianity  was,  at  the 
beginning,  more  likely  to  prosper  under  bad  than  under  good  emperors; 
especially  if  the  latter  were  tenacious  of  their  religious  rites  and  cere- 
monies. Accordingly,  from  the  death  of  Christ  to  the  reign  of  Vespa- 
sian, a  period  of  about  thirty-seven  years,  the  Romans  paid  little  re- 
gard to  the  progress  of  the  gospel.  They  were  ruled  by  weak  or 
frantic  and  vicious  emperors  ;  the  magistrates  and  senators,  and  every 
worthy  man  of  any  note,  stood  in  continual  fear  for  their  own  lives, 
and  the  empire  -was  a  scene  of  confusion,  desolation,  and  misery.* 

Gibbon,  in  one  short  paragraph,  has  sketched  a  tolerably  correct 
picture  of  the  state  of  the  Roman  government  during  the  times  of 
which  we  are  now  treating,  and  the  reader  cannot  be  displeased  at  my 
transplanting  it  into  these  pages. 

"  The  annals  of  the  emperors,"  says  he,  "  exhibit  a  strong  and  vari- 
ous picture  of  human  nature,  which  we  should  vainly  seek  among  the 
mixed  and  doubtful  characters  of  modern  history.  In  the  conduct  of 
these  monarchs,  we  may  trace  the  utmost  lines  of  vice  and  virtue  ;  the 
most  exalted  perfection,  and  the  meanest  degeneracy  of  our  own  spe- 
cies. The  golden  age  of  Trajan  and  the  Antonines  had  been  preceded 
by  an  age  of  iron.  It  is  almost  superfluous  to  enumerate  the  unworthy 
successors  of  Augustus.  Their  unparalleled  vices,  and  the  splendid 
theatre  on  which  they  were  acted,  have  saved  them  from  oblivion. 
The  dark,  unrelenting  Tiberius,  the  furious  Caligula,  the  feeble  Clau- 
dius, the  profligate  and  cruel  Nero,  the  beastly  Vitellius,t  and  the  ti- 
mid, inhuman  Domitian,  are  condemned  to  everlasting  infamy.  During 
fourscore  years  (excepting  only  the  short  and  doubtful  respite  of  Ves- 
pasian's reign)  Rome  groaned  beneath  an  unremitting  tyranny,  which 

*  Jortin's  Remarks,  vol.  I.  p.  30. 

f  Vitellius  consumed  in  mere  eating1,  at  least  six  millions  of  our  money  in 
about  seven  months.  It  is  not  easy  to  express  his  vices  with  dignity  or  even 
decency.     Tacitus  fairly  calls  him  "  a  hog." 


116  History  of  the  Christian  Church. 

exterminated  the  ancient  families,  and  was  fatal  to  almost  every  virtue, 
and  every  talent  that  arose  in  this  unhappy  period."* 

We  have  already  traced  the  progress  of  Christianity  through  our 
author's  age  of  iron,  and  are  now  entering  upon  what  he  terms  the 
golden  age  of  Trajan  and  the  Antonines. 

"  If  a  man  were  called  to  fix,"  says  the  same  elegant  historian,  "  the 
period  in  the  history  of  the  world  during  which  the  condition  of  the 
human  race  was  most  happy  and  prosperous,  he  would,  without  hesita- 
tion, name  that  which  elapsed  from  the  death  of  Domitian  to  the  ac- 
cession of  Commodus.  The  vast  extent  of  the  Roman  empire  was 
governed  by  absolute  power,  under  the  guidance  of  virtue  and  wisdom. 
The  armies  were  restrained  by  the  firm  but  gentle  hand  of  four  suc- 
cessive emperors,  whose  character  and  authority  commanded  involun- 
tary respect.  The  forms  of  the  civil  administration  were  carefully 
governed  by  Nerva,  Trajan,  Hadrian,  and  the  Antonines,  who  delighted 
in  the  image  of  liberty,  and  were  pleased  with  considering  themselves 
as  the  accountable  ministers  of  the  laws."t  Such  a  state  of  things  as 
this  many  would  imagine  could  be  little  inferior  to  a  millenium,  as  it 
respected  Christians — but  how  far  the  opinion  would  be  consonant  to 
truth,  will  appear  in  the  sequel. 

Trajan  ascended  the  throne  of  the  Csesars  in  the  year  98,  and  soon 
afterwards  conferred  the  government  of  the  province  of  Bithynia  upon 
his  friend  the  ingenious  and  celebrated  Pliny.  The  character  of  the  lat- 
ter is  one  of  the  most  amiable  in  all  Pagan  antiquity.  In  the  exercise 
of  his  office  as  proconsul,  the  Christians,  against  whom  the  severe 
edicts  which  had  been  issued  by  preceding  emperors  seem  to  be  still 
in  force,  were  brought  before  his  tribunal.  Having  never  had  occasion 
to  be  present  at  any  such  examinations  before,  the  multitude  of  the 
criminals,  and  the  severity  of  the  laws  against  them,  seem  to  have 
greatly  struck  him  and  caused  him  to  hesitate  how  far  it  was  proper  to 
carry  them  into  execution,  without  first  consulting  the  emperor  upon 
the  subject.  The  letter  which  he  wrote  to  Trajan  upon  this  occasion, 
as  well  as  the  answer  of  the  letter,  are  happily  preserved,  and  are 
among  the  most  valuable  monuments  of  antiquity,  on  account  of  the 
light  which  they  throw  upon  the  state  of  the  Christian  profession  at 
this  splendid  epoch.  The  letter  of  Pliny  seems  to  have  been  written 
in  the  year  106  or  107,  and  is  as  follows. 

"  C.  Pliny  to  the  Emperor  Trajan,  wishes  health.  Sire  !  It  is  cus- 
tomary with  me  to  consult  you  upon  every  doubtful  occasion  ;  for  where 
my  own  judgment  hesitates,  who  is  more  competent  to  direct  me  than 
yourself,  or  to  instruct  me  where  uninformed?  I  never  had  occasion  to 
be  present  at  any  examination  of  the  Christians  before  I  came  into  this 
province  ;  I  am  therefore  ignorant  to  what  extent  it  is  usual  to  inflict 
punishment,  or  urge  prosecution.  I  have  also  hesitated  whether  there 
should  not  be  some  distinction  made  between  the  young  and  the  old, 
the  tender  and  the  robust ;  whether  pardon  should  not  be  offered  to 
penitence,  or  whether  the  guilt  of  an  avowed  profession  of  Christianity 
can  be  expiated  by  the  most  unequivocal  retraction — whether  the.pro- 

•  Decline  and  Fall  of  the  Roman  Empire,  vol.  i.  ch.  3.  f  Ibid. 


Pliny's  Epistle  to  Trajan.  117 

fession  itself  is  to  be  regarded  as  a  crime,  however  innocent  in  other 
respects  the  professor  may  be ;  or  whether  the  crimes  attached  to 
name,  must  be  proved  before  they  are  made  liable  to  punishment. 

"  In  the  mean  time,  the  method  I  have  hitherto  observed  with  the 
Christians,  who  have  been  accused  as  such,  has  been  as  follows.  I  in- 
terrogated them — Are  you  Christians?  If  they  avowed  it,  I  put  the 
same  question  a  second,  and  a  third  lime,  threatening  them  with  the 
punishment  decreed  by  the  law  :  if  they  still  persisted,  /  ordered  them 
to  be  immediately  executed  :  for  of  this  I  had  no  doubt,  whatever  ivas 
the  nature  of  their  religion,  that  such  perverseness  and  inflexible  ob- 
stinacy certainly  deserved  punishment.  Some  that  were  infected  with 
this  madness,  on  account  of  their  privilege  as  Roman  citizens,  I  re- 
served to  be  sent  to  Rome,  to  be  referred  to  your  tribunal. 

"  In  the  discussion  of  this  matter,  accusations  multiplying,  a  diversi- 
ty of  cases  occurred.  A  schedule  of  names  was  sent  me  by  an  un- 
known accuser  ;  but  when  I  cited  the  persons  before  me,  many  denied 
the  fact  that  they  were,  or  ever  had  been  Christians  ;  and  they  repeat- 
ed after  me  an  invocation  of  the  gods,  and  of  your  image,  which  for 
this  purpose  I  had  ordered  to  be  brought  with  the  statues  of  the  other 
deities.  They  performed  sacred  rites  with  wine  and  frankincense,  and 
execrated  Christ;  none  of  which  things,  I  am  assured,  a  real  Christian 
can  ever  be  compelled  to  do.  These,  therefore,  I  thought  proper  to 
discharge.  Others,  named  by  an  informer,  at  first  acknowledged  them- 
selves Christians,  and  then  denied  it,  declaring  that  though  they  had 
been  Christians,  they  had  renounced  their  profession,  some  three  years 
ago,  others  still  longer,  and  some  even  twenty  years  ago.  All  these 
worshipped  your  image  and  the  statues  of  the  gods,  and  at  the  same 
time  execrated  Christ. 

"  And  this  was  the  account  which  they  gave  me  of  the  nature  of  the 
religion  they  once  had  professed,  whether  it  deserves  the  name  of 
crime  or  error  ;  namely,  that  they  were  accustomed  on  a  stated  day 
to  assemble  before  sun-rise,  and  to  join  together  in  singing  hymns 
to  Christ  as  to  a  deity  ;  binding  themselves  as  with  a  solemn  oath  not 
to  commit  any  kind  of  wickedness  ;  to  be  guilty  neither  of  theft,  rob- 
bery, nor  adultery ;  never  to  break  a  promise,  or  to  keep  back  a  depo- 
sit when  called  upon.  Their  worship  being  concluded,  it  was  their 
custom  to  separate,  and  meet  together  again  for  a  repast,  promiscuous 
indeed,  and  without  any  distinction  of  rank  or  sex,  but  perfectly  harm- 
less ;  and  even  from  this  they  desisted,  since  the  publication  of  my 
edict,  in  which  agreeably  to  your  orders,  I  forbade  any  societies  of  that 
sort. 

"For  further  information,  I  thought  it  necessary,  in  order  to  come 
at  the  truth,  to  put  to  the  torture  two  females  who  were  called  deacon- 
esses. But  I  could  extort  from  them  nothing  except  the  acknowledg- 
ment of  an  excessive  and  depraved  superstition  ;  and,  therefore,  desist- 
ing from  further  investigation,  I  determined  to  consult  you ;  for  the 
number  of  culprits  is  so  great  as  to  call  for  the  most  serious  delibera- 
tion. Informations  are  pouring  in  against  multitudes  of  every  age,  of 
all  orders,  and  of  both  sexes,  and  more  will  be  impeached ;  for  the 
contagion  of  this  superstition  hath  spread  not  only  through  cities,  but 


1 1 8  History  of  the  Church  of  Christ. 

villages  also,  and  even  reached  the  farm  houses.  I  am  of  opinion,  ne- 
vertheless, that  it  may  be  checked,  and  the  success  of  my  endeavours 
hitherto  forbids  despondency;  for  the  temples,  once  almost  desolate, 
begin  to  be  again  frequented — the  sacred  solemnities  which  had  for 
some  time  been  intermitted,  are  now  attended  afresh  ;  and  the  sacrifi- 
cial victims,  which  once  could  scarcely  find  a  purchaser,  now  obtain  a 
brisk  sale.  Whence  I  infer,  that  many  might  be  reclaimed,  were  the 
hope  of  pardon,  on  their  repentance,  absolutely  confirmed." 

Trajan  to  Pliny. 
"  My  dear  Pliny, 

"  You  have  done  perfectly  right,  in  managing  as  you  have,  the 
matters  which  relate  to  the  impeachment  of  the  Christians.  No  one 
general  rule  can  be  laid  down  which  will  apply  to  all  cases.  These 
people  are  not  to  be  hunted  up  by  informers  ;  but  if  accused  and  con- 
victed, let  them  be  executed ;  yet  with  this  restriction,  that  if  any  re- 
nounce the  profession  of  Christianity,  and  give  proof  of  it  by  offering 
supplications  to  our  gods,  however  suspicious  their  past  conduct  may 
have  been,  they  shall  be  pardoned  on  their  repentance.  But  anony- 
mous accusations  should  never  be  attended  to,  since  it  would  be  esta- 
blishing a  precedent  of  the  worst  kind,  and  altogether  inconsistent  with 
the  maxims  of  my  government." 

It  is  an  obvious  reflection  from  these  letters,  that  at  this  early  period, 
Christianity  had  made  an  extraordinary  progress  in  the  empire;  for 
Pliny  acknowledges  that  the  Pagan  temples  had  become  "almost  deso- 
late." Nor  should  we  overlook  the  remarkable  proof  which  they  af- 
ford us  of  the  state  of  the  Christian  profession,  and  the  dreadful  perse- 
cutions to  which  the  disciples  of  Christ  were  then  exposed.  It  is 
evident- from  them,  that  by  the  existing  laws,  it  was  a  capital  offence, 
punishable  with  death,  for  any  one  to  avow  himself  a  Christian.  Nor 
did  the  humane  Trajan  and  the  philosophic  Pliny  entertain  a  doubt  of 
the  propriety  of  the  law,  or  the  wisdom  and  justice  of  executing  it  in 
the  fullest  extent.  Pliny  confesses  that  he  had  commanded  such  capi- 
tal punishments  to  be  inflicted  on  many,  chargeable  with  no  crime,  but 
their  profession  of  Christianity ;  and  Trajan  not  only  confirms  the  equity 
of  the  sentence,  but  enjoins  the  continuance  of  such  executions,  without 
any  exceptions,  unless  it  be  of  those  who  apostatized  from  their  pro- 
fession, denied  their  Lord  and  Saviour,  and  did  homage  to  the  idols  of 
Paganism. 

These  letters  also  give  us  a  pleasing  view  of  the  holy  and  exemplary 
lives  of  the  first  Christians.  For,  it  appears  by  the  confession  of  apos- 
tates themselves,  that  no  man  could  continue  a  member  of  their  com- 
munion whose  deportment  in  the  world  did  not  correspond  with  his 
holy  profession.  Even  delicate  women  are  put  to  the  torture,  to  try 
if  their  weakness  would  not  betray  them  into  accusations  of  their  brethren  ; 
but  not  a  word  nor  a  charge  can  be  extorted  from  them,  capable  of 
bearing  the  semblance  of  deceit  or  crime.  To  meet  for  prayer,  praise, 
and  mutual  instruction;  to  worship  Christ  their  God;  to  exhort  one 
another  to  abstain  from  every  evil  word  and  work;  to  unite  in  com- 
memorating the  death  of  their  Lord,  by  partaking  of  the  symbols  of  his 


WarburtorCs  remarks  on  Persecution.  119 

broken  body  and  shed  blood  in  the  ordinance  of  the  supper — these  tilings 
constitute  what  Pliny  calls  the  "depraved  superstition,"  the"  execrable 
crimes,"  which  could  only  be  expiated  by  the  blood  of  the  Christians! 

We  should  not  overlook  the  proof  which  these  letters  afford,  of  the 
peaceableness  of  the  Christians  of  those  days,  and  of  their  readiness  to 
submit  even  to  the  most  unjust  requisitions,  rather  than  disturb  the 
peace  of  society.  According  to  Pliny's  own  representation,  their  num- 
bers were  so.  immense,  that,  had  they  considered  it  lawful,  they  might 
have  defended  themselves  by  the  power  of  the  sword.  Persons  of  all 
ranks,  of  every  age,  and  of  each  sex,  had  been  converted  to  Christianity; 
the  body  was  so  vast  as  to  leave  the  Pagan  temples  a  desert,  and  their 
priests  solitary.  Scarce  a  victim  was  brought  to  the  altar,  or  a  sacred 
solemnity  observed,  through  the  paucity  of  the  worshippers.  The  de- 
fection from  Paganism  must  have  been  conspicuous  which  could  pro- 
duce such  striking  effects.  But  the  Christians  neither  abused  their 
power  to  resist  government,  nor  acted  indecently  in  their  worship. 
They  knew  the  edicts  that  were  in  force  against  them ;  and  to  avoid 
giving  offence,  they  assembled  before  break  of  day,  for  the  worship  of 
their  God  and  Saviour.  And  when  Pliny  issued  his  edict  to  that  effect, 
they,  for  awhile  yielded  to  the  storm,  and  desisted  from  the  observance 
of  their  Agapae,  or  feasts  of  charity.  This  view  of  things  abundantly 
justifies  the  encomium  of  Hegesippus,  one  of  the  earliest  Christian 
writers,  "  that  the  church  continued  until  these  times,  as  a  virgin,  pure 
and  uncorrupted." 

Considering  the  character  which  both  the  emperor  and  the  proconsul 
sustained,  for  mildness  of  disposition  and  gentleness  of  manners,  it  has 
occasioned  no  small  perplexity  to  many,  and  even  to  some  of  our  phi- 
losophic historians,  how  to  account  for  the  circumstance,  that  such  men 
should  be  found  on  the  list  of  persecutors,  and  at  the  same  time  to  ad- 
mit the  unoffending  deportment  of  the  Christians.  Dr.  Warburton  has 
given  a  very  satisfactory  solution  of  this  difficulty;  and,  though  the 
passage  be  rather  long,  I  shall  transcribe  the  substance  of  it  in  this 
place. 

"  The  Pagan  world  having  early  imbibed  this  inveterate  prejudice 
concerning  intercommunity  of  worship,  men  were  but  too  much  accus- 
tomed to  new  revelations,  when  the  Jewish  appeared,  not  to  acknow- 
ledge its  superior  pretensions.  Accordingly  we  find,  by  the  history  of 
this  people,  that  it  was  esteemed  by  its  neighbours  a  true  one;  and 
therefore  they  proceeded  to  join  it  occasionally  with  their  own  ;  as  those 
did  whom  the  king  of  Assyria  sent  into  the  cities  of  Israel  in  place  of 
the  ten  tribes.  Whereby  it  happened,  so  great  was  the  influence  of  this 
principle,  that,  in  the  same  time  and  country,  the  Jews  of  Jerusalem 
added  the  Pagan  idolatries  to  their  religion,  while  the  Pagans  of  Sama- 
ria added  the  Jewish  religion  to  their  idolatries. 

"  But  when  these  people  of  God,  in  consequence  of  having  their 
dogmatic  theology  more  carefully  inculcated  to  them,  after  their  return 
from  the  captivity,  became  rigid,  in  pretending  not  only  that  their  reli- 
gion was  true,  but  the  only  true  one  ;  then  it  was  that  they  began  to  be 
treated  by  their  neighbours,  and  afterwards  by  the  Greeks  and  Romans, 
with  the  utmost  hatred  and  contempt,  for  this  their  inhumanity  and  an- 


120  History  of  the  Christian  CJiurch. 

sociable  temper.  To  this  cause  alone  we  are  to  ascribe  all  that  spleen 
and  rancour  which  appears  in  the  histories  of  these  later  nations  con- 
cerning them.  Celsus  fairly  reveals  what  lay  at  the  bottom,  and  speaks 
out  for  them  all.  '  If  the  Jews,  on  these  accounts,'  says  he,  'adhere 
to  their  own  law,  it  is  not  for  that  they  are  to  blame  :  I  rather  blame 
those  who  forsake  their  own  country  religion  to  embrace  the  Jewish. 
But  if  these  people  give  themselves  airs  of  sublimer  wisdom  than  the 
rest  of  the  world,  and  on  that  score  refuse  all  communion  with  it,  as 
not  equally  pure, — I  must  tell  them,  that  itis  not  to  be  believed  that  they 
are  more  dear  or  agreeable  to  God  than  other  nations.' — Hence,  among 
the  Pagans,  the  Jews  came  to  be  distinguished  from  all  other  people, 
by  the  name  of  a  race  of  men  odious  to  the  gods,  and  with  good  rea- 
son.    This  was  the  reception  the  Jews  met  with  in  the  world. 

"When  Christianity  arose,  though  on  the  foundation  of  Judaism,  it 
was  at  first  received  with  great  complacency  by  the  Pagan  world.  The 
gospel  was  favourably  heard,  and  the  superior  evidence  with  which  it 
was  enforced,  inclined  men,  long  habituated  to  pretended  revelations,  to 
receive  it  into  the  number  of  the  established.  Accordingly  we  find  one 
Roman  emperor  introducing  it  among  his  closet  religions  ;  and  another 
promising  to  the  senate  to  give  it  a  more  public  entertainment.  But 
when  it  was  found  to  carry  its  pretensions  higher,  and,  like  the  Jewish, 
to  claim  the  title  of  the  only  true  one,  then  it  was  that  it  began  to  incur 
the  same  hatred  and  contempt  with  the  Jewish.  But  when  it  went  still 
further,  and  urged  the  necessity  of  all  men  forsaking  their  own  national 
religions,  and  embracing  the  gospel,  this  so  shocked  the  Pagans,  that  it 
soon  brought  upon  itself  the  bloody  storm  which  followed.  Thus  you 
have  the  true  origin  of  persecution  for  religion ;  a  persecution  not  com- 
mitted, but  undergone  by  the  Christian  church. 

"  Hence  we  see  how  it  happened,  that  such  good  emperors  as  Tra- 
jan and  Mark  Antonine  came  to  be  found  in  the  first  rank  of  persecu- 
tors ;  a  difficulty  that  hath  very  much  embarrassed  the  inquirers  into 
ecclesiastical  antiquity,  and  given  a  handle  to  the  deists,  who  empoison 
every  thing,  of  pretending  to  suspect,  that  there  must  be  something 
very  much  amiss  in  primitive  Christianity,  while  such  wise  magistrates 
could  become  its  persecutors.  But  the  reason  is  now  manifest.  The 
Christian  pretensions  overthrew  a  fundamental  principle  of  Paganism, 
which  they  thought  founded  in  nature,  namely,  the  friendly  intercom- 
munity of  worship.  And  thus  the  famous  passage  of  Pliny  the  younger 
becomes  intelligible.  '  For  I  did  not  in  the  least  hesitate,  but  that  what- 
ever should  appear  on  confession  to  be  their  faith,  yet  that  their  fro- 
wardness  and  inflexible  obstinacy  would  certainly  deserve  punishment.' 
What  was  the  '  inflexible  obstinacy?'  It  could  not  be  in  professing  a 
new  religion  ;  that  was  a  thing  common  enough.  It  was  the  refusing 
all  communion  with  Paganism, — refusing  to  throw  a  grain  of  incense 
on  their  altars.  For  we  must  not  think,  as  is  commonly  imagined, 
that  this  was  at  first  enforced  by  the  magistrate  to  make  them  renounce 
their  religion ;  but  only  to  give  a  test  of  its  hospitality,  and  sociable- 
ness  of  temper.  It  was  indeed,  and  rightly  too,  understood  by  the 
Christians  to  be  a  renouncing  of  their  religion,  and  so  accordingly  ab- 
stained from.     The  misfortune  was  that  the  Pagans  did  not  consider  the 


Gibbon'' s  account  of  this  matter.  12 1 

inflexibility  as  a  mere  error,  but  as  an  immorality  likewise.  The  un- 
sociable, uncommunicable  temper,  in  matters  of  religious  worship,  was 
esteemed  by  the  best  of  them  as  a  hatred  and  aversion  to  mankind. 
Thus  Tacitus,  speaking  of  the  burning  of  Rome,  calls  the  Christians 
'  persons  convicted  of  hatred  to  all  mankind.'  But  how  ?  The  con- 
fession of  the  Pagans  themselves,  concerning  the  purity  of  the  Chris- 
tian morals,  shows  this  could  be  no  other  than  a  being  '  convicted'  of 
rejecting  all  intercommunity  of  worship;  which,  so  great  was  their  pre- 
judice, they  thought  could  proceed  from  nothing  but  hatred  towards 
mankind.  Universal  prejudice  had  made  men  regard  a  refusal  of  this 
intercommunity  as  the  most  brutal  of  all  dissociability.  And  the  em- 
peror Julian,  who  understood  this  matter  the  best  of  any,  fairly  owns, 
that  the  Jews  and  Christians  brought  the  execration  of  the  world  upon 
them,  by  their  aversion  to  the  gods  of  Paganism,  and  their  refusal  of 
all  communication  with  them."*     But  to  proceed. 

From  what  took  place  in  the  province  of  Bithynia,  under  the  govern- 
ment of  the  mild  and  amiable  Pliny,  a  tolerably  correct  judgment  may 
be  formed  of  the  state  of  Christianity  during  the  reign  of  Trajan,  in 
every  other  part  of  the  empire. 

While  Pliny  was  thus  conducting  matters  in  Bithynia,  the  province  of 
Syria  was  under  the  government  of  Tiberianus.  There  is  still  extant 
a  letter  which  he  addressed  to  Trajan,  in  which  he  says,  "  I  am  quite 
wearied  with  punishing  and  destroying  the  Galilaeans,  or  those  of  the 
sect  called  Christians,  according  to  your  orders.  Yet  they  never  cease 
to  profess  voluntarily,  what  they  are,  and  to  offer  themselves  to  death. 
Wherefore  I  have  laboured  by  exhortations  and  threats,  to  discourage 
them  from  daring  to  confess  to  me,  that  they  are  of  that  sect.  Yet,  in 
spite  of  all  persecution,  they  continue  still  to  do  it.  Be  pleased  there- 
fore to  inform  me,  what  your  highness  thinks  proper  to  be  done  with 
them."t 

The  stated  returns  of  the  public  games  and  festivals  were  generally 
attended  by  calamitous  events  to  the  Christians.  "  On  those  occasions, 
the  inhabitants  of  the  great  cities  of  the  empire  were  collected  in  the 
great  circus  of  the  theatre,  where  every  circumstance  of  the  place,  as 
well  as  of  the  ceremony,  contributed  to  kindle  their  devotion  and  to 
extinguish  their  humanity.  Whilst  the  numerous  spectators,  crowned 
with  garlands,  perfumed  with  incense,  purified  with  the  blood  of  vic- 
tims, and  surrounded  with  the  altars  and  statues  of  their  tutelar  deities, 
resigned  themselves  to  the  enjoyment  of  pleasures,  which  they  consi- 
dered as  an  essential  part  of  their  religious  worship  ;  they  recollected, 
that  the  Christians  alone  abhorred  the  gods  of  mankind,  and  by  their 
absence  and  melancholy  on  those  solemn  festivals,  seemed  to  insult  or 
to  lament  the  public  felicity.  If  the  empire  had  been  afflicted  by  any 
recent  calamity,  by  a  plague,  a  famine,  or  an  unsuccessful  war  ;  if  the 
Tyber  had,  or  if  the  Nile  had  not,  risen  beyond  its  banks  ;  if  the  earth 
had  shaken,  or  if  the  temperate  order  of  the  seasons  had  been  interrupt- 
ed, the  superstitious  Pagans  were  convinced  that  the  crimes  and  the 

*  Divine  Legation  of  Moses,  vol.  ii.  b.  ii.  sect.  6,  &c. 
f  Quoted  in  Dr.  Middleton's  Free  Enquirv,  p.  201.  4to.  ed. 
11 


122  History  of  the  Christian  Church. 

impiety  of  the  Christians,  who  were  spared  by  the  excessive  lenity  of 
the  government,  had  at  length  provoked  the  Divine  justice.*  It  was 
not  among  a  licentious  and  exasperated  populace,  that  the  forms  of  legal 
proceedings  could  be  observed ;  it  was  not  in  an  amphitheatre  stained 
with  the  blood  of  wild  beasts  and  gladiators,  that  the  voice  of  compas- 
sion could  be  heard.  The  impatient  clamours  of  the  multitude  de- 
nounced the  Christians  as  the  enemies  of  God  and  men,  doomed  them 
to  the  severest  tortures,  and  venturing  to  accuse  by  name,  some  of  the 
most  distinguished  of  the  new  sectaries,  required,  with  irresistible  ve- 
hemence, that  they  should  be  instantly  apprehended  and  cast  to  the 
lions. "t 

About  the  time  that  Pliny  wrote  his  celebrated  letter,  Trajan,  who 
was  then  entering  upon  the  Parthian  war,  arrived  at  Antioch  in  Syria. 
Ignatius  was  at  that  time  one  of  the  pastors  of  the  church  there  ;  a  man 
of  exemplary  piety,  and  "  in  all  things  like  to  the  apostles."  During 
the  emperor's  stay  at  Antioch,  the  city  was  almost  entirely  ruined  by 
an  earthquake.  It  was  preceded  by  violent  claps  of  thunder,  unusual 
winds,  and  a  dreadful  noise  under  ground.  Then  followed  so  terrible 
a  shock,  that  the  earth  trembled,  several  houses  were  overturned,  and 
others  tossed  to  and  fro,  like  a  ship  at  sea.  The  noise  of  the  cracking 
and  bursting  of  the  timber,  and  of  the  falling  of  the  houses,  drowned 
the  cries  of  the  dismayed  populace.  Those  who  happened  to  be  in 
their  houses  were,  for  the  most  part,  buried  under  their  ruins  ;  such  as 
were  walking  in  the  streets  and  in  the  squares,  were,  by  the  violence 
of  the  shock,  dashed  against  each  other,  and  most  of  them  killed  or 
dangerously  wounded.  Trajan  himself  was  much  hurt,  but  escaped 
through  a  window  out  of  the  house  in  which  he  was.  When  the 
earthquake  ceased,  the  voice  of  a  woman  was  heard  crying  under  the 
ruins,  which  being  removed,  she  was  found  with  a  sucking  child  in  her 
arms,  whom  she  kept  alive,  as  well  as  herself,  with  her  milk. 

The  eminent  station  of  Ignatius,  and  the  popularity  which  generally 
attends  superior  talents,  marked  him  out  as  the  victim  of  imperial  fury 
on  the  occasion.  He  was  seized,  and  by  the  emperor's  order  sent  from 
Antioch  to  Rome,  where  he  was  exposed  to  the  fury  of  wild  beasts  in 
the  theatre,  and  by  them  devoured.  About  the  same  time,  Simeon,  the 
son  of  Cleopas,  who  had  succeeded  the  apostle  James,  as  pastor  of  the 
church  originally  gathered  in  Jerusalem,  but  which,  at  the  time  of  its 
destruction,  removed  to  a  small  town  called  Pella,  was  accused,  before 

*  Inveterate  as  were  the  prejudices  of  this  classical  historian  against  the  Chris- 
tians, it  seems  he  could  condescend  occasionally  to  borrow  a  striking-  thought  or 
a  brilliant  sentence  from  their  writings.  The  reader  may  compare  the  above 
quotation  with  the  following-  extract  from  Tertullian's  Apology. 

"If  the  city  be  besieged,  if  any  thing  happen  ill  in  the  fields,  in  the  garrison, 
in  the  lands,  immediately  they,  (the  Pagans,)  cry  out,  "  Tis  because  of  the  Chris- 
tians." Our  enemies  thirst  after  the  blood  of  the  innocent,  cloaking  their  hatred 
with  this  silly  pretence,  "  That  the  Christians  are  the  cause  of  all  public  calami- 
ties." If  the  Tyber  flows  up  to  the  walls — if  the  river  Nile  do  not  overflow  the 
fields — if  the  heavens  alter  their  course — if  there  be  an  earthquake,  a  famine,  a 
plague,  immediately  the  cry  is  "  Away  with  the  Christians  to  the  lions."  Apol. 
cap.  1.  Operum,  p.  17. 

f  Gibbon's  Decline,  vol.  ii.  ch.  16. 


Christianity  under  the  reign  of  Adrian.  123 

Atticus,  the  Roman  governor,  of  being  a  Christian.  He  was  then  an 
hundred  and  twenty  years  old,  but  his  hoary  hairs  were  no  protection 
to  him  under  the  charge  of  professing  Christianity.  He  endured  the 
punishment  of  scourging,  for  many  days;  but  though  his  hardiness  as- 
tonished, his  sufferings  failed  to  excite  the  pity  of  his  persecutors,  and 
he  was,  at  length,  ordered  to  be  crucified. 

This  state  of  things,  which  is  commonly  termed  the  third  persecu- 
tion, seems  to  have  continued  during  the  whole  of  Trajan's  reign;  for 
it  does  not  appear  that  his  edicts  against  the  Christians  were  revoked 
during  his  life,  which,  after  having  swayed  the  imperial  sceptre  nine- 
teen years,  was  closed  in  the  year  117,  while  prosecuting  his  great 
military  expedition  in  the  east. 


SECTION  II. 

THE  SUBJECT   CONTINUED. 


THE  STATE  OF  THE   CHRISTIAN  PROFESSION  UNDER  THE  REIGNS  OF  ADRIAN 
AND  THE   ANTONINES.    A.  D.  117 180. 

The  persecuting  edicts,  which  had  been  issued  against  the  Chris- 
tians, under  the  former  emperors,  continued  unrepealed  when  Adrian 
was  raised  to  the  throne  of  the  Caesars.  The  law  of  Trajan,  of  which 
I  have  taken  notice  in  the  foregoing  section,  and  which  had  been  re- 
gistered among  the  public  edicts  of  the  empire,  had,  in  some  degree, 
ameliorated  the  state  of  matters.  "  The  Christians  were  not  to  be  offi- 
ciously sought  after  ;"  but  still,  such  as  were  accused  and  convicted  of 
an  adherence  to  Christianity  were  to  be  put  to  death  as  wicked  citi- 
zens, if  they  did  not  return  to  the  religion  of  their  ancestors. 

Under  the  reign  of  Adrian,  the  empire  flourished  in  peace  and  pros- 
perity. He  encouraged  the  arts,  reformed  the  laws,  enforced  military 
discipline,  and  visited  all  his  provinces  in  person.  His  vast  and  active 
genius  was  equally  suited  to  the  most  enlarged  views,  and  the  minute 
details  of  civil  policy  ;  but  the  ruling  passions  of  his  soul  were  curiosity 
and  vanity.  As  these  prevailed,  and  as  they  were  attracted  by  differ- 
ent objects,  Adrian  was,  by  turns,  an  excellent  prince,  a  ridiculous  so- 
phist, or  a  jealous  tyrant.  After  his  death,  the  senate  doubted  whether 
they  should  pronounce  him  a  god  or  a  tyrant,  and  the  honours  decreed 
to  his  memory  were  granted  to  the  prayers  of  his  successor,  the  pious 
Antoninus.* 

In  the  sixth  year  of  his  reign,  Adrian  came  to  Athens,  where  he  w'as 
initiated  in  the  Eleusinian  mysteries.  Tertullian  describes  him  as  a 
man  excessively  curious  and  inquisitive — (curiositatum  omnium  ex- 
plorator) — his  knowledge  was  various  and  extensive — he  had  studied 
all  the  arts  of  magic,  and  was  passionately  fond  of  the  Pagan  institu- 

*  Gibbon's  Rome,  vol.  i.  ch.  3. 


124  History  of  the  Christian  Church. 

tions.  At  the  time  of  his  visiting  Athens,  Quadratus  was  pastor  of  the 
Christian  church  in  that  city,  having  succeeded  Publius,  who  suffered 
martyrdom  either  in  this  or  the  foregoing  reign.  It  seems  likely  that 
this  church  had  undergone  a  severe  persecution  ;  for  we  are  informed 
that  when  Quadratus  took  the  oversight  of  them  he  found  the  flock  in 
a  dispersed  and  confused  state  ;  their  public  assemblies  were  neglect- 
ed ;  their  zeal  was  become  languid,  and  they  were  in  danger  of  being 
wholly  scattered.  Quadratus  laboured  indefatigably  to  recover  them, 
and  he  succeeded.  Order  and  discipline  were  restored,  insomuch, 
that  at  a  subsequent  period,  when  Origen  wrote  his  treatise  against 
Celsus,  he  adduces  the  church  at  Athens  as  a  notable  pattern  of  good 
order,  constancy,  meekness  and  quietness.* 

Quadratus  drew  up  an  apology  for  the  Christian  religion,  which  he 
addressed  and  delivered  to  the  emperor;  as  did  also  Aristides,  a  Chris- 
tian writer  at  that  time  in  Athens.  Unfortunately  these  apologies  are 
lost,  and  it  is  greatly  to  be  regretted ;  for  had  they  survived  the  wreck 
of  time,  they  would,  in  all  probability,  have  thrown  much  light  upon 
the  state  of  the  Christian  profession  at  that  period.  Nor  have  Ave  any 
certain  information  what  effect  they  produced  upon  the  mind  of  the  em- 
peror. "  The  Pagan  priests,"  says  Mosheim,  "  set  the  populace  in 
motion  to  demand  from  the  magistrates,  with  one  voice,  during  the  pub- 
lic games,  the  destruction  of  the  Christians  ;  and  the  magistrates,  fear- 
ing that  a  sedition  might  be  the  consequence  of  despising  or  opposing 
these  popular  clamours,  were  too  much  disposed  to  indulge  them  in 
their  requests."  During  these  commotions,  Serenus  Granianus,  pro- 
consul of  Asia,  wrote  to  the  emperor  that  "  it  seemed  to  him  unreason- 
able, that  the  Christians  should  be  put  to  death,  merely  to  gratify  the 
clamours  of  the  people,  without  trial,  and  without  being  convicted  of 
any  crime."  This  seems  the  first  instance  of  any  Roman  governor 
publicly  daring  to  question  the  propriety  and  justice  of  Trajan's  edict, 
which,  independent  of  any  moral  guilt,  inflicted  death  on  Christians, 
merely  because  they  were  Christians.  Serenus,  at  the  time  of  writing 
his  letter,  was  probably  about  to  quit  his  office,  but  Adrian  addressed 
the  following  rescript  to  his  successor. 

TO  MINUTIUS  FUNDANUS. 

"I  have  received  a  letter  written  to  me  by  the  very  illustrious  Se- 
renus Granianus,  whom  you  have  succeeded.  To  me  then  the  affair 
seems  by  no  means  fit  to  be  slightly  passed  over,  that  men  may  not  be 
disturbed  without  cause,  and  that  sycophants  may  not  be  encouraged  in 
their  odious  practices.  If  the  people  of  the  province  will  appear  pub- 
licly, and  make  open  charges  against  the  Christians,  so  as  to  give  them 
an  opportunity  of  answering  for  themselves,  let  them  proceed  in  that 
manner  only,  and  not  by  rude  demands  and  mere  clamours.  For  it  is 
much  more  proper,  if  any  person  will  accuse  them,  that  you  should 
take  cognizance  of  these  matters.  If  therefore,  any  accuse,  and  show 
that  they  actually  break  the  laws,  do  you  determine  according  to  the 

•  Eusebius,  b.  4.  ch.  23.  and  Cave's  Life  of  Quadratus. 


Reign  of  the  Antonines.  125 

nature  of  the  crime.  But,  by  Hercules,  if  the  charge  be  a  mere  ca- 
lumny, do  you  estimate  the  enormity  of  such  calumny  and  punish  as  it 
deserves."* 

This  rescript  seems  to  have  somewhat  abated  the  fury  of  the  persecu- 
tion, though  not  wholly  to  have  put  an  end  to  it.  Tertullian,  in  refer- 
ence to  these  times,  informs  us  that  Arrius  Antoninus,  then  proconsul 
of  Asia,  when  the  Christians  came  in  a  body  before  his  tribunal,  or- 
dered some  of  them  to  be  put  to  death ;  and  said  to  others,  "  You 
wretches  '  If  ye  will  die,  ye  have  precipices  and  halters."  He  adds, 
that  several  other  governors  of  provinces,  punished  some  few  Chris- 
tians, and  dismissed  the  rest,  so  that  the  persecution  was  neither  so  ge- 
neral nor  so  severe  as  it  had  been  under  Trajan. 

During  the  reign  of  Adrian,  the  Jews  once  more  attempted  to  free 
themselves  from  the  Roman  yoke.  A  rebellious  chief  arose  among 
them,  of  the  name  of  Barchochebas,  who  assumed  the  title  of  "  King 
of  the  Jews,"  and  prevailed  upon  these  deluded  people,  thinned  as  they 
were  by  slaughter,  and  dispersed  throughout  the  different  provinces,  to 
rally  round  his  standard,  and  contend  with  the  Romans  for  empire. 
While  the  rebellion  was  in  progress,  the  Christians,  refusing  to  join 
the  standard  of  this  fictitious  Messiah,  suffered  the  most  atrocious  indig- 
nities, and  were  massacred  without  mercy,  until  the  fall  of  their  leader, 
and  the  destruction  of  his  adherents  put  an  end  to  the  sedition.  The 
issue  of  the  rebellion  was  the  entire  exclusion  of  the  Jews  from  the  ter- 
ritory of  Judea. 

After  a  reign  of  twenty-one  years,  Adrian  was  succeeded,  in  the 
year  138,  by  Titus  Antoninus  Pius,  a  senator  about  fifty  years  of  age, 
whom  he  declared  his  successor,  only  on  the  condition  that  he  himself 
should  immediately  adopt  Marcus  Aurelius  Antoninus,  a  youth  of 
about  seventeen,  and  by  these  two  Antonines  the  Roman  world  was 
governed  forty  years.  Their  united  reigns,  says  Gibbon,  are  possibly 
the  only  period  of  history,  in  which  the  happiness  of  a  great  people 
was  the  sole  object  of  government.! 

The  elder  Antoninus  appears  to  have  been  a  most  amiable  prince. 
He  diffused  order  and  tranquillity  throughout  the  empire ;  and,  in  his 
own  personal  character  and  intentions,  was  guiltless  of  Christian  blood. 
The  disciples  of  Jesus  were  nevertheless  cruelly  treated  in  some  of 
the  provinces  of  Asia,  and  it  occasioned  Justin  Martyr  to  Write  his 
first  apology,  which  was  presented  to  the  emperor.  The  crimes  they 
were  accused  of  by  their  enemies,  were  impiety  and  atheism,  which 
are  refuted  by  Justin  in  his  Apology.  In  several  of  the  former  edicts, 
the  word  crime  had  not  been  sufficiently  determined  in  its  significa- 
tion. Hence,  the  Pagan  priests,  and  even  the  Roman  magistrates, 
frequently  applied  this  term  to  the  profession  of  Christianity  itself. 
But  Antoninus  issued  an  edict,  in  which  he  decided  the  point  on  the 
side  of  humanity  and  justice.  He  addressed  a  letter  to  the  province 
of  Asia,  in  favour  of  the  persecuted  Christians,  which  is  of  too  much 
importance  to  be  here  omitted. 

*  Eusebius,  b.  4.  c.  9.  and  Justin  Martyr's  First  Apology,  adjinem. 
f  Decline  and  Fall,  vol.  iii.  ch.  3. 

10* 


126  History  of  the  Christian  Church. 


The  Emperor  to  the  Common  Council  of  Asia. 

"  I  am  clearly  of  opinion,  that  the  gods  will  take  care  to  discover 
such  persons  (as  those  to  whom  you  refer.)  For  it  much  more  con- 
cerns them  to  punish  those  who  refuse  to  worship  them,  than  you,  if 
they  be  able.  But  you  harass  and  vex  the  Christians,  and  accuse  them 
of  atheism  and  other  crimes,  which  you  can  by  no  means  prove.  To 
them  it  appears  an  advantage  to  die  for  their  religion,  and  they  gain 
their  point,  while  they  throw  away  their  lives,  rather  than  comply 
with  your  injunctions.  As  to  the  earthquakes,  which  have  happened 
in  times  past  or  more  recently,  is  it  not  proper  to  remind  you  of  your 
own  despondency,  when  they  happen ;  and  to  desire  you  to  compare 
your  spirit  with  theirs,  and  observe  how  serenely  they  confide  in  God? 
In  such  seasons  you  seem  to  be  ignorant  of  the  gods,  and  to  neglect 
their  worship.  You  live  in  the  practical  ignorance  of  the  supreme 
God  himself,  and  you  harass  and  persecute  to  death  those  who  do 
worship  him.  Concerning  these  same  men,  some  others  of  the  pro- 
vincial governors  wrote  to  our  divine  father  Adrian,  to  whom  he  re- 
turned for  answer,  '  That  they  should  not  be  molested,  unless  they 
appeared  to  attempt  something  against  the  Roman  government.'  Many 
also  have  made  application  to  me  concerning  these  men,  to  whom  I 
have  returned  an  answer  agreeable  to  the  maxims  of  my  father.  But 
if  any  person  will  still  persist  in  accusing  the  Christians  merely  as 
such,  let  the  accused  be  acquitted,  though  he  appear  to  be  a  Christian, 
and  let  the  accuser  be  punished." 

Set  up  at  Ephesus  in  the  Common  Assembly  of  Asia. 

Letters  of  similar  import  were  also  written  to  the  Larisseans,  the 
Thessalonians,  the  Athenians,  and  all  the  Greeks,  as  we  are  informed 
by  Eusebius  ;  and  the  humane  emperor  took  care  that  his  edicts  were 
carried  into  effect.  He  reigned  three'  and  twenty  years,  and  it  seems 
reasonable  to  conclude  that  during  the  greater  part  of  this  time,  Chris- 
tians were  permitted  to  worship  God  in  peace.  This  must  have  been 
a  halcyon  season  to  the  poor  afflicted  disciples  of  Jesus,  when  they 
were  permitted  to  sit  under  their  own  vine  and  fig-tree,  without  fear  or 
molestation ;  but  it  terminated  with  the  life  of  the  elder  Antoninus, 
about  the  year  162,  at  which  time  the  government  of  the  empire  de- 
volved wholly  upon  his  late  colleague,  Marcus  Aurelius  Antoninus. 

This  prince,  at  the  age  of  twelve  years,  embraced  the  rigid  system 
of  the  stoical  philosophy,  which  he  also  laboured  to  inculcate  upon 
the  minds  of  his  subjects.  He  even  condescended  to  read  lectures  of 
philosophy  to  the  Roman  people,  in  a  manner,  says  Gibbon,  who 
nevertheless  eulogizes  his  character,  more  public  than  was  consistent 
with  the  modesty  of  a  sage  or  the  dignity  of  an  emperor.  Under  his 
reign  commenced,  what  is  generally  accounted  the  fourth  persecution 
of  the  Christians.  It  is  not  improbable  that  he  had  beheld  with  an 
anxious  eye,  the  lenity  which  had  been  shown  them  by  his  predeces- 
sors, and  that  the  occasional  interruptions  that  had  been  given  them, 


The  reign  of  Marcus  Jlurelius  Antoninus.  127 

were,  at  least,  with  his  connivance.  Certain  it  is,  that  no  sooner  had 
he  attained  to  the  full  exercise  of  power,  than  he  completely  discarded 
the  tolerant  principles  of  Antoninus  Pius,  and  threw  open  once  more 
the  flood-gates  of  persecution. 

The  churches  of  Asia  appear  to  have  suffered  dreadfully  at  this 
period.  Polycarp  was  pastor  of  the  church  in  Smyrna,  an  office 
which  he  had  held  for  more  than  eighty  years,  and  which  he  had  filled 
with  honour  to  himself,  to  the  edification  of  his  Christian  brethren, 
and  the  glory  of  his  divine  Master.  It  only  remained  for  him  now  to 
seal  his  testimony  with  his  blood.  The  eminence  of  his  station 
marked  him  out  as  the  victim  of  popular  fury.  The  cry  of  the  multi- 
tude against  Polycarp  was,  "  This  is  the  doctor  of  Asia,  the  father  of 
the  Christians,  the  subverter  of  our  gods,  who  teaches  many  that  they 
must  not  perform  the  sacred  rites,  nor  worship  our  deities.  Aivay 
U'ith  these  Atheists."  The  philosophy  of  the  emperor  could  not 
teach  him  that  this  pretended  atheism  was  a  real  virtue,  which  de- 
served to  be  encouraged  and  propagated  amongst  mankind.  Here  rea- 
son and  philosophy  failed  him ;  and  his  blind  attachment  to  the  gods 
of  his  country  caused  him  to  shed  much  blood,  and  to  become  the 
destroyer  of  the  saints  of  the  living  God  !* 

The  friends  of  Polycarp,  anxious  for  his  safety,  prevailed  on  him  to 
withdraw  himself  from  public  view,  and  to  retire  to  a  neighbouring 
village,  which  he  did,  continuing  with  a  few  of  his  brethren,  day  and 
night,  in  prayer  to  God,  for  the  tranquillity  of  all  the  churches.  The 
most  diligent  search  was,  in  the  mean  time,  made  for  him  without 
effect.  But  when  his  enemies  proceeded  to  put  some  of  his  brethren 
to  the  torture,  with  the  view  of  compelling  them  to  betray  him,  he 
could  no  longer  be  prevailed  on  to  remain  concealed.  "  The  will  of 
the  Lord  be  done,"  was  his  pious  ejaculation;  on  uttering  which,  he 
made  a  voluntary  surrender  of  himself  to  his  persecutors,  saluted  them 
with  a  cheerful  countenance,  and  invited  them  to  refresh  themselves 
at  his  table,  only  soliciting  from  them  on  his  own  behalf  one  hour  for 
prayer.  They  granted  his  request,  and  his  devotions  were  prolonged 
to  double  the  period,  with  such  sweetness  and  savour,  that  all  who 
heard  him  were  struck  with  admiration,  several  of  the  soldiers  repent- 
ing that  they  were  employed  against  so  venerable  an  old  man.  His 
prayer  being  ended,  they  set  him  on  an  ass,  and  conveyed  him  towards 
the  city,  being  met  on  the  road  by  Herod  the  Irenarch,  (a  kind  of  jus- 
tice of  the  peace)  and  his  father  Nicetes,  who  were  chief  agents  in  this 
persecution.!  Many  efforts  were  tried  to  shake  his  constancy,  and 
induce  him  to  abjure  his  profession  ;  at  one  time  he  was  threatened 
by  the  proconsul  with  the  fury  of  wild  beasts.  "  Call  for  them,"  said 
Polycarp,  "  it  does  not  become  us  to  turn  from  good  to  evil."  "  See- 
ing you  make  so  light  of  wild  beasts,"  rejoined  the  magistrate,  "  I  will 

*  This  is  the  emperor,  whom  Pope  has  panegyrized  in  the  following'  lines — 
"  Who  noble  ends  by  noble  means  obtains, 
Or,  failing,  smiles  in  exile  or  in  chains; 
Like  good  Aurelius,  let  him  reign;  or  bleed 
Like  Socrates;  that  man  is  gi-eat  indeed." 

\  Cave's  life  of  Polycarp,  p.  53. 


128  History  of  the  Christian  Church. 

tarae  you  with  the  more  terrible  punishment  of  fire."  But  Polycarp 
bravely  replied,  "  You  threaten  me  with  a  fire  that  is  quickly  extin- 
guished, but  are  ignorant  of  the  eternal  fire  of  God's  judgment,  reserv- 
ed for  the  wicked  in  the  other  world.  But  why  do  you  delay  ?  order 
what  punishment  you  please."  Thus,  finding  him  impenetrable  both 
to  the  arts  of  seduction  and  the  dread  of  punishment,  the  fire  was  com- 
manded to  be  lighted,  and  the  body  of  this  venerable  father  burnt  to 
ashes,  in  the  year  166. 

Melito  was,  at  this  period,  pastor  of  the  neighbouring  church  of  Sar- 
dis.  As  the  rage  of  persecution  grew  more  violent,  he  drew  up  an 
apology  for  the  Christians,  which  he  presented  to  the  emperor,  (A.  D. 
170,)  about  the  tenth  year  of  his  reign,  a  fragment  of  which  is  still 
preserved  in  Eusebius.  He  complains  of  it  as  an  almost  unheard  of 
thing,  that  pious  men  were  now  persecuted,  and  greatly  distressed  by 
new  decrees  throughout  Asia ;  that  most  impudent  informers,  Avho  were 
greedy  of  other  people's  substance,  took  occasion,  from  the  imperial 
edicts,  to  plunder  others  who  were  entirely  innocent.  He  then  humbly 
beseeches  the  emperor  that  he  would  not  suffer  the  Christians  to  be 
used  in  so  cruel  and  unrighteous  a  manner ;  that  he  would  vouchsafe 
to  examine  the  things  charged  on  the  Christians,  and  stop  the  perse- 
cution, by  revoking  the  edict  published  against  them  ;  and  reminds  him 
that  the  Christian  religion  was  so  far  from  being  destructive  to  the  Ro- 
man empire  as  its  enemies  suggested,  that  the  latter  was  much  enlarged 
since  the  propagation  thereof.* 

In  the  same  year  that  Polycarp  was  put  to  death,  (166,)  Justin  Mar- 
tyr drew  up  a  Second  Apology,  which  he  addressed  to  the  emperor 
Antoninus,  and  to  the  senate  of  Rome.  He  states  the  case  of  his  Chris- 
tian brethren,  complains  of  the  unrighteousness  and  cruelty  with  which 
they  were  every  where  treated,  in  being  punished  merely  because  they 
were  Christians,  without  being  accused  of  any  crimes  ;  answers  the  usual 
objections  against  them",  and  desires  no  greater  favour  than  that  the 
world  might  be  really  acquainted  with  their  case.  His  appeal  seems 
to  have  produced  no  impression  upon  those  to  whom  it  was  addressed. 
Justin  and  six  of  his  companions  were  seized  and  carried  before  Rusti- 
cus,  the  praefect  of  the  city  of  Rome,  where  many  attempts  were  made 
to  persuade  them  to  obey  the  gods  and  comply  with  the  emperor's  edicts. 
Their  exhortations  had  no  effect.  "  No  man,"  says  Justin,  "  who  is 
in  his  right  mind  can  desert  the  truth  to  embrace  error  and  impiety." 
And  when  threatened,  that  unless  they  complied  they  should  be  tortured 
without  mercy,  "Despatch  us  as  soon  as  you  please,"  said  the  disciples, 
"for  we  are  Christians,  and  cannot  sacrifice  to  idols."  On  saying 
which,  the  governor  pronounced  the  following  sentence,  that  "  for  re- 
fusing to  sacrifice  to  the  gods,  and  to  obey  the  imperial  edicts,  they 
should  be  first  scourged  and  then  beheaded  according  to  law,"  which 
was  immediately  carried  into  effect.t 

The  history  of  the  reign  of  this  philosophic  emperor  abounds  with 
similar  instances  of  unrelenting  cruelty  on  the  part  of  the  magistracy, 
and  of  patient  suffering  for  Christ's  sake  on  that  of  his  disciples.     Justin 

•  Cave's  Life  of  Melito,  and  Eusebius,  b.  4.  ch.  26.  j-  Cave's  Life  of  Justin. 


State  of  the  Christians  under  Aurelius.  129 

Martyr,  in  the  account  he  gives  of  the  martyrdom  of  Ptolemseus,  assures 
us,  that  the  only  question  asked  him  was,  "  Are  you  a  Christian  ?" 
And  upon  his  confessing  that  he  was  one,  he  was  immediately  put  to 
death.*  Lucius  was  also  put  to  death  for  making  the  same  confession, 
and  for  asking  Urbicus,  the  prsefect,  why  he  condemned  Ptolemy,  who 
was  neither  convicted  of  adultery,  rape,  murder,  theft,  robbery,  nor  of 
any  other  «rime,  but  merely  for  owning  himself  to  be  a  Christian. 
Hence,  it  is  sufficiently  manifest,  that  it  was  the  mere  name  of  a  Chris- 
tian that  was  still  made  a  capital  offence,  and  that  while  these  inhuman 
proceedings  were  sanctioned  by  an  emperor  who  made  great  pretensions 
to  reason  and  philosophy,  they  were  carried  on  for  the  purpose  of  sup- 
porting a  system  of  superstition  and  idolatry  repugnant  to  every  principle 
of  reason  and  truth.  These  cruelties  were  exercised  on  persons  of  the 
most  virtuous  characters,  for  their  adherence  to  the  worship  of  the  one 
true  God,  the  first  principle  of  all  true  religion. 

How  precious,  in  those  times  especially,  must  have  been  the  conso- 
latory sayings  of  Jesus  Christ;  and  what  but  an  unshaken  confidence  in 
his  almighty  power  and  faithfulness,  could  have  supported  the  hearts  of 
his  people  in  such  trying  circumstances  ?t 

Towards  the  close  of  the  reign  of  this  emperor,  (A.  D.  177,)  the 
flame  of  persecution  reached  a  country,  which  had  hitherto  afforded  no 
materials  for  ecclesiastical  history,  viz.  the  kingdom  of  France,  in  those 
days  called  Gallia.  By  whom  or  by  what  means,  the  light  of  the  glo- 
rious gospel  was  first  conveyed  into  that  country,  we  have  no  certain 
information  ;  for  the  first  intelligence  that  we  have  of  the  fact  itself,  arises 
from  the  account  of  a  dreadful  persecution  which  came  upon  the  churches 
of  Vienne  and  Lyons,  two  cities  lying  contiguous  to  each  other  in  that 
province.  Vienne  was  an  ancient  Roman  colony:  Lyons  was  more 
modern :  and  of  this  latter  church,  the  presbyters  or  elders  were  Pothinus 
and  Iraeneus.  "Whoever,"  says  Milner,  "casts  his  eye  on  the  map 
of  France,  and  sees  the  situation  of  Lyons,  at  present  the  largest  and 
most  populous  city  in  the  kingdom,  except  Paris,  may  observe  how 
favourable  the  confluence  of  the  Rhine  and  the  Soane,  on  which  it 
stands,  is  for  the  purposes  of  commerce.  The  navigation  of  the  Me- 
diterranean, in  all  probability,  was  conducted  by  the  merchants  of  Lyons 
and  Smyrna,  and  hence  the  easy  introduction  of  the  gospel  from  the 
latter  place,  and  from  the  other  Asiatic  churches,  is  apparent.''^ 

That  it  was  in  some  such  way  as  this  Christianity  was  first  planted 
there,  seems  probable,  also  from  the  circumstance,  that  not  only  the 
names  of  Pothinus  and  Iraeneus,  the  pastors  of  the  church  at  Lyons,  are 
Grecian,  but  that  also  the  names  of  several  other  distinguished  persons 
in  these  churches  prove  them  to  have  been  of  Greek  extraction.  And 
when  we  reflect  upon  the  cruel  persecutions  by  which  the  friends  of 
Jesus  had  been  harassed  both  in  Greece  and  Asia  Minor,  it  seems  not 
unreasonable  to  expect  that  they  should  seek  an  asylum  from  the 
storm  in  these  cities.  The  churches,  too,  though  they  appear  to  have 
been  but  recently  planted,  were  evidently  very  numerous,  at  the  time 

•  Second  Apology,  ch.  42.         f  John  xiv.  27.  ch.  xv.  18—23.  xvi.  23.  xvii,  24. 

*  Church  Hist.  vol.  i.  p.  223. 


130  History  of  the  Christian  Church. 

this  terrible  persecution  overtook  them.  When  the  violence  of  the 
storm  had  in  some  measure  subsided,  a  pretty  copious  account  of  it  was 
drawn  up,  as  is  supposed  by  Iraeneus,  in  the  form  of  an  epistle  from 
the  churches  of  Vienne  and  Lyons  to  the  brethren  in  Asia  and  Phrygia. 
We  are  indebted  to  Eusebius  for  preserving  it  from  oblivion,  in  his 
Ecclesiastical  History,  and  I  incline  to  the  judgment  of  Dr.  Lardner 
when  he  pronounces  it  "the  finest  thing  of  the  kind  in  all  antiquity."* 

Eusebius  gives  it  as  a  specimen  of  what  was  transacted  in  other 
places ;  and  that  the  reader  may  have  some  notion  of  the  savage  rage 
with  which  this  persecution  was  carried  on,  not  only  with  the  conni- 
vance, but  with  the  knowledge  and  approbation  of  this  philosophic  em- 
peror, I  shall  give  a  copious  abridgment  of  the  account.  The  epistle 
opens  with  the  following  simple  address. — 

"  The  servants  of  Christ,  sojourning  in  Vienne  and  Lyons  in  France, 
to  the  brethren  in  Asia  Propria  and  Phrygia,  who  have  the  same  faith 
and  hope  of  redemption  with  us  ;  peace  and  grace,  and  glory,  from  God 
the  Father  and  Christ  Jesus  our  Lord."  They  then  declare  themselves 
unable  to  express  the  greatness  of  the  affliction  which  the  saints  in 
those  cities  had  recently  sustained,  or  the  intense  animosity  of  the 
heathen  against  them.  Christians  were  absolutely  prohibited  from  ap- 
pearing in  any  house,  except  their  own,  in  baths,  in  the  market,  or  in 
any  public  place  whatever.  "  The  first  assault  came  from  the  people 
at  large — shouts,  blows,  the  dragging  of  their  bodies,  the  plundering  of 
their  goods,  casting  of  stones,  with  all  the  indignities  that  may  be  ex- 
pected from  a  fierce  and  outrageous  multitude — these  were  magnani- 
mously sustained.  Being  then  led  into  the  forum  by  the  tribune  and 
the  magistrates,  they  were  examined  before  all  the  people  whether  they 
were  Christians ;  and  on  pleading  guilty,  were  shut  up  in  prison  until 
the  arrival  of  the  governor.  Before  him  they  were  at  length  brought, 
and  "he  treated  us,"  say  they,  "  with  great  savageness  of  manners." 

Vettius  Epigathus,  one  of  their  brethren,  a  young  man  full  of  charity 
both  to  God  and  man — of  exemplary  conduct — a  man  ever  unwearied 
in  acts  of  beneficence,  was  roused  at  beholding  such  a  manifest  perver- 
sion of  justice,  and  boldly  demanded  to  be  heard  in  behalf  of  the 
brethren,  pledging  himself  to  prove  that  there  was  nothing  atheistic  or 
impious  among  them.  "  He  was  a  person  of  quality" — but  however 
equitable  his  demand  was,  it  only  served  to  excite  the  clamour  of  the 
mob,  and  to  irritate  the  governor,  who  merely  asked  him  if  he  was  a 
Christian,  which  he  confessed  in  the  most  open  manner,  and  for  which 
he  was  immediately  executed.  Others  imitated  his  confidence  and  zeal, 
and  suffered  with  the  same  alacrity  of  mind.  In  process  of  time,  ten  of 
their  number  lapsed,  "  whose  case,"  say  they,  "  filled  us  with  great 
and  immeasurable  sorrow."  This  appears  to  have  much  dejected  the 
churches,  and  to  have  spread  a  general  alarm,  "  not  that  we  dreaded 

*  Credibility  of  the  Gospel  History,  part  2.  But  though  I  bow  with  great  de- 
ference to  the  judgment  of  Dr.  Lardner,  I  must  be  allowed  to  say  that  the  style 
in  which  this  letter  is  drawn  up  does  not  meet  my  taste.  It  is  much  too  laboured 
to  correspond  with  the  melancholy  nature  of  the  subject.  It  is  not  the  simple, 
natural,  unaffected  language  of  a  feeling  heart.  We  must,  however,  remember 
that  Iraneus  was  a  Greek,  and  that  the  Greeks  were  great  admirers  of  eloquence. 


Persecutions  at  Lyons  and  Vtenne.  131 

the  torment,"  say  they,  "  with  which  we  are  threatened,  but  because 
we  looked  forward  unto  the  end,  and  feared  the  danger  of  apostasy." 
The  vilest  calumnies  were  propagated  against  them  at  this  time — they 
were  accused  of  eating  human  flesh,  and  of  various  unnatural  crimes  ; 
"of  things,"  say  they,  "  not  fit  even  to  be  mentioned  or  imagined,  and 
such  as  ought  not  to  be  believed  of  mankind."  The  rabble  became  in- 
censed against  them  even  to  madness — and  the  ties  of  blood,  affinity,  or 
friendship,  seem  to  have  been  wholly  disregarded.  "  Now  it  was," 
say  they,  "  that  our  Lord's  word  was  fulfilled — '  the  time  will  come 
when  whosoever  killeth  you  will  think  that  he  doeth  God  service.'  " 
The  martyrs  sustained  tortures  which  exceed  the  powers  of  description. 
"  The  whole  fury  of  the  multitude,  the  governor,  and  the  soldiers,  was 
spent  in  a  particular  manner  on  Sanctus,  a  deacon  of  the  church  of 
Vienne,  and  on  Maturus,  a  late  convert  indeed,  but  a  magnanimous 
wrestler  in  spiritual  things;  and  on  Attalus  of  Pergamus,  a  man  who 
had  been  the  pillar  and  support  of  our  church ;  and  on  Blandina,  a  fe- 
male who  was  most  barbarously  tortured  from  morning  to  night,  with 
the  intent  of  extorting  from  her  a  confession  which  should  criminate  her 
brethren;  but  "it  was  an  evident  refreshment,  support,  and  an  annihi- 
lation of  all  her  pains  to  say,  *  I  am  a  Christian,  and  no  evil  is  commit- 
ted among  us.' " 

The  most  barbarous  indignities  were  inflicted  upon  Sanctus  the  dea- 
con, to  extort  from  him  something  injurious  to  the  gospel,  which  he 
sustained  in  a  manner  more  than  human ;  and  such  was  the  firmness 
with  which  he  resisted  the  most  intense  sufferings,  that  to  every  ques- 
tion which  was  put  to  him  by  his  tormentors,  he  had  uniformly  one 
reply,  "  I  am  a  Christian."  This  provoked  the  executioners  so  much, 
that  they  applied  red  hot  plates  of  iron  to  the  tenderest  parts  of  his 
body,  till  he  was  one  wound,  and  scarcely  retaining  the  appearance  of 
the  human  form.  Having  left  him  a  few  days  in  this  ulcerated  condi- 
tion, they  hoped  to  make  him  more  exquisitely  sensible  to  fresh  tor- 
tures. But  the  renewal  of  these  while  he  was  dreadfully  swelled,  was 
found  to  have  the  effect  of  reducing  him  to  his  former  shape,  and  re- 
storing him  to  the  use  of  his  limbs.  Biblias,  a  female,  was  one  of 
those  who  had  swerved  from  her  profession  at  the  commencement  of 
the  persecution.  She  was  now  pitched  upon,  as  being  one  that  was 
likely  to  accuse  the  Christians;  and  the  more  effectually  to  extort  from 
her  that  confession  which  they  Avished  her  to  make,  this  weak  and  ti- 
morous creature  was  put  to  the  torture.  The  fact  which  was  pressed 
upon  her  to  acknowledge  was,  that  the  Christians  ate  their  children. 
"  In  her  torture  she  recovered  herself,"  it  is  said,  "  and  awoke  as  out 
of  a  sleep,  and  in  answer  to  their  interrogations,  thus  remonstrated, 
How  can  we  eat  infants — we,  to  whom  it  is  not  lawful  to  eat  the  blood 
of  beasts."*  She  now  recovered  her  fortitude,  avowed  her  Christianity, 
and  "  was  added  to  the  army  of  martyrs." 

*  A  late  ecclesiastical  historian  (Mr.  Milner)  has  the  following1  remark  upon 
this  passage.  "Hence  it  appears  that  the  eating  of  blood  was  not  practised 
among  the  Christians  at  Lyons  ;  and  they  understood  not  Christian  liberty  in  this 
point."     But  with  all  due  deference  to  Mr.  Milner,  one  cannot  help  wishing 


132  History  of  the  Christian  Church. 

The  ten  persons  who  had  swerved  from  their  profession  in  the  hour 
of  trial,  and  denied  that  they  were  Christians,  not  being  credited  by 
the  magistrates,  were  refused  the  benefit  of  their  recantation.  They 
were  insulted  for  their  cowardice,  and  led  to  punishment  along  with 
the  rest,  as  murderers,  though  not  as  Christians,  on  the  evidence 
which  had  been  produced  of  their  eating  human  flesh.  They  proceeded 
with  countenances  full  of  shame  and  dejection,  while  those  who  suffer- 
ed for  their  attachment  to  Christianity,  appeared  cheerful  and  coura- 
geous, so  that  the  difference  between  them  was  perceptible  to  all  the 
by-standers.  After  this,  no  Christian  who  was  apprehended,  renounced 
his  profession,  but  persevered  in  it  to  the  last. 

The  populace  becoming  clamorous  to  have  the  Christians  thrown  to 
the  wild  beasts  in  the  amphitheatre,  that  favourite  spectacle  was  at 
length  provided  for  them  on  this  occasion,  and  Maturus,  Sanctus, 
Blandina,  and  Attalus,  were  brought  out  for  this  purpose.  But  pre- 
vious to  the  wild  beasts  being  produced,  Maturus  and  Sanctus  were 
put  to  the  torture  in  the  amphitheatre,  as  if  it  had  not  been  applied  to 
them  before  ;  and  every  thing  that  an  enraged  multitude  called  for  hav- 
ing been  tried  upon  them,  they  were  at  last  roasted  in  an  iron  chair, 
till  they  sent  forth  the  offensive  effluvia  of  burnt  flesh.  Upon  Sanc- 
tus, however,  the  only  effect  produced  was  a  declaration  of  his  former 
confession,  that  he  was  a  Christian  ;  and  at  length  death  terminated  his 
sufferings. 

Blandina  was  then  produced,  and  on  being  fastened  to  a  stake,  a 
wild  beast  was  let  loose  upon  her ;  but  this  she  bore  with  the  greatest 
composure  ;  and,  by  her  prayers,  encouraged  others  to  bear  with  for- 
titude whatever  might  befal  them;  but,  as  the  wild  beast  did  not  med- 
dle with  her,  she  was  remanded  back  to  prison. 

At  length,  Attalus  was  loudly  called  for;  and  he  was  accordingly  led 
round  the  amphitheatre,  Avith  a  board  held  before  him,  on  which  was 

that  he  had  shown  us,  "  Who  gave  Christians  the  liberty  of  eating  things  strang- 
led and  blood."  Nothing  can  be  more  express  than  the  prohibition,  Acts  xv. 
28,  29.  Can  those  who  plead  their  "  Christian  liberty"  in  regard  to  this  matter, 
point  us  to  any  part  of  the  word  of  God,  in  which  this  prohibition  is  subsequently 
annulled  >  If  not,  may  we  be  allowed  to  ask,  "By  what  authority,  except  his 
own,  can  any  of  the  laws  of  God  be  repealed  ?"  Mr.  M.  held  that  "  the  church 
has  power  to  decree  rites  and  ceremonies,  and  to  settle  controversies  in  matters 
of  faith  ;"  and  doubtless,  that  church  which  has  power  to  make  new  laws  in 
Christ's  kingdom,  cannot  want  authority  to  abolish  old  ones  ;  but  where  they  ob- 
tained this  power  and  authority,  we  have  yet  to  learn. 

The  following  remark  of  a  sensible  writer  shows,  that  he  is  far  from  agreeing 
with  Mr.  Milner  in  thinking  that  blood  eating  is  any  part  of  Christian  liberty. 
"This  (i.  e.  eating  the  blood  of  animals)  being  forbidden  to  Noah,  appears  also 
to  have  been  forbidden  to  all  mankind  ;  nor  ought  this  prohibition  to  be  treated 
as  belonging  to  the  ceremonies  of  the  Jewish  dispensation.  It  was  not  only  en- 
joined before  that  dispensation  existed,  but  was  enforced  upon  the  Gentile  Chris- 
tians by  the  decrees  of  the  apostles,  Acts  xv.  20.  To  allege,  as  some  do,  our 
Lord's  words,  « that  it  is  not  that  which  goeth  into  a  man  which  defileth  him,' 
would  equally  justify  the  practice  of  cannibals  in  eating  human  flesh. — Blood  is 
the  life,  and  God  seems  to  claim  it  as  sacred  to  himself.  Hence,  in  all  the  sacri- 
fices, the  blood  was  poured  out  before  the  Lord,  and  in  the  sacrifice  of  Christ, 
he  shed  his  blood,  or  poured  out  his  soul  unto  death." 

Fuller's  Disc,  on  Gen.  ix.  3,  4. 


Persecution  at  Lyons  and  Vienne.  133 

inscribed,  This  is  Attalus  the  Christian.  It  appearing,  however, 
that  he  was  a  Roman  citizen,  the  president  remanded  him  to  prison, 
until  the  emperor's  pleasure  should  be  known  concerning  him  and 
others  who  were  in  the  same  predicament.  In  this  respite  they  so  en- 
couraged many  who  had  hitherto  declined  this  glorious  combat,  as  it 
was  justly  called,  that  great  numbers  voluntarily  declared  themselves 
Christians. 

The  emperor's  answer  was,  that  they  who  confessed  themselves  to 
be  Christians  should  be  put  to  death  ;  but  that  those  who  denied  it 
should  be  set  at  liberty.  Upon  this,  a  public  assembly  was  convened, 
attended  by  a  vast  concourse  of  people,  before  whom  the  confessors 
were  produced,  when  such  of  them  as  were  found  to  be  Roman  citi- 
zens were  beheaded,  and  the  rest  thrown  to  the  wild  beasts.  But  to 
the  astonishment  of  all  present,  many  who  had  previously  renounced 
their  Christianity,  and  were  now  produced  only  to  be  set  at  liberty, 
revoked  their  recantation,  and,  declaring  themselves  Christians,  suffer- 
ed with  the  rest.  These  had  been  greatly  encouraged  to  do  so,  by 
Alexander,  a  Phrygian,  who  had  shown  himself  particularly  solicitous 
for  the  perseverance  of  his  brethren. 

The  multitude  became  greatly  enraged  at  this ;  and  Alexander  being 
called  before  the  tribunal,  and  confessing  himself  a  Christian,  he  was 
sentenced  to  be  thrown  to  the  wild  beasts  ;  and  on  the  following  day 
he  was  produced  in  the  amphitheatre  for  that  purpose,  together  with 
Attalus,  whom  the  people  had  insisted  upon  being  brought  out  once 
more.  Previous  to  their  exposure  to  the  wild  beasts  they  were  sub- 
jected to  a  variety  of  tortures,  and  at  last  run  through  with  a  sword. 
During  all  this  Alexander  said  nothing,  but  evinced  the  greatest  firm- 
ness of  mind.  And,  when  Attalus  was  placed  in  the  iron  chair,  he  on- 
ly said,  in  allusion  to  the  vulgar  charge  against  the  Christians  of  those 
days,  of  murdering  and  eating  infants,  "  This,  Avhich  is  your  own 
practice,  is  to  devour  men  ;  we  neither  eat  men,  nor  practise  any  other 
wickedness." 

On  the  last  day  of  the  show,  Blandina  was  again  produced,  together 
with  a  young  man  of  the  name  of  Ponticus,  about  fifteen  years  of  age, 
who  had  been  brought  out  daily  to  be  a  spectator  of  the  sufferings  of 
others.  This  youth,  being  required  to  acknowledge  the  heathen  dei- 
ties, and  refusing  to  do  so,  the  multitude  had  no  compassion  for  either 
of  them,  but  subjected  them  to  the  whole  circle  of  tortures,  till  Ponticus 
expired  in  them  ;  and  Blandina,  having  been  scourged,  and  placed  in 
the  hot  iron  chair,  was  put  into  a  net,  and  exposed  to  a  bull ;  and  after 
being  tossed  for  some  time  by  the  furious  animal,  she  was  at  length 
despatched  with  a  sword.  The  spectators  acknowledged  that  they  had 
never  known  any  female  bear  torture  with  such  fortitude. 

When  this  scene  was  over,  the  multitude  continued  to  show  their 
rage  by  abusing  the  dead  bodies  of  the  Christians.  Those  who  had 
been  suffocated  in  prison  were  thrown  to  the  dogs,  and  watched  day 
and  night,  lest  their  friends  should  bury  them.  The  same  was  done 
with  the  bodies  that  were  left  unconsumed  by  fire  ;  that  had  been  man- 
gled or  burned,  with  the  heads  only  of  some,  and  the  trunks  of  others. 
12 


134  History  of  the  Christian  Church. 

Even  in  this  horrid  state  the  heathens  insulted  them,  by  asking  where 
was  their  God,  and  what  their  religion  had  done  for  them.  The  man- 
gled carcasses  having  been  exposed  in  this  manner  for  six  days,  were 
then  burned  ;  and  being  reduced  to  ashes,  the  latter  was  cast  into  the 
river,  to  disappoint  them,  as  was  fondly  imagined,  of  their  hopes  of  a 
resurrection.  From  what  was  done  in  this  place,  says  Eusebius,  we 
may  form  an  estimate  of  what  was  transacted  in  others.* 

The  prisons  were  now  glutted  with  the  multitude  of  the  Christians — 
they  were  thrust  into  the  darkest  and  most  loathsome  cells,  and  num- 
bers were  suffocated ;  even  "  young  men  who  had  been  lately  seized, 
and  whose  bodies  had  been  unexercised  with  sufferings,  unequal  to  the 
severity  of  the  confinement,  expired."  Pothinus,  one  of  the  elders  of 
the  church  at  Lyons,  upwards  of  ninety  years  of  age,  though  very  in- 
firm and  asthmatic,  was  dragged  before  the  tribunal;  "his  body,"  says 
the  narrative,  "  worn  out  indeed  with  age  and  disease,  yet  he  retained 
a  soul  through  which  Christ  might  triumph."  After  being  grossly  ill- 
treated  by  the  soldiers  and  the  rabble,  who  unmercifully  dragged  him 
about,  insulting  him  in  the  vilest  manner,  without  the  least  respect  to 
his  age,  pelting  him  with  whatever  came  first  to  hand,  and  every  one 
looking  upon  himself  as  deficient  in  zeal  if  he  did  not  insult  him  in 
some  way  or  other;  he  was  thrown  into  prison,  and  after  languishing 
two  days,  expired. 

These  few  instances,  which  indeed  are  but  little  in  comparison  of 
the  horrid  barbarities  detailed  in  this  letter,  may,  however,  give  the 
reader  some  idea  of  this  dreadful  persecution,  which,  lamentable  to  tell, 
received  the  express  sanction  of  the  philosophic  emperor,  Marcus  Au- 
relius.  "  He  sent  orders,"  says  the  letter,  "  that  the  confessors  of 
Christ  should  be  put  to  death  ;  and  that  the  apostates  from  their  divine 
Master  should  be  dismissed."  Such  proceedings,  as  Mosheim  pro- 
perly remarks,  will  be  an  indelible  stain  upon  the  memory  of  the  prince 
by  whose  order  they  w"ere  carried  on.  His  death,  however,  which  took 
place  in  the  year  180,  put  a  period  to  this  fiery  trial,  which,  with 
scarcely  any  intermission,  had  raged  in  one  quarter  or  other  during  a 
period  of  eighteen  years. 


SECTION  III. 


SKETCH  OF  THE  STATE  OF  CHRISTIANITY    FROM  THE  DEATH  OF  MARCUS 
AURELIUS  TO  THE  TIME  OF  CONSTANTINE. A.   D.   180 306. 

Atjrelius  was  succeeded  in  the  government  of  the  empire  by  his 
son  Commodus,  during  whose  reign  of  nearly  thirteen  years,  the 
Christians  enjoyed  a  large  portion  of  external  peace,  and  their  num- 
bers were  every  where  multiplied  to  a  vast  extent.  The  character  of 
this  young  prince  formed  a  contrast  to  that  of  his  father :  he  was  not 

*   Euseb.  Hist.  b.  v.  ch.  1. 


Death  of  Pertinax,  and  Reign  of  Severus. 


135 


only  an  epicure,  but,  as  Gibbon  allows,  "he  attained  the  summit  of 
vice  and  infamy."  Historians  attribute  the  toleration  which  he  grant- 
ed the  Christians,  to  the  influence  which  Marcia,  his  favourite  concu- 
bine, had  obtained  over  his  mind.  She  is  said  to  have  had  a  predilec- 
tion for  their  religion,  and  to  have  employed  her  interest  with  Com- 
modus  in  their  behalf.  There  is  nothing  incredible  in  this,  unless  in- 
deed the  character  of  that  lady  should  be  thought  incompatible  with 
it.  The  Lord,  in  whose  hand  are  the  hearts  of  all  men,  and  who 
turns  them  as  the  rivers  of  water,  frequently  sends  his  people  relief  in 
the  most  unexpected  manner,  and  by  means  from  which  they  would 
least  apprehend  it — thus  impressing  upon  their  minds  a  conviction  of 
his  own  dominion  and  sovereignty,  and  of  their  entire  dependence 
upon  him. 

In  the  year  192,  Commodus  was  put  to  death,  in  consequence  of  a 
conspiracy  raised  against  him  by  his  own  domestics  ;  when  the  choice 
of  a  successor  fell  upon  Pertinax,  praefect  of  the  city,  an  ancient  senator 
of  consular  rank,  whose  conspicuous  merit  had  broke  through  the  ob- 
scurity of  his  birth,  and  raised  him  to  the  first  honours  of  the  state. 
The  reign  of  this  amiable  prince,  however,  proved  of  short  duration  ; 
for  on  the  28th  of  March,  of  the  same  year,  only  eighty-six  days  after 
the  death  of  Commodus,  a  general  conspiracy  broke  out  in  the  Roman 
camp,  which  the  officers  wanted  either  the  power  or  inclination  to  sup- 
press, and  the  emperor  fell  a  victim  to  the  rebellious  fury  of  the  Prae- 
torian guards. 

On  the  death  of  Pertinax  the  sovereign  power  devolved  upon  Se- 
verus, who,  during  the  persecution  of  the  churches  of  Lyons  and 
Vienne,  had  sustained  the  rank  of  governor  of  that  province.  In  the 
first  years  of  his  reign,  he  permitted  the  Christians  to  enjoy  a  continu- 
ance of  that  toleration  which  had  been  extended  to  them  by  Commo- 
dus and  Pertinax.  But  the  scene  changed  towards  the  latter  end  of 
this  century,  and  about  the  tenth  year  of  his  reign,  which  falls  in  with 
the  year  202,  his  native  ferocity  of  temper  broke  out  afresh,  and  kin- 
dled a  very  severe  persecution  against  the  Christians.  He  was  then 
recently  returned  from  the  east,  victorious ;  and  the  pride  of  prosperity 
induced  him  to  forbid  the  propagation  of  the  gospel.  He  passed  a  law 
by  which  every  subject  of  the  empire  was  prohibited  from  changing 
the  religion  of  his  ancestors  for  that  of  the  Christian  or  Jewish. 
Christians,  however,  still  thought  it  right  to  obey  God  rather  than 
man.  Severus  persisted,  and  exercised  the  usual  cruelties.  At  this 
time  Asia,  Egypt,  and  the  other  provinces  were  deluged  with  the  blood 
of  the  martyrs,  as  appears  from  the  testimonies  of  Tertullian,  Clemens 
of  Alexandria,  and  other  writers.  It  was  this  series  of  calamities,  dur- 
ing which,  Leonides,  the  father  of  Origen,  and  Irenaeus,  pastor  of  the 
chureh  at  Lyons,  suffered  martyrdom,  that  induced  Tertullian  to  write 
his  Apology,  and  several  other  books  in  defence  of  the  Christians. 

The  mention  of  Tertullian  naturally  directs  our  attention  to  the  pro- 
gress of  Christianity,  in  a  region  which  we  have  hitherto  had  no  occa- 
sion to  notice,  viz.  the  Roman  province  of  Africa.  This  whole  coun- 
try, once  the  scene  of  Carthaginian  greatness,  abounded  with  Chris- 
tians in  the  second  century ;  though  of  the  manner  in  which  the  gos- 


136  History  of  the  Christian  Church. 

pel  was  introduced,  and  of  the  proceedings  of  its  first  preachers  there, 
we  have  no  account.  A  numerous  church  existed  at  Carthage  in  the 
latter  end  of  the  second  and  beginning  of  the  third  century,  of  which 
Tertullian  was  one  of  the  pastors.  He  may  be  said  to  have  flourished 
from  the  year  194  to  220,  though,  if  we  xn^y  rely  on  the  correctness 
of  some  of  our  historians,  "  he  exhibited  a  striking  instance,  how  much 
wisdom  and  weakness,  learning  and  ignorance,  faith  and  folly,  truth 
and  error,  goodness  and  delusion,  may  be  mixed  up  in  the  composi- 
tion of  the  same  person."*  His  works,  which  were  written  in  Latin, 
have  been  handed  down  to  us  ;  and  it  certainly  is  matter  of  regret, 
that,  in  general,  the  subjects  on  which  he  wrote,  are  not  more  impor- 
tant. Nor  can  it  be  denied,  that  there  was  much  of  the  ascetic  in  his 
composition.  He  seems  to  have  been  deeply  impressed  with  appre- 
hensions that  a  spirit  of  lukewarmness  and  indifference  was  coming 
upon  the  churches,  and  with  the  fear  of  their  being  infected  by  the 
customs  of  the  Pagans  around  them,  which  he  laboured  to  counteract 
by  enforcing  a  discipline  rigorous  in  the  extreme.  It  is,  however,  due 
to  him  to  say,  that  he  defended,  with  great  clearness  and  ability,  the 
doctrine  of  the  revealed  distinction  in  the  Godhead,  against  Praxeas, 
who  had  propagated  sentiments  subversive  of  the  Christian  faith.  In 
that  work  he  treats  of  the  Trinity  in  Unity — Father,  Son,  and  Holy 
Spirit — yet  one  God  ; — of  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ  as  both  God  and 
man  ;  as  at  once  the  Son  of  man,  and  the  Son  of  God  ; — and  of  the 
Holy  Spirit  as  the  Comforter  and  Sanctifier  of  believers  ;  and  this  he 
describes  as  the  rule  of  faith  which  had  obtained  from  the  beginning  of 
the  gospel. 

But  his  Apology  for  the  Christians  is  an  invaluable  treatise  ;  it  ex- 
hibits a  most  pleasing  view  of  the  spirit  and  behaviour  of  the  disciples 
of  Jesus  at  that  time,  and  of  their  adherence  to  the  faith,  order,  and 
discipline  of  the  churches  planted  by  the  apostles.  The  reader  will 
not  be  displeased  at  my  introducing  in  this  place,  the  following  inter- 
esting sentences  ;  it  is  however  proper  to  premise,  that  I  give  them 
rather  as  an  abridgment,  than  as  an  exact  transcript  of  my  author, 
though  his  ideas  are  carefully  preserved. 

"We  pray  for  the  safety  of  the  emperors  to  the  eternal  God,  the 
true,  the  living  God,  whom  emperors  themselves  would  desire  to 
be  propitious  to  them,  above  all  others  who  are  called  gods.  We, 
looking  up  to  heaven,  with  outstretched  hands,  because  they  are 
harmless,  with  naked  heads,  because  we  are  not  ashamed,  without  a 
prompter,  because  we  pray  from  the  heart ;  constantly  pray  for  all 
emperors  and  kings,  that  they  may  have  a  long  life,  a  secure  empire, 
a  safe  palace,  strong  armies,  a  faithful  senate,  a  well  moralized  people, 
a  quiet  state  of  the  world:  whatever  Caesar  would  wish  for  himself  in 
his  public  or  private  capacity.  I  cannot  solicit  these  things  from  any 
other  than  from  Him  from  whom  I  know  I  shall  obtain  them,  if  I  ask 
agreeably  to  his  will ;  because  he  alone  can  do  these  things  :  and  I 
expect  them  from  him,  being  his  servant,  who  worship  him  alone,  and 
am  ready  to  lose  my  life  in  his  service.     Thus,  then,  let  the  claws  of 

*  Haweis's  Church  History,  vol.  i.  p.  192. 


TertulUari's  Apology.  137 

wild  beasts  pierce  us,  or  their  feet  trample  on  us,  while  our  hands  are 
stretched  out  to  God :  let  crosses  suspend  us,  let  fires  consume  us,  let 
swords  pierce  our  breasts — a  praying  Christian  is  in  a  frame  for  endur- 
ing any  thing.  How  is  this,  ye  generous  riders  ?  Will  ye  kill  the 
good  subjects  who  supplicate  God  for  the  emperor  ?  Were  we  dis- 
posed to  return  evil  for  evil,  it  were  easy  for  us  to  avenge  the  injuries 
which  we  sustain.  But  God  forbid  that  his  people  should  vindicate 
themselves  by  human  force ;  or  be  reluctant  to  endure  that  by  which 
their  sincerity  is  evinced.  Were  we  disposed  to  act  the  part,  I  will 
not  say  of  secret  assassins,  but  of  open  enemies,  should  we  want 
forces  and  numbers  ?  It  is  true  we  are  but  of  yesterday,  and  yet  we 
have  filled  all  your  towns,  cities,  islands,  castles,  boroughs,  councils, 
camps,  courts,  palaces,  senate,  forum  ;*  we  leave  yon  only  your  tern- 
pies.  For  what  war  should  we  not  be  ready  and  well  prepared,  even 
though  unequal  in  numbers ;  we,  who  die  with  so  much  pleasure, 
were  it  not  that  our  religion  requires  us  rather  to  suffer  death  than  to 
inflict  it?  If  we  were  to  make  a  general  secession  from  your  domi- 
nions, you  would  be  astonished  at  your  solitude.  We  are  dead  to  all 
ideas  of  worldly  honour  and  dignity,  nothing  is  more  foreign  to  us 
than  political  concerns ;  the  whole  world  is  our  republic. 

"  We  are  a  body  united  in  one  bond  of  religion,  discipline,  and  hope. 
We  meet  in  our  assemblies  for  prayer.  We  are  compelled  to  have  re- 
course to  the  divine  oracles  for  caution  and  recollection  on  all  occasions. 
We  nourish  our  faith  by  the  Avord  of  God ;  we  erect  our  hope,  we  fix 
our  confidence,  we  strengthen  our  discipline,  by  repeatedly  inculcating 
precepts,  exhortations,  corrections,  and  by  excommunication  when  it  is 
needful.  This  last,  as  being  in  the  sight  of  God,  is  of  great  weight; 
and  is  a  serious  warning  of  the  future  judgment,  if  any  one  behave  in 
so  scandalous  a  manner  as  to  be  debarred  from  holy  communion.  Those 
who  preside  among  us,  are  elderly  persons,  not  distinguished  for  opu- 
lence, but  worthiness  of  character.  Every  one  pays  something  into 
the  public  chest  once  a  month,  or  when  he  pleases,  and  according  to 
his  ability  and  inclination,  for  there  is  no  compulsion.  These  gifts  are, 
as  it  were,  the  deposit  of  piety.  Hence  we  relieve  and  bury  the  needy ; 
support  orphans  and  decrepit  persons ;  those  who  have  suffered  ship- 
wreck, and  those  who,  for  the  word  of  God,  are  condemned  to  the 
mines  or  imprisonment.  This  very  charity  of  ours  has  caused  us  to 
be  noticed  by  some :  "  See  (say  they)  how  these  Christians  love  one 
another" 

"But  we  Christians  look  upon  ourselves,  as  one  body,  informed  as 
it  were  by  one  soul ;  and,  being  thus  incorporated  by  love,  we  can  never 
dispute  what  we  are  to  bestow  upon  our  own  members.     And  is  it  any 

*  I  cannot  but  think  that  this  language  of  Tertullian  is  much  too  strong,  and 
that  the  reader  who  would  not  be  misled,  should  receive  it  with  some  degree  of 
qualification.  There  can  be  no  doubt  that  the  profession  of  Christianity  had 
spread  extensively  at  the  commencement  of  the  third  century:  but  Paganism 
was  still  the  religion  of  the  empire;  and  if  any  reliance  can  be  placed  upon  Gib- 
bon's calculation  as  it  respects  this  matter,  "  not  more  than  a  twentieth  part  of 
the  subjects  of  the  Roman  empire  had  enlisted  themselves  under  the  banners  of 
the  cross  before  the  conversion  of  Constantine." 
12* 


138  History  of  the  Christian  Church. 

great  wonder,  that  such  charitable  brethren  as  enjoy  all  things  in  com- 
mon, should  have  such  frequent  love-feasts  1  For  this  it  is  you  traduce 
us,  and  reflect  upon  our  little  frugal  suppers,  not  only  as  infamously 
wicked,  but  as  scandalously  excessive.  The  nature  of  this  supper  you 
may  understand  by  its  name,  for  it  is  the  Greek  Avord  for  love.  We 
Christians  think  we  can  never  be  too  expensive,  because  we  consider 
all  to  be  gain  that  is  laid  out  in  doing  good.  "When  therefore  we  are 
at  the  charge  of  an  entertainment,  it  is  to  refresh  the  bowels  of  the 
Weedy.  We  feed  the  hungry,  because  we  know  God  takes  a  peculiar 
delight  in  seeing  us  do  it.  If,  therefore,  we  feast  only  with  such  brave 
and  excellent  designs,  I  leave  you  from  thence  to  guess  at  the  rest  of 
our  discipline  in  matters  of  pure  religion.  Nothing  earthly,  nothing  un- 
clean, has  ever  admittance  here.  Our  soids  ascend  in  prayer  to  God, 
before  we  sit  down  to  meat.  We  eat  only  what  suffices  nature,  and 
drink  no  more  than  is  strictly  becoming  chaste  and  regular  persons. 
We  sup  as  servants  that  know  we  must  wake  in  the  night  to  the  ser- 
vice of  our  Master,  and  discourse  as  those  who  remember  that  they  are 
in  the  hearing  of  God.  When  supper  is  ended,  every  one  is  invited 
forth  to  sing  praises  to  God  ;  and  by  this  you  may  judge  of  the  measure 
of  drinking  at  a  Christian  feast.  As  Ave  begin,  so  Ave  conclude  all  with 
prayer,  and  depart  with  the  same  tenor  of  temperance  and  modesty  Ave 
came :  as  men  Avho  have  not  so  properly  been  drinking,  as  imbibing 
religion."* 

There  is  something  noble  in  the  folloAving  appeal,  with  which  Ter- 
tullian  closes  his  Apology. 

"And  now,  O  worshipful  judges,  proceed  Avith  your  show  of  jus- 
tice, and  believe  me,  ye  will  be  still  more  and  more  just  in  the  opinion 
of  the  people,  the  oftener  you  make  them  a  sacrifice  of  Christians. 
Crucify,  torture,  condemn,  grind  us  all  to  powder  if  you  can;  your  in- 
justice is  an  illustrious  proof  of  our  innocence,  and  for  the  proof  of  this 
it  is  that  God  permits  us  to  suffer  ;  and  by  your  late  condemnation  of  a 
Christian  woman  to  the  lust  of  a  pander,  rather  than  the  rage  of  a  lion, 
you  notoriously  confess  that  such  a  pollution  is  more  abhorred  by  a 
Christian,  than  all  the  torments  and  deaths  you  can  heap  upon  ber.  But 
do  your  Avorst,  and  rack  your  inventions  for  tortures  for  Christians.  'Tis 
all  to  no  purpose  ;  you  do  but  attract  the  notice  of  the  Avorld,  and  make 
it  fall  the  more  in  love  with  our  religion.  The  more  you  mow  us  down, 
the  thicker  Ave  spring  up — the  Christian  blood  you  spill,  is  like  the  seed 
you  sow  ;  it  springs  from  the  earth  again  and  fructifies  the  more.  That 
Avhich  you  reproach  in  us  as  stubbornness,  has  been  the  most  instructive 
mistress  in  proselyting  the  world — for  Avho  has  not  been  struck  with 
the  sight  of  what  you  call  stubbornness,  and  from  thence  prompted  to 
look  into  the  reality  and  grounds  of  it ;  and  Avhoever  looked  Avell  into 
our  religion  that  did  not  embrace  it  ?  and  whoever  embraced  it  [oh 
proper  grounds]  that  Avas  not  ready  to  die  for  it?  For  this  reason  it  is 
that  we  thank  you  for  condemning  us,  because  there  is  such  a  happy 
variance  and  disagreement  between  the  Divine  and  human  judgment, 
that  Avhen  you  condemn  us  upon  earth,  God  absolves  us  in  heaven." 
Minucius  Felix  was  contemporary  Avith  Tertullian,  and  rather  be- 

*  Reeves's  Apologies,  vol.  i.  p.  302 — 339. 


Tlie  Jlpology  of  Mvnucius  Felix.  139 

fore  than  after  him.  He  had  been  a  Roman  orator,  but,  being  converted 
to  the  Christian  faith,  he  wrote  an  eloquent  and  learned  defence  of  that 
religion,  which  Dr.  Lardner  thinks  was  published  about  the  year  210. 
This  work  is  in  the  form  of  dialogue,  between  Caecilius,  a  heathen,  and 
Octavius,  a  Christian — Miuucius  sitting  as  umpire  between  them.  The 
style  of  Minucius  possesses  all  the  charms  of  Ciceronian  eloquence; 
nor  would  it  be  an  easy  task  for  any  translator  of  him  to  do  justice  to 
his  original.  Caecilius,  the  heathen,  in  along  and  declamatory  harangue, 
brings  forward  all  the  common-place  calumnies  of  his  predecessors,  and 
accuses  the  Christians  as  a  desperate  and  unlawful  faction,  who  poured 
contempt  upon  their  deities,  derided  their  worship,  scoffed  at  their 
priests,  and  despised  their  temples  as  no  better  than  charnel-houses  and 
heaps  of  dead  men's  bones.  Octavms,  having  patiently  listened  to  this 
severe  philippic,  addresses  himself  to  Minucius,  and  tells  him,  that  he 
shall  endeavour  to  the  best  of  his  ability,  by  stating  the  truth,  to  ex- 
onerate his  religion  from  the  foul  aspersions  cast  upon  it  by  his  opponent. 
He  does  not  deny  the  fact,  that  the  Christians  poured  contempt  upon 
the  gods  of  the  heathen.  On  the  contrary,  he  freely  admits  it,  and  pro- 
ceeds to  evince  the  vanity  of  the  worship  of  their  images.  "  The  mice," 
says  he,  "  the  swallows,  and  the  bats,  gnaw,  insult,  and  sit  upon  your 
gods  ;  and,  unless  you  drive  them  away,  they  build  their  nests  in  their 
mouths  ;  the  spiders  weave  their  webs  over  their  faces.  You  first  make 
them,  then  clean,  wipe,  and  protect  them,  that  you  may  fear  and  wor- 
ship them.  Should  Ave  view  all  your  rites,  there  are  many  things 
which  justly  deserve  to  be  laughed  at — others  that  call  for  pity  and 
compassion." 

He  then  proceeds  to  discuss  the  subject  with  his  opponent  in  regu- 
lar order.  He  shows  that  man  differs  from  the  other  creatures  on  this 
lower  world  chiefly  in  this,  that  while  the  beasts  of  the  field  are  creat- 
ed prone  to  the  earth,  bent  downward  by  nature,  and  formed  to  look  no 
further  than  the  good  of  their  bellies — man  was  created  erect  and  up- 
right, formed  for  the  contemplation  of  the  heavens,  susceptible  of  rea- 
son and  conscience— calculated  to  lead  him  to  the  knowledge  and  imi- 
tation of  God.  Hence  he  infers  the  absurdity  of  atheism  and  the  ne- 
cessity of  a  great  first  cause,  as  one  of  the  clearest  dictates  of  reason  and 
conscience.  "  When  you  lift  up  your  eyes  to  heaven,"  says  he,  "and 
survey  the  works  of  creation  around  you,  what  is  so  clear  and  unde- 
niable, as  that  there  is  a  God,  supremely  excellent  in  understanding, 
who  inspires,  moves,  supports,  and  governs  all  nature.  Consider  the 
vast  expanse  of  heaven,  and  the  rapidity  of  its  motion  either  when  stud- 
ded with  stars  by  night,  or  enlightened  with  the  sun  by  day ;  contem- 
plate the  Almighty  hand  which  poises  them  in  their  orbs,  and  balances 
them  in  their  movement.  Behold  how  the  sun  regulates  the  year  by 
its  annual  circuit,  and  how  the  moon  measures  round  a  month  by  its 
increase,  its  decay,  and  its  total  disappearance.  Why  need  I  mention 
the  constant  vicissitudes  of  light  and  darkness,  for  the  alternate  repara- 
tion of  rest  and  labour?  Does  not  the  standing  variety  of  seasons,  pro- 
ceeding in  goodly  order,  bear  witness  to  its  divine  Author?  The  spring 
with  her  flowers,  the  summer  with  her  harvest,  the  ripening  autumn 
with  her  grateful  fruits,  and  the  moist  and  unctuous  winter,  are  all 


140  History  of  the  Christian  Church. 

equally  necessary.  What  an  argument  for  providence  is  this,  which 
interposes  and  moderates  the  extremes  of  winter  and  summer  with  the 
allays  of  spring  and  autumn — thus  enabling  us  to  pass  the  year  about 
with  security  and  comfort,  between  the  extremes  of  parching  heat  and 
of  cold?  Observe  the  sea,  and  you  will  find  it  bounded  with  a  shore,  a 
law  which  it  cannot  transgress.  Look  into  the  vegetable  world,  and 
see  how  all  the  trees  draw  their  life  from  the  bowels  of  the  earth. 
View  the  ocean,  in  constant  ebb  and  flow  ;  and  the  fountains,  running 
in  full  veins  ;  with  the  rivers,  perpetually  gliding  in  their  wonted  chan- 
nels. Why  should  I  take  up  time  in  showing  how  providentially  this 
spot  of  earth  is  cantoned  into  hills,  and  dales,  and  plains?  What  need 
I  speak  of  the  various  artillery  for  the  defence  of  every  animal — some 
armed  with  horns  and  hedged  about  with  teeth,  or  fortified  with  hoofs 
and  claws,  or  speared  with  stings,  while  others  are  swift  of  foot  or  of 
wing?  But,  above  all,  the  beautiful  structure  of  man  most  plainly  speaks 
a  God.  Man,  of  stature  straight,  and  countenance  erect,  with  eyes 
placed  above,  like  centinels,  watching  over  the  other  senses  within  the 
tower." 

This  may  furnish  a  specimen  of  the  elegant  style,  and  powerful 
reasoning  of  this  early  Christian  writer,  in  behalf  of  the  existence  of  a 
great  first  cause  and  of  a  providence — in  the  clearness  and  force  of 
which  it  may  be  fairly  doubted  if  he  has  ever  been  surpassed  by  any 
who  have  come  after  him. 

Adverting  to  the  accusation,  that  the  Christians  were  in  general  a 
poor  and  despicable  race  of  men,  their  apologist  replies,  "  That  the 
most  of  us  are  poor,  is  not  our  dishonour,  but  our  glory.  The  mind, 
as  it  is  dissipated  by  luxury,  so  it  is  strengthened  by  frugality.  But 
how  can  a  man  be  poor,  who  wants  nothing,  who  covets  not  what  is 
another's,  who  is  rich  towards  God?  That  man  is  rather  poor,  who, 
when  he  has  much,  desires  more.  No  man  can  be  so  poor  as  when 
he  was  born.  The  birds  live  without  any  patrimony ;  the  beasts  find 
pasture  every  day,  and  we  feed  upon  them.  Indeed  they  are  created 
for  our  use,  which,  while  we  do  not  covet,  we  enjoy.  That  man  goes 
happier  to  heaven,  who  is  not  burdened  with  an  unnecessary  load  of 
riches.  Did  we  think  estates  to  be  useful  to  us,  we  would  beg  them 
of  God,  who,  being  Lord  of  all,  would  afford  us  what  is  necessary. 
But  we  choose  rather  to  contemn  riches  than  to  possess  them,  preferring 
innocence  and  patience  to  them,  and  desiring  rather  to  be  good  than 
prodigal.  Our  courage  is  increased  by  infirmities,  and  affliction  is 
often  the  school  of  virtue." 

Athenagoras  lived  in  the  reigns  of  Adrian  and  the  Antonines.  He 
was,  in  his  j^ounger  days,  a  heathen  philosopher,  and  designing  to 
write  against  the  Christians,  sat  down  to  read  their  Scriptures,  with 
the  view  of  making  his  work  more  complete.  A  diligent  inquiry  into 
the  divine  oracles,  however,  brought  him  over  to  that  faith  which  he 
wished  to  destroy.  He  drew  up  an  Apology  for  the  Christians,  ad- 
dressed to  Marcus  Aurelius,  in  which  he  complains,  that  while  the 
other  subjects  of  the  Roman  government  were  freely  permitted  to  wor- 
ship the  deities  according  to  their  own  voluntary  choice,  the  Chris- 
tians alone,  whose  worship  was  pure,  simple,  and  worthy  of  the  Dei- 


Apology  of  Athena gor as.  141 

ty,  were  not  only  denied  this  privilege,  but  were  most  unjustly  ma- 
ligned, slandered,  and  persecuted.  He  vindicates  them  from  the  charge 
of  atheism,  of  which  they  were  accused  by  their  heathen  adversaries  ; 
refutes  the  calumny  of  their  eating  human  flesh,  and  the  impure  and 
unnatural  connections  with  which  they  were  charged,  by  showing  the 
sanctity  of  their  doctrines,  and  the  purity  and  innocence  of  their  lives. 
"  Why  should  you  be  offended  at  our  very  name?"  says  he,  "  the  bare 
name  does  not  deserve  your  hatred  ;  it  is  wickedness  alone  that  de- 
serves punishment.  If  we  are  convicted  of  any  crime,  less  or  more, 
let  us  be  punished,  but  not  merely  for  the  name  of  a  Christian ;  for  no 
Christian  can  be  a  bad  man,  unless  lie  acts  contrary  to  his  profession. 
We  are  accused,  '  that  we  do  not  worship  the  same  gods  as  your  ci- 
ties, and  offer  them  sacrifices.'  But  consider,  O  emperor,  that  the  Ma- 
ker and  Governor  of  this  world  stands  in  no  need  of  blood  and  sweet- 
smelling  incense  ;  he  delights  in  himself,  nothing  is  wanting  in  him. 
The  sacrifice  he  demands  is  a  rational  and  acceptable  service." 

Again,  "  There  is  an  infamous  report,"  says  he,  "that  we  are  guilty 
of  three  great  crimes,  viz.  impiety  against  the  gods,  feeding  on  mur- 
dered infants,  and  of  incestuous  copulations.  If  these  be  true,  spare 
neither  age  nor  sex ;  punish  us,  with  our  wives  and  children ;  extir- 
pate us  out  of  the  world,  if  any  among  us  live  as  beasts,  (though  even 
the  beasts  of  the  field  do  not  these  abominable  things.)  But  if  any  man 
be  baser  than  a  beast,  to  commit  such  wickedness,  let  him  be  punished 
for  it.  If  these,  however,  be  false  and  scandalous  calumnies  against 
us,  notice  them  as  such.  Inquire  into  our  lives,  into  our  opinions,  in- 
to our  obedience  to  authority,  our  concern  for  your  person  and  govern- 
ment;  allow  us  only  that  common  justice  and  equity  you  grant  your 
enemies,  and  we  ask  no  more,  being  assured  of  the  victory,  and  are 
willing  to  lay  down  our  lives  for  the  truth."* 

Lastly,  in  vindication  of  their  manner  of  life,  Athenagoras  says, 
"  Among  us  the  meanest  day-labourers,  and  old  women,  though  not 
able  to  dispute  about  their  profession,  yet  can  demonstrate  its  useful- 
ness in  their  lives  and  good  works.  They  do  not,  indeed,  critically 
weigh  their  words,  and  recite  elegant  orations,  but  they  manifest  ho- 
nest and  virtuous  actions,  while  being  buffeted  they  strike  not  again, 
nor  sue  those  at  law  who  spoil  and  plunder  them ;  they  give  liberally 
to  those  that  ask,  and  love  their  neighbour  as  themselves.  Thus  we 
do,  because  we  are  assured  that  there  is  a  God  who  superintends  hu- 
man affairs,  who  made  both  us  and  the  whole  world,  and  to  whom  we 
must  at  last  give  an  account  of  all  the  actions  of  our  lives."! 

*   Athenagoras'  I.egatio  pro  Christianis,  c.  4. 

f  It  has  been  made  a  question  by  some,  how  far  it  is  probable  the  apologies 
which  were,  from  time  to  time,  drawn  up  by  the  Christians  and  addressed  to  the 
emperors,  ever  reached  the  hands  of  those  monarchs.  But  with  all  their  pomp 
and  mightiness,  there  is  good  reason  to  think  that  the  Roman  emperors  were 
more  accessible  than  many  of  the  petty  sovereigns  of  Europe  are  in  the  present 
day.  Augustus,  for  example,  suffered  all  sorts  of  persons  to  approach  him  ;  and 
when  a  poor  man  once  offered  him  a  petition  in  a  timorous  manner,  with  a  hand 
half  extended  and  half  drawn  back,  the  emperor  jested  widi  him,  and  told  him 
he  looked  as  if  he  was  giving  an  halfpenny  to  an  elephant. — Jortin's  Remarks. 


142  History  of  the  Christian  Church. 

These  are,  unquestionably,  triumphant  appeals,  and  reflect  the  high- 
est honour  on  the  Christians  of  those  clays.  But,  however  eloquent 
and  forcible,  they  appear  to  have  been  little  regarded  by  the  rulers  and 
magistrates.  We  have  taken  a  review  of  the  state  of  things  through- 
out the  second  century  ;  and  painful  as  the  recital  is,  we  shall  find  that 
matters  were  little,  if  at  all  improved,  during  some  parts  of  the  third,  on 
which  we  are  now  entering.  "  That  the  Christians  suffered  in  this 
century,"  says  Mosheim,  "calamities  and  injuries  of  the  most  dreadful 
kind,  is  a  matter  that  admits  of  no  debate;  nor  was  there,  indeed,  any 
period  of  it  in  which  they  were  not  exposed  to  perpetual  dangers.  The 
law  which  Severus  had  enacted,  forbidding  his  subjects  to  change  their 
religion,  was,  in  its  effects,  most  prejudicial  to  the  Christians;  for 
though  it  did  not  formally  condemn  them,  and  seemed  only  adapted  to 
put  a  stop  to  the  further  progress  of  the  gospel,  yet  it  induced  rapacious 
and  unjust  magistrates  to  persecute,  even  unto  death,  the  poorer  sort 
among  the  Christians ;  that  thus  the  richer  might  be  led,  through  fear 
of  similar  treatment,  to  purchase  their  safety  at  an  expensive  rate." 

It  seems  to  have  been  during  the  reign  of  Severus,  that  the  martyr- 
dom of  Perpetua  and  Felicitas,  with  that  of  their  companions,  took 
place  at  Carthage,  in  Africa,  the  residence  of  Tertullian,  about  the  year 
202.  The  account  is  too  interesting  to  be  omitted;  and  it  will  serve, 
in  addition  to  the  history  already  detailed  of  the  transactions  at  Lyons 
and  Vienne,  to  give  a  clear  idea  of  the  manner  in  which  these  ancient 
persecutions  were  wont  to  be  conducted.  Augustine  refers  to  the  case 
of  Perpetua,  in  his  Works,  vol.  vii.  p.  304  ;  and  Fleury  has  also  given 
a  copious  account  of  the  subject,  vol.  i.  b.  vi. 

On  this  occasion,  three  young  men,  whose  names  were  Saturninus, 
Secundulus,  and  Revocatus,  were  apprehended  on  a  charge  of  being 
Christians,  (probably  occasioned  by  a  rumour  that  they  were  all  of 
them  about  to  be  baptized  and  added  to  the  church,)  and  along  with 
them,  two  females  of  the  name  of  Felicitas  and  Perpetua;  the  latter  a 
widow  of  the  age  of  twenty-two,  of  a  good  family,  and  well  educated, 
having  a  father  and  mother  living,  besides  two  brothers,  and  an  infant 
at  the  breast.  The  father  of  Perpetua,  Avho  alone  of  all  the  family  con- 
tinued a  heathen,  no  sooner  heard  that  his  daughter  was  informed 
against,  than  he  had  recourse  to  every  method  of  persuasion  and  even 
of  compulsion,  to  induce  her  to  desist  from  her  purpose  of  suffering 
martyrdom;  so  that  she  rejoiced  when  he  left  her,  and  in  this  interval 
she  and  the  rest  were  baptized.  Some  days  afterward,  they  were  all 
thrown  into  prison,  where  the  treatment  she  met  with  very  much  af- 
fected her  at  first,  particularly  the  darkness  of  the  place,  the  heat  occa- 
sioned by  the  number  of  prisoners,  the  rudeness  of  the  soldiers,  and 
especially  her  anxiety  about  her  child.  Two  of  the  deacons  of  the 
church,  however,  Tertius  and  Pomponius,  who  ministered  to  their 
wants,  procured  by  the  influence  of  money  the  removal  of  all  the  Chris- 
tian prisoners  into  a  more  airy  part  of  the  prison,  where  Perpetua  had 
the  opportunity  of  suckling  her  child,  which  was  ready  to  die  for  want 
thereof.  In  this  situation,  she  comforted  her  mother,  and  encouraged 
her  brother,  entrusting  to  him  the  care  of  her  infant  son;  and  was,  ac- 
cording to  her  own  expression,  as  happy  as  if  she  had  been  in  a  palace. 


Persecution  at  Carthage.  1 43 

At  this  time  she  had  a  remarkable  dream,  from  which  she  inferred  that 
she  should  certainly  suffer ;  but  by  which  she  was  nevertheless  greatly 
encouraged  in  her  resolution.  ,   ; 

A  few  days  after  this,  a  report  was  prevalent,  that  these  Christian 
prisoners  would  soon  be  called  before  the  governor;  on  which  her  fa- 
ther, overwhelmed  with  grief,  came  to  her,  entreating  her  to  have  com- 
passion on  his  grey  hairs,  and  on  her  mother,  brothers,  and  child, 
which  he  said  could  not  survive  her.  This  he  did,  kissing  her  hands, 
and  throwing  himself  at  her  feet,  evincing  stronger  affection  for  her 
than  he  had  before  done.  This  much  increased  her  concern;  add  to 
which,  that  he  was  the  only  relative  she  had  who  would  not  think 
themselves,  in  reality,  honoured  by  her  conduct.  To  all  his  entreaties, 
however,  she  uniformly  returned  this  answer,  that  she  was  not  at  her 
own  disposal,  but  at  that  of  God. 

On  the  ensuing  day,  while  she  and  her  friends  were  dining,  they 
were  summoned  to  an  audience  in  the  public  forum,  where  a  prodigious 
crowd  was  assembled.  Here  all  her  fellow  prisoners  confessed  that 
they  were  Christians  ;  but  before  Perpetua  had  an  opportunity  of  doing 
it  in  the  customary  form,  her  father  presented  himself,  holding  her 
child  in  his  arms,  and  supplicating  her  to  have  compassion  upon  him. 
In  these  entreaties  he  was  joined  by  Hilarianus,  the  procurator,  who 
besought  her  to  think  of  her  aged  father  and  her  own  child,  and  to  sa- 
crifice for  the  safety  of  the  emperor.  She  only  answered,  that  she  was 
a  Christian,  and  could  not  do  it. 

After  this  the  father  was  commanded  to  desist;  but  showing  a  reluc- 
tance to  retire,  one  of  the  lictors  struck  him  with  a  rod,  which  affected 
her,  she  said,  as  much  as  if  she  had  herself  been  struck.  However, 
having  all  made  their  confession,  they  were  sentenced  to  be  thrown  to 
the  wild  beasts  ;  notwithstanding  which  they  returned  to  the  prison 
filled  with  joy.  Perpetua  now  sent  Pomponius,  the  deacon,  to  request 
that  her  child  might  be  sent  to  her,  that  as  heretofore  she  might  have 
the  privilege  of  suckling  it;  but  that  indulgence  was  denied  her.  She 
bore  the  disappointment,  however,  with  fortitude,  even  greater  than  she 
herself  could  have  expected. 

After  a  few  days,  Pudeus,  the  jailer,  being  favourably  inclined  to- 
wards them,  gave  permission  to  their  friends  to  visit  them,  and  when 
the  time  of  exhibition  drew  near,  the  father  of  Perpetua  also  renewed 
his  visit.  He  now  threw  himself  upon  the  ground,  tore  his  beard, 
leaving  nothing  either  to  be  said  or  done  which  he  thought  could  tend 
to  move  her ;  but  without  any  other  effect  than  to  excite  her  pity  to- 
wards him. 

The  author  of  the  narrative  next  proceeds  to  give  an  account  of  some 
of  the  other  prisoners;  and  the  case  of  Felicitas  is  almost  as  interesting 
as  that  of  Perpetua.  Being  eight  months  advanced  in  pregnancy,  she 
was  fearful  lest  her  execution  should  be  put  off  till  another  time,  and 
that  then  she  should  die  in  the  company  of  ordinary  malefactors.  Her 
companions  also  were  affected  at  the  reflection  of  going  without  her. 
Three  days  before  the  exhibition,  however,  she  was  delivered  ;  and, 
being  in  great  pain,  those  who  were  about  her,  asked  how  she  would 
be  able  to  endure  the  being  exposed  to  wild  beasts,  when  she  was  so 


144  History  of  the  Christian  Church. 

much  affected  with  the  pains  of  child-birth.  She  replied,  that  in  this 
case  she  was  left  to  herself,  but  that  in  her  other  sufferings  she  should 
have  another  to  support  her,  even  Him  for  whom  she  suffered.  Being 
delivered  of  a  daughter,  a  sister  of  her's  undertook  to  bring  it  up. 
Secundulus  died  in  prison ;  but  they  had  been  joined  by  another  of 
their  friends  called  Saturus,  who,  after  they  were  apprehended,  had 
voluntarily  surrendered  himself. 

The  day  preceding  the  exhibition,  they  all  joined  in  a  love-feast 
with  their  Christian  friends  who  had  permission  to  visit  them,  in  the 
presence  of  many  strangers  whom  curiosity  had  brought  to  the  place. 
To  those  the  prisoners  expressed  great  joy  in  the  idea  of  their  ap- 
proaching sufferings,  and  endeavoured  to  engage  their  attention  to  the 
great  cause  for  which  they  were  about  to  suffer.  Saturus  bade  them 
observe  their  countenances,  that  they  might  know  them  all  again  the 
next  day.  From  this  extraordinary  spectacle,  the  strangers  retired 
with  marks  of  astonishment,  and  many  of  them  afterwards  became  con- 
verts. 

When  the  day  of  exhibition  arrived,  they  all  went  from  the  prison, 
with  erect  and  cheerful  countenances,  trembling,  says  our  author,  with 
joy  rather  than  with  fear.  In  particular,  Perpetua  walked  in  such 
a  manner  as  struck  the  spectators  with  particular  respect ;  and  Felici- 
tas  rejoiced  that,  being  delivered  of  her  child,  she  should  accompany 
her  friends  to  this  glorious  combat.  On  reaching  the  gate  of  the  am- 
phitheatre, the  officers,  according  to  custom,  began  to  clothe  the  men 
in  the  dresses  of  the  priests  of  Saturn,  and  the  women  in  those  of 
the  priestesses  of  Ceres.  But  when  they  remonstrated  against  the  in- 
justice of  being  compelled  by  force  to  do  that,  for  refusing  which  they 
were  willing  to  lay  down  their  lives,  the  tribune  granted  them  the 
privilege  of  dying  in  their  own  habits. 

They  then  entered  the  amphitheatre  ;  when  Perpetua  advanced 
singing  hymns,  and  her  three  male  companions  solemnly  exhorted  the 
people  as  they  went  along.  Coming  in  view  of  the  propraetor,  they 
said,  "  You  judge  us,  but  God  will  judge  you."  This  so  enraged  the 
populace  that,  at  their  request,  all  the  three  were  scourged ;  but  in  this 
they  rejoiced,  as  having  the  honour  to  share  in  one  part  of  the  suffer- 
ings of  their  Saviour. 

When  the  wild  beasts  were  let  loose,  Saturninus  according  to  a  wish 
which  he  had  previously  expressed,  died  by  the  attack  of  several  of 
them  rushing  upon  him  at  the  same  time  ;  and  Revocatus  was  killed 
by  a  leopard  and  a  bear.  Saturus  was  first  exposed  to  a  wild  bear  ; 
but  while  the  attending  officer  was  gored  by  the  animal  so  that  he  died 
on  the  following  day,  he  himself  was  only  dragged  about,  and  not  ma- 
terially hurt.  A  bear  too,  to  which  he  was  next  exposed,  would  not 
go  out  of  its  den  to  meddle  with  him.  He  was,  however,  thrown  in 
the  way  of  a  leopard,  towards  the  end  of  the  exhibition,  and  so  much 
blood  gushed  out  at  one  of  his  bites,  that  the  spectators  ridiculed  him, 
as  being  baptized  with  blood.  Not  being  quite  killed,  he,  when  the 
animal  was  withdrawn,  addressed  Pudeus,  the  jailer,  exhorting  him  to 
steadfastness  in  the  faith,  and  not  to  be  disheartened  by  his  sufferings. 
He  even  took  a  ring  from  his  finger,  and  dipping  it  in  one  of  his 
wounds,  gave  it  to  him  as  a  pledge. 


Persecution  at  Carthage.  145 

Perpetua  and  Felicitas  were  first  enclosed  in  a  net,  and  then  exposed 
to  a  wild  cow.  But  this  sight  struck  the  spectators  with  horror,  as  the 
former  was  a  delicate  woman,  and  the  breasts  of  the  latter  were  stream- 
ing with  milk  after  her  delivery.  They  were  therefore  recalled,  and 
exposed  in  a  common  loose  dress.  Perpetua  was  first  tossed  by  the 
beast ;  and,  being  thrown  down,  she  had  the  presence  of  mind  to 
compose  her  dress  as  she  lay  on  the  ground.  Then  rising,  and  see- 
ing Felicitas  much  more  torn  than  herself,  she  gave  her  her  hand,  and 
assisted  her  to  rise ;  and  for  some  time  they  both  stood  together,  near 
the  gate  of  the  amphitheatre.  Thither  Perpetua  sent  for  her  brother, 
and  exhorted  him  to  continue  firm  in  the  faith,  to  love  his  fellow 
Christians,  and  not  to  be  discouraged  by  her  sufferings. 

Being  all  in  a  mangled  condition,  they  were  now  taken  to  the  usual 
place  of  execution,  to  be  despatched  with  a  sword ;  but  the  populace 
requesting  that  they  should  be  removed  to  another  place,  where  the 
execution  might  be  seen  to  more  advantage,  they  got  up  of  their  own 
accord  to  go  thither.  Then,  having  given  each  other  the  kiss  of  cha- 
rity, they  quietly  resigned  themselves  to  their  fate.  In  walking, 
Saturus  had  supported  Perpetua,  and  he  expired  the  first.  She  was 
observed  to  direct  a  young  and  ignorant  soldier,  who  was  appointed 
to  be  her  executioner,  in  what  manner  he  should  perform  his  office.* 

In  the  year  211,  the  tyrant  Severus  died,  after  a  reign  of  eighteen 
years,  and  the  church  found  repose  and  tranquillity  under  his  son  and 
successor.  Caracalla,  though,  in  other  respects,  a  monster  of  wicked- 
ness, whose  life,  says  Gibbon,  disgraced  human  nature  ;  yet  he  neither 
oppressed  the  Christians  himself,  nor  permitted  any  others  to  treat 
them  with  cruelty  or  injustice.  And  though  few  men  have  ever  ex- 
ceeded him  in  the  ferocious  vices,  nevertheless,  during  the  six  years 
and  two  months  that  he  reigned,  the  disciples  found  in  him  friendship 
and  protection. 

Macrinus,  who  from  an  obscure  extraction  had  been  raised  to  an 
elevated  rank  in  the  Roman  army,  and  who  had  been  accessary  to  the 
death  of  Caracalla,  was  elected  by  the  army  to  fill  the  imperial  throne  ; 
but  he  had  reigned  only  one  year  and  two  months,  when  he  was  suc- 
ceeded by  Heliogabalus,  a  youth  of  fifteen,  whose  follies  and  vices 
were  infamous  ;  and,  although,  as  Mosheim  says,  perhaps  the  most 
odious  of  all  mortals,  yet  he  showed  no  marks  of  bitterness  or  aversion 
to  the  disciples  of  Christ.  He  was  slain  at  the  age  of  eighteen,  hav- 
ing reigned  three  years  and  nine  months,  and  was  succeeded,  in  the 
year  222,  by  his  cousin,  Alexander  Severus,  who  was  then  only  in 
the  sixteenth  year  of  his  age  ;  a  prince  distinguished  by  a  noble  as- 
semblage of  illustrious  virtues,  and  esteemed  one  of  the  best  characters 
in  profane  history.     He  did  not  indeed  abrogate  the  existing  laws 

*  Opuscula  tria  veterum  auctorum,  Fastidii  Episcofi  Passio  S.  S.  Martyrum 
Peb.fetu.s5  et  Felicitatis,  &.c.  a  Luca  Holstenio,  8vo.  Rom.  1663.  The  editor 
of  this  publication,  Lucas  Holstenius,  was  Keeper  of  the  Vatican  Library,  at 
Rome,  a  person  of  great  learning1,  and  the  friend  of  our  poet  Milton.  He  stu- 
died three  years  at  Oxford,  and  had  a  great  esteem  and  affection  for  Milton,  who 
visited  him  at  Rome,  and  received  many  civilities  from  him  there.  See  Bp.  New- 
ton's Life  of  Wilton,  prefixed  to  his  edition  of  Paradise  Lost.  8vo.  p.  13. 
13 


146  History  of  the  Christian  Church. 

against  the  Christians,  which  accounts  for  the  mention  of  a  few  mar- 
tyrdoms under  his  administration.  He  nevertheless  showed  them,  in 
various  ways,  and  on  many  occasions,  unequivocal  testimonies  of  kind- 
ness and  regard.  Some  attribute  this  to  the  instructions  and  counsels 
of  his  mother  Julia  Mammaea,  for  whom  he  had  a  high  degree  of  love 
and  veneration  ;  and  who  was  herself  favourably  disposed  towards  the 
Christians.  Being  at  Antioch  with  her  son,  A.  D.  229,  she  sent  for 
the  renowned  Origen,  who  resided  at  Alexandria,  to  come  to  her,  that 
she  might  enjoy  the  pleasure  and  advantages  of  his  conversation.  It 
does  not  appear  that  either  the  emperor  or  his  mother,  so  far  under- 
stood and  believed  the  Christian  doctrine  as  to  make  an  open  profes- 
sion of  it,  though  their  favourable  sentiments  induced  them  to  tolerate 
the  sect,  during  their  lives,  which  were  prolonged  to  the  year  235, 
when  they  were  both  put  to  death  in  a  conspiracy  raised  by  Maximin, 
a  man  who  had  risen  from  the  humblest  ranks  of  life  to  a  dignified  sta- 
tion in  the  army,  and  who  now  was  made  emperor. 

From  the  death  of  Severus,  which  happened  in  211,  to  the  com- 
mencement of  the  reign  of  Maximin,  A.  D.  235,  a  period  of  about 
five  and  twenty  years,  the  condition  of  the  Christians  was,  in  some 
places  prosperous,  and  in  all,  tolerable.  But  with  Maximin,  the  aspect 
of  affairs  changed.  The  character  of  this  latter  monarch  formed  a 
striking  contrast  to  that  of  his  predecessor.  The  former  tyrants,  says 
Gibbon,  viz.  Caligula  and  Nero,  Commodus  and  Caracalla,  were  all 
dissolute  and  inexperienced  youths,  educated  in  the  purple,  and  cor- 
rupted by  the  pride  of  empire,  the  luxury  of  Rome,  and  the  perfidious 
voice  of  flattery.  The  cruelty  of  Maximin  was  derived  from  a  differ- 
ent source — the  fear  of  contempt.  Though  he  depended  on  the  at- 
tachment of  the  soldiers,  who  loved  him  for  virtues  like  their  own,  he 
was  conscious  that  his  mean  and  barbarous  origin,  his  savage  appear- 
ance, and  his  total  ignorance  of  the  arts  and  institutions  of  civil  life, 
formed  a  very  unfavourable  contrast  with  the  amiable  manners  of  Alex- 
ander Severus.  He  remembered,  that,  in  his  humbler  fortune,  he  had 
often  waited  before  the  door  of  the  haughty  nobles  of  Rome,  and 
had  been  denied  admittance  by  the  insolence  of  their  slaves.  He 
recollected  also,  the  friendship  of  a  few  who  had  relieved  his  poverty 
and  assisted  his  rising  hopes.  But  those  who  had  spurned,  and  those 
who  had  protected  him,  were  guilty  of  the  same  crime,  the  knowledge 
of  his  original  obscurity.  For  this  crime  many  were  put  to  death  ; 
and  by  the  execution  of  several  of  his  benefactors,  Maximin  published, 
in  characters  of  blood,  the  indelible  history  of  his  baseness  and  ingra- 
titude. 

The  sanguinary  soul  of  the  tyrant  was  open  to  every  suspicion 
against  those  among  his  subjects,  who  were  the  most  distinguished  by 
their  birth  or  merit.  Whenever  he  was  alarmed  by  the  sound  of  trea- 
son, his  cruelty  was  unbounded  and  unrelenting.  A  conspiracy  against 
his  life  was  either  discovered  or  imagined  ;  and  Magnus,  a  consular 
senator,  named  as  the  principal  author  of  it.  Without  a  witness,  with- 
out a  trial,  and  without  an  opportunity  of  defence,  Magnus,  with  four 
thousand  of  his  supposed  accomplices,  were  put  to  death.  Confisca- 
tion, exile,  or  simple  death,  were,  however,  esteemed  uncommon  in- 


Some  account  of  Origen.  147 

stances  of  his  lenity.  Some  of  the  unfortunate  sufferers,  he  ordered  to 
be  sewed  up  in  the  hides  of  slaughtered  animals,  others  to  be  exposed 
to  wild  beasts,  others  again  to  be  beaten  to  death  with  clubs.  Through- 
out the  Roman  world,  a  general  cry  of  indignation  was  heard,  implor- 
ing vengeance  against  the  common  enemy  of  human  kind,  and,  at 
length,  by  an  act  of  private  oppression,  a  peaceful  and  unarmed  pro- 
vince was  driven  into  rebellion  against  him.* 

The  malice  of  Maximin,  against  the  house  of  the  late  emperor,  by 
whom  the  Christians  had  been  so  peculiarly  favoured,  stimulated  him 
to  persecute  them  bitterly,  and  he  gave  orders  to  put  to  death  the  pas- 
tors of  the  churches,  whom  he  knew  Alexander  had  treated  as  his  in- 
timate friends.  The  persecution,  however,  was  not  confined  to  them  ; 
others  suffered  at  the  same  time:  and  a  letter  from  Firmilian  to  Cy- 
prian, bishop  of  Carthage,  preserved  in  the  works  of  the  latter,  informs 
us  that  the  flame  extended  to  Cappadocia  and  Pontus.t  Ambrose,  the 
friend  of  Origen,  and  Protoctetus,  pastor  of  the  church  in  Caesarea, 
suffered  much  in  the  course  of  it,  and  to  them  Origen  dedicated  his 
Book  of  Martyrs.  He  himself  was  obliged  to  retire  ;  but  the  tyrant's 
reign  lasted  only  three  years,  in  which  time  it  must  be  confessed  that 
the  rest  of  the  world  had  participated  of  his  cruelties  as  much  as  the 
Christians.^  But  the  name  of  Origen  is  too  important  to  be  passed 
over  in  a  history  of  the  Christian  church,  with  only  a  casual  or  inci- 
dental mention.  "  He  was  a  man,"  says  Dr.  Priestley,  "  so  remarka- 
ble for  his  piety,  genius,  and  application,  that  he  must  be  considered 
an  honour  to  Christianity  and  to  human  nature."  Even  Jerome,  his 
.great  adversary,  admits  that  he  was  a  great  man  from  his  infancy.  His 
history  is  given  in  considerable  detail  by  Eusebius,  who  tells  us,  that 
this  very  eminent  man  was  born  at  Alexandria,  in  Egypt,  A.  D.  185. 
His  father  Leonides,  from  whom  he  received  the  first  rudiments  of  his 
education  bestowed  uncommon  pains  upon  it ;  and  afterwards  had  him 
instructed  by  the  ablest  masters  of  the  age,  among  whom  were  St. 
Clement  and  Ammonius  Saccas,  an  eminent  philosopher  of  Alexandria, 
the  founder  of  the  Eclectic  sect.  His  early  improvements  were  such 
as  gave  his  worthy  parent  the  greatest  satisfaction.  He  was  only  se- 
venteen years  of  age  when  the  persecution  under  Severus  began  in 
Alexandria  and  his  father  was  apprehended  and  confined  ;  yet  he 
would,  at  that  early  period  of  life,  have  fain  thrown  himself  in  the  way 
of  the  persecutors,  if  his  mother,  after  her  most  earnest  entreaties  had 
failed,  had  not  hid  his  clothes  in  order  to  prevent  his  going  abroad. 
He,  however,  wrote  to  his  father,  exhorting  him  to  steadfastness  in  his 
profession,  and  not  to  be  moved  by  any  considerations  about  his  fami- 
ly, though,  in  the  event  of  his  death,  there  would  be  a  widow  and  se- 
ven children  left  in  great  poverty  ;  and,  thus  encouraged,  his  father 
was  beheaded,  submitting,  to  his  destiny  with  becoming  resolution. 

A  large  family  being  left  in  this  destitute  condition,  a  rich  lady  of 
Alexandria,  the  friend  of  genius  and  virtue,  took  Origen  into  her  fami- 
ly.     She,  at  the   same  time,  entertained  in  her  house  a  person  of  dis- 

*   Gibbon's  Decline  and  Fall,  vol.  ch.  7. 

f  Cvpi"ian's  Works,  Letter  lxxv.  p.  256. 

±  Eusebius,  b.  6.  ch.  28.     Orosius,  b.  7.  ch.  19.     Origen,  torn.  28. 


148  History  of  the  Christian  Church. 

tinguished  abilities,  who  held  the  principles  of  the  Gnostics,  and  her 
table  was  the  resort  of  other  men  of  letters.  But  though  Origen  could 
not  refrain  from  associating  with  this  heretic,  such  was  the  firmness  of 
his  mind  and  the  fixedness  of  his  principles,  that  he  would  never  join 
with  him  in  prayer.  In  his  eighteenth  year  he  was  elected  master  of 
the  great  School  of  Alexandria,  which  had  been  deserted  by  its  late 
master  in  the  time  of  persecution  ;  and  not  choosing  to  be  unnecessarily 
burthensome  to  his  benefactress,  he  quitted  her  mansion,  and  provided 
for  his  own  support  by  giving  lessons  of  instruction  in  grammar  and 
the  principles  of  religion.  So  devoted,  however,  did  he  become  to  the 
study  of  sacred  literature,  that  he  wholly  abandoned  the  teaching  of 
grammar,  and  sold  his  library,  consisting  of  the  works  of  the  heathen 
philosophers  and  poets,  for  which  the  purchaser  engaged  to  pay  him 
four  oboli  a  day.  While  he  was  thus  employed,  many  of  his  pupils 
became  martyrs ;  and,  being  in  so  conspicuous  a  station,  it  was  with 
great  difficulty  that  he  himself  escaped.  Being  obliged  to  instruct  women 
as  well  as  men,  and  having  adopted  a  plan  of  great  austerity  of  man- 
ners, in  a  fit  of  enthusiastic  fervour,  he  made  a  literal  application  to  him- 
self of  Christ's  words,  Matt.  xix.  12,  an  action  for  which  he  greatly 
condemned  himself,  in  the  subsequent  period  of  his  life,  when  he  had 
reaped  the  benefit  of  experience  and  reflection. 

Applying  himself  with  extraordinary  assiduity  to  the  duties  of  his 
office  as  a  teacher,  his  reputation  rapidly  increased;  and  it  was  still 
further  augmented  by  an  edition  of  the  Old  Testament,  with  all  the 
different  Greek  versions  then  extant  accompanying  it,  ranged  in  separate 
columns.  These  were  the  versions  of  Aquila,  Symmachus,  the  Sep- 
tuagint,  that  of  Theodotion,  and  two  others  ;  with  the  Hebrew  text  in 
Hebrew  characters,  and  the  same  in  Greek  letters.  This  constituted 
eight  columns  in  the  whole,  but  it  was  called  Hexapla,  from  having  the 
six  Greek  versions.  Finding  this  work  too  expensive  and  unwieldy 
for  general  use,  he  afterwards  reduced  it  in  both  respects  by  composing 
what  is  called  the  Tetrapla,  which  contained  only  the  first  four  of  the 
Greek  versions  already  mentioned. 

Some  time  after,  Origen  quitted  his  employment  and  his  studies,  for 
the  purpose  of  making  a  visit  to  Rome,  for  what  particular  object  does 
not  appear ;  but,  returning  to  Alexandria,  many  persons  of  learning  from 
distant  places  resorted  to  him  ;  and  the  bishop  of  Alexandria  being  ap- 
plied to  by  an  Arabian  prince  for  a  person  to  instruct  him  in  the  Chris- 
tian faith,  he  made  choice  of  Origen  in  preference  to  any  other. 

At  the  time  that  Alexandria  was  ravaged  by  Caracalla,  Origen  went 
to  Caesarea  in  Palestine,  and  there  the  bishop  engaged  him  to  expound 
the  Scriptures  publicly  in  the  church,  though  he  had  not  then  been  or- 
dained. This  gave  umbrage  to  Demetrius,  the  bishop  of  Alexandria, 
who  insisted  on  his  returning  home  again,  which  he  did.  He  never- 
theless visited  Caesarea  not  long  afterwards,  where  he  received  ordina- 
tion, which  gave  such  offence  to  Demetrius,  that  from  that  time  he  did 
every  thing  in  his  power  to  injure  him,  particularly  by  exposing  the 
rash  action  mentioned  above ;  though  when  it  was  communicated  to  him 
in  confidence,  he  had  promised  never  to  divulge  it,  and  at  that  time  did 
not  even  blame  him  for  it,  but  encouraged  him  to  apply  with  vigour  to 
the  duties  of  his  profession. 


Some  account  of  Origen.  149 

Demetrius  at  first  got  him  banished  from  Alexandria,  in  a  council, 
held  A.  D.  231,  though  on  what  pretence  does  not  distinctly  appear. 
In  a  second  council  he  was  deposed  from  the  priesthood  and  excom- 
municated; and  the  sentence  was  of  course  ratified  by  distant  churches. 
Still,  however,  he  was  received  at  Caesarea,  and  by  other  bishops  who 
became  greatly  attached  to  him,  and  undertook  his  defence.  While  he 
resided  at  Caesarea,  numbers  resorted  to  him  from  distant  quarters  for 
instruction;  and  among  others  Gregory,  afterwards  bishop  of  Neocce- 
sarea,  and  his  brother  Athenodorus,  whom  he  persuaded  to  abandon 
profane  literature  for  the  study  of  theology;  and  they  attended  his 
lectures  five  years.  Firmilian,  also  bishop  of  Caesarea  in  Cappadocia, 
a  distinguished  character  in  his  time,  was  so  attached  to  Origen  that  he 
strove  to  prevail  upon  him  to  remove  into  his  province  and  reside  with 
him. 

In  this  situation  he  composed  his  Commentaries  on  the  Scriptures, 
dictating,  it  is  said,  to  seven  notaries  and  sometimes  more  ;  and  em- 
ploying as  many  scribes  to  take  fair  copies,  the  expense  of  which  was 
cheerfully  defrayed  by  Ambrosius,  whom  Origen  had  brought  over  from 
the  Valentinians  to  the  catholic  church.  When  he  was  turned  sixty, 
he  permitted  scribes  to  copy  after  him  as  he  delivered  his  discourses  from 
the  pulpit.  It  was  in  this  period  of  his  life  that  he  drew  up  his  excellent 
books  against  Celsus,  in  defence  of  Christianity.  This  latter  was  an 
Epicurean  philosopher,  who  undertook  to  calumniate  Christianity,  in 
the  most  outrageous  manner.  Origen  most  ably  answered  all  his  ob- 
jections, and  vindicated  the  truth  of  his  own  religion,  by  the  prophecies 
concerning  Christ,  by  the  evidence  of  miracles,  and  by  an  appeal  to  the 
holy  influence  of  the  gospel  evinced  in  the  lives  of  his  disciples.  This 
is  considered  by  the  learned  to  be  the  most  valuable  of  all  his  writings, 
which  were  certainly  very  voluminous ;  for  Eusebius  says  he  wrote  five 
and  twenty  volumes  upon  the  gospel  by  Matthew  !  It  must  be  remem- 
bered, however,  that  the  ancients  gave  the  title  of  volume  to  very  small 
tracts. 

In  the  persecution  under  Maximin,  Origen  concealed  himself  by  re- 
tiring to  Athens,  where,  however,  he  was  not  idle,  but  continued  to 
write  commentaries.  In  the  persecution  under  Decius,  he  was  appre- 
hended, and  though  then  far  advanced  in  life,  lie  showed  an  example  in 
his  own  conduct  of  that  fortitude  which  he  had  so  early  in  life,  and  so 
often  afterwards,  recommended  to  others.  He  was  confined  in  the 
interior  part  of  the  prison,  and  there  fastened  with  an  iron  chain,  his 
feet  stretched  in  the  stocks  to  the  fourth  hole,  a  circumstance  evidently 
mentioned  by  the  historian  to  intimate  that  it  was  a  posture  of  extreme 
pain,  and  where  he  was  kept  for  several  days.  He  bore,  with  invincible 
fortitude,  a  great  variety  of  tortures  to  which  his  persecutors  subjected 
him,  taking  care  that  they  should  not  absolutely  deprive  him  of  life ; 
and  at  length  he  was  threatened  to  be  burned  alive.  But  neither  what 
he  felt,  nor  what  he  feared,  at  all  moved  him.  He  survived  this  per- 
secution— and  lived  to  write  letters  afterwards  highly  edifying  to  those 
of  his  persecuted  brethren  who  were  brought  into  similar  circumstances  ; 
and,  at  the  advanced  age  of  seventy,  in  the  year  354,  died  at  Tyre,  a 
natural  death. 

From  the  death  of  Maximin  to  the  reign  of  Decius,  the  Christiana 
13* 


150  History  of  the  Christian  Church. 

enjoyed  considerable  repose,  and  the  gospel  made  an  extensive  progress. 
Indeed,  with  the  exception  of  the  short  reign  of  Maximin,  they  suffered 
but  little  persecution  for  nearly  half  a  century,  and  the  effects  were  but 
too  manifest  in  the  melancholy  state  of  the  churches  at  this  time, — in 
the  laxity  of  their  discipline,  and  the  general  lukewarmness  which  had 
come  upon  them  in  their  profession.  The  simplicity  and  purity  of  the 
Christian  religion  was  greatly  corrupted,  and  the  usual  concomitants  of 
a  season  of  worldly  ease  and  prosperity,  viz.  ambition,  pride,  and  lux- 
ury, too  generally  prevailed  among  both  pastors  and  people.  In  such 
a  state  of  things,  it  cannot  surprise  a  reflecting  mind,  that  he  who  walks 
in  the  midst  of  the  golden  candlesticks,  and  holds  the  stars  in  his  right 
hand — who  has  declared  that  he  will  make  all  the  churches  to  know 
that  it  is  he  who  searches  the  reins  and  hearts,  and  will  give  to  every 
one  according  to  his  works — should  interpose  at  this  time  to  vindicate 
his  own  cause,  and  reclaim  the  wanderings  of  his  people. 

No  sooner  had  Decius  ascended  the  throne  than  a  tempest  was  raised, 
in  which  the  fury  of  persecution  fell  in  a  dreadful  manner  upon  the 
church  of  Christ.  Whether  it  were  from  an  ill-grounded  fear  of  the 
Christians,  or  from  a  violent  zeal  for  the  superstitions  of  his  ancestors, 
does  not  appear  ;  but  it  is  certain  that  he  issued  edicts  of  the  most  san- 
guinary kind,  commanding  the  prators,  on  pain  of  death,  either  to  ex- 
tirpate the  whole  body  of  Christians,  without  exception,  or  to  force  them 
by  torments  of  various  kinds  to  return  to  the  Pagan  worship.  Hence, 
in  all  the  provinces  of  the  empire,  during  a  space  of  two  years,  multi- 
tudes of  Christians  were  put  to  death  by  the  most  horrid  punishments 
which  an  ingenious  barbarity  could  invent. 

This  trying  state  of  things  was  continued,  with  more  or  less  inter- 
mission, during  the  reigns  of  Gallus,  Valerian,  Dioclesian,  and  others 
of  the  Roman  emperors ;  but  the  detail  is  harassing  to  the  feelings,  and 
instead  of  prosecuting  it  circumstantially,  I  shall  dismiss  the  subject  by 
an  extract  from  Dr.  Chandler's  History  of  Persecutions,  relating  to  this 
period.  "  The  most  excessive  and  outrageous  barbarities,"  says  he, 
"  were  made  use  of  upon  all  who  would  not  blaspheme  Christ  and  offer 
incense  to  the  imperial  gods.  They  were  publicly  whipped, — drawn 
by  the  heels  through  the  streets  of  cities, — racked  till  every  bone  of  their 
body  was  disjointed, — had  th&ir  teeth  beat  out, — their  noses,  hands,  and 
ears  cut  off, — sharp  pointed  spears  run  under  their  nails, — were  tor- 
tured with  melted  lead  thrown  on  their  naked  bodies, — had  their  eyes 
dug  out, — their  limbs  cut  off, — were  condemned  to  the  mines, — ground 
between  stones, — stoned  to  death, — burnt  alive, — thrown  headlong  from 
the  high  buildings, — beheaded, — smothered  inhuming  limekilns, — run 
through  the  body  with  sharp  spears, — destroyed  with  hunger,  thirst, 
and  cold, — thrown  to  the  wild  beasts, — broiled  on  gridirons  with  slow 
fires, — cast  by  heaps  into  the  sea, — crucified, — scraped  to  death  with 
sharp  shells, — torn  in  pieces  by  the  boughs  of  trees, — and,  in  a  word, 
destroyed  by  all  the  various  methods  that  the  most  diabolical  subtlety 
and  malice  could  devise. "* 

*  Introduction  to  Limborch's  History  of  the  Inquisition,  vol.  2.  sect.  1.  p.  14. 
Should  any  suspect  Dr.  Chandler  of  having  overcharged  the  picture  in  this  dread- 
ful detail,  I  must  intreat  him  to  look  into  any  of  the  larger  histories  of  this  period, 
and  he  will  soon  be  undeceived. 


Persecution  under  Decius.  151 

When  the  persecution  arose  under  the  emperor  Decius,  or  rather,  as 
it  is  expressed  by  a  late  writer,  "  when  the  gates  of  hell  were  once 
more  opened,  and  merciless  executioners  were  let  loose  upon  the  de- 
fenceless churches,  who  deluged  the  earth  with  blood,"  (A.  D.  249,) 
Cyprian  was  presbyter  of  the  church  of  Carthage,  having  been  ordained 
the  preceding  year.  He  was  soon  marked  out  as  a  victim  to  imperial 
fury,  but  he  prudently  lied  from  Carthage,  in  consequence  of  which  he 
was  proscribed,  and  his  effects  were  seized.  He  has  been  censured  by 
some  persons  as  a  deserter  of  his  Hock  ;  but  the  firmness  and  Christian 
piety  with  which  he  afterwards  (under  the  reign  of  Valerian,  A.  D. 
258,)  laid  down  his  life,  affords  a  presumption  that  he  had  not  retired 
for  want  of  courage.  His  works,  which  consist  of  a  collection  of  his 
epistles,  eighty-three  in  number,  and  several  tracts,  contain  much  in- 
formation respecting  the  state  of  Christianity  at  that  period,  at  the 
same  time  that  they  display  a  benevolent  and  pious  mind,  and  evince 
much  of  the  character  of  the  Christian  pastor,  in  the  affectionate  solici- 
tude with  which  he  watched  over  his  flock.  The  letters  which  he 
wrote  during  his  retirement,  give  a  distressing  picture  of  the  effects 
which  had  been  produced  upon  the  churches  by  that  state  of  tranquil- 
lity and  exemption  from  suffering,  which,  with  little  interruption,  they 
had  enjoyed  from  the  death  of  Severus,  in  211,  to  the  reign  of  Decius 
in  249, — a  period  of  about  forty  years. 

"  It  must  be  owned  and  confessed,"  says  he,  "  that  the  outrageous 
and  heavy  calamity,  which  hath  almost  devoured  our  flock,  and  conti- 
nues to  devour  it  to  this  day,  hath  happened  to  us  because  of  our  sins, 
since  we  keep  not  the  way  of  the  Lord,  nor  observe  his  heavenly  com- 
mands, which  were  designed  to  lead  us  to  salvation.  Christ,  our  Lord, 
fulfilled  the  will  of  the  Father;  but  we  neglect  the  will  of  Christ.  Our 
principal  study  is  to  get  money  and  estates ;  we  follow  after  pride ; 
we  are  at  leisure  for  nothing  but  emulation  and  quarrelling,  and  have 
neglected  the  simplicity  of  faith.  We  have  renounced  this  world  in 
words  only,  and  not  in  deed.  Every  one  studies  to  please  himself,  and 
to  displease  others."*  It  is  impossible  for  us  not  to  be  struck  with  the 
shocking  contrast  which  this  picture  presents,  from  that  drawn  by  Ter- 
tullian  about  fifty  years  before.  It  seems  even  to  have  staggered  the 
credibility  of  some  writers.  Dr.  Jortin,  for  example,  remarks,  that 
"  Cyprian  has  described,  in  very  strong  terms,  the  relaxation  of  disci- 
pline and  manners  which  had  ensued;  which  yet  may  require  some 
abatement.  His  vehement  temper,"  says  he,  "  his  indignation  against 
vice,  and  his  African  eloquence,  might  induce  him  to  make  free  with  a 
figure  called  exaggeration.''^  But,  unhappily,  Cyprian's  account  is 
confirmed  by  the  testimony  of  Eusebius,  who  was  nearly  cotemporary 
with  him ;  and,  which  is  still  worse,  it  is  put  beyond  all  dispute  by  the 
immense  number  of  defections  from  the  Christian  profession  which 
every  where  abounded  when  the  persecution,  set  on  foot  by  Decius, 
commenced,  and  which  occasioned  great  commotions  in  all  the 
churches. 

*  Cyprian's  Works,  Epist.  xi. 

f  Remarks  on  Eccles.  Hist.  vol.  1.  p.  376, 


152  History  of  the  Christian  Church. 

~  "  Through  too  much  liberty,"  says  Eusebius,  "  they  grew  negligent 
and  slothful,  envying  and  reproaching  one  another ;  waging,  as  it  were, 
civil  wars  among  themselves,  bishops  quarrelling  with  bishops,  and  the 
people  divided  into  parties.  Hypocrisy  and  deceit  were  grown  to  the 
highest  pitch  of  wickedness.  They  were  become  so  insensible  as  not 
so°much  as  to  think  of  appeasing  the  Divine  anger;  but,  like  Atheists, 
they  thought  the  world  destitute  of  any  providential  government  and 
care,  and  thus  added  one  crime  to  another.  The  bishops  themselves 
had  thrown  off  all  concern  about  religion ;  were  perpetually  contending 
with  one  another ;  and  did  nothing  but  quarrel  with,  and  threaten,  and 
envy,  and  hate  one  another; — they  were  full  of  ambition,  and  tyranni- 
cally used  their  power."*  Such  was  the  deplorable  state  of  the 
churches,  which  God,  as  Eusebius  justly  remarks,  first  punished  with 
a  gentle  hand ;  but  when  they  grew  hardened  and  incurable  in  their 
vices,  he  was  pleased  to  let  in  the  most  grievous  persecutions  upon 
them,  under  Dioclesian,  which  exceeded,  in  severity  and  length,  all 
that  had  gone  before.     It  began  in  the  year  302,  and  lasted  ten  years. 


SECTION  IV. 


REFLECTIONS    ON    THE  HISTORY  OF  THE  CHRISTIAN  CHURCH,  DURING  THE 
FIRST  THREE  CENTURIES  ;  WITH  A  VIEW  OF  THE  RISE  OF  ANTICHRIST. 

In  reviewing  the  history  of  the  Christian  church,  from  the  first  pro- 
pagation of  the  gospel  until  the  reign  of  Constantine,  it  can  scarcely 
fail  to  strike  the  reader's  attention,  that  the  Christian  profession  is 
marked,  during  this  period,  with  a  peculiar  character,  in  distinction  from 
what  it  sustained  after  the  accession  of  Constantine  to  the  throne, 
when  the  Christian  religion  was  taken  under  his  fostering  care,  and  sup- 
ported by  the  civil  government.  The  first  propagation  of  the  Christian 
faith  was  not  only  unaided,  but  directly  opposed  in  most  instances,  by 
the  civil  government  in  the  different  countries  in  which  it  spread.  The 
publishers  of  the  gospel,  were,  in  general,  plain  and  unlearned  men, 
destitute  of  all  worldly  influence  and  power  ;  their  doctrine  was  in  itself 
obnoxious,  and  their  appearance  little  calculated  to  procure  it  a  favour- 
able hearing  ;  nor  could  they  present  to  the  view  of  men  any  other  in- 
ducement to  embrace  their  testimony,  than  the  prospect  of  life  and  im- 
mortality in  the  world  to  come ;  with  the  certainty,  that  through  much 
tribulation  believers  must  enter  into  the  kingdom  of  God.  The  suc- 
cess of  their  doctrine  stood  in  direct  opposition  to  the  power  of  princes, 
the  wisdom  of  philosophers,  the  intrigues  of  courts,  the  enmity  of  the 
Pagan  priesthood,  with  all  the  weight  of  an  established  system  of  ido- 
latry and  superstition ;  it  could,  therefore,  only  make  its  way  by  sus- 
taining and  overcoming  the  malice  and  rage  of  its  enemies. 

In  the  view  that  we  have  taken  of  the  Christian  history  during  the 
preceding  period,  it  appears  uniformly  in  harmony  with  this  represen- 

*  Eusebius's  Hist.  b.  8.  ch.  1. 


Tlew  of  the  rise  of  Antichrist.  153 

tation.  The  general  character  of  the  disciples  of  Christ  is  that  of  a 
suffering  people  ;  and,  notwithstanding  some  intervals  of  repose  occa- 
sionally intervening,  in  general  the  progress  of  the  gospel  is  traced  in 
the  blood  of  the  saints,  and  its  power  and  evidence  made  conspicuous 
in  prevailing  against  the  most  formidable  opposition.  Thus,  the  ex- 
cellency of  its  power  appeared  to  be  of  God,  and  not  of  man.  While 
the  Christian  cause  was  thus  opposed  to  the  world,  and  made  its  way 
by  its  own  divine  energy,  the  general  purity  of  its  profession  was  pre- 
served ;  for,  what  could  induce  men  to  embrace  it,  but  a  conviction  of 
its  heavenly  origin  and  importance  ?  So  long  as  the  Christian  profes- 
sion was  thus  circumstanced,  its  success  earned  with  it  its  own  wit- 
ness. But  the  scene  is  altogether  changed,  when  we  view  the  state 
of  matters  after  the  ascension  of  Constantine ;  for  then,  instead  of  the 
teachers  of  Christianity  being  called  upon  to  show  their  attachment 
to  it  by  self-denial  and  suffering  for  its  sake,  we  see  them  exalted  to 
worldly  honour  and  dignity ;  and  the  holy  and  heavenly  religion  of 
Jesus,  converted  into  a  system  of  pride,  domination  and  hypocrisy, 
and  becoming,  at  length,  the  means  of  gratifying  the  vilest  lusts  and 
passions  of  the  human  heart.  The  consequence  of  such  a  change  in 
the  state  of  things  may  be  easily  anticipated  by  those  who  have  any 
proper  views  of  the  corruption  of  human  nature  ;  and  it  corresponds 
with  matter  of  fact.  For  no  sooner  do  we  perceive  the  teachers  in 
the  church,  who  had  hitherto  been  the  foremost  in  sustaining  the  oppo- 
sition of  the  persecuting  powers,  and  animating  their  flocks  to  a  patient 
continuance  in  bearing  the  cross — no  sooner  do  we  see  them  invested 
with  secular  honours,  immense  wealth,  and  elevated  to  dignity,  than 
the  first  object  of  their  lives  seems  to  have  been  to  maintain  their 
power  and  pre-eminence,  and  aspiring  at  dominion  over  the  bodies 
and  consciences  of  men.  From  the  days  of  Constantine,  the  corrup- 
tion of  the  Christian  profession  proceeded  with  rapid  progress.  Many 
evils,  probably,  existed  before  this  period,  which  prepared  the  way 
for  the  events  that  were  to  follow  ;  but  when  the  influence  of  the  secu- 
lar power  became  an  engine  of  the  clergy,  to  be  exercised  in  their 
kingdom,  it  need  not  be  a  matter  of  surprise  that  the  progress  became 
exceedingly  rapid  in  converting  the  religion  of  Christ  into  a  system  of 
spiritual  tyranny,  idolatry,  superstition,  and  hypocrisy,  until  it  arrived 
at  its  full  height  in  the  Roman  hierarchy,  when,  what  is  called  the 
church  became  the  sink  of  iniquity. 

That  such  a  display  of  human  depravity  as  we  shall  have  to  detail 
in  the  succeeding  events  of  church  history,  should  be  exhibited  under 
a  profession  of  Christianity,  may  veiy  reasonably  excited  our  astonish- 
ment. Many,  indeed,  without  discriminating  between  Christianity 
and  its  corruptions,  have  found  what  they  conceive  a  sufficient  justifi- 
cation of  their  own  scepticism,  in  the  many  abominations  which  have 
been,  and  still  are,  committed  under  the  Christian  name.  And  it  must 
be  allowed,  that  it  is  one  of  the  most  plausible  and  successful  argu- 
ments in  encouraging  and  supporting  a  sceptical  state  of  mind,  to  paint 
the  Christian  system  as  it  appears  the  engine  of  priestcraft,  and  the 
support  of  spiritual  tyranny,  idolatry,  and  superstition.  But  genuine 
Christianity  is  no  more  accountable  for  these  enormities,  than,  what  is 


154  History  of  the  Christian  Church. 

called,  the  religion  of  nature  is  for  all  the  absurd  and  superstitious  rites 
of  Paganism. 

It  may  be  proper,  therefore,  to  observe,  that  the  greatest  iniquity 
that  has  been  discovered  in  what  is  called  the  Christian  church,  admit- 
ting the  evil  in  its  full  extent,  is  but  the  accomplishment  of  what  was 
before  predicted  in  the  sacred  Scriptures  ;  and,  considered  in  this  view, 
it  presents  us  with  a  most  powerful  argument  in  confirmation  of  the 
prophetic  word.  In  the  establishment  of  Christianity  by  Constantine, 
the  obstruction  which  had  hitherto  operated  against  the  full  manifesta- 
tion of  the  antichristian  power,  being  removed,  the  current  of  events 
gradually  brought  matters  to  that  state,  in  which  "the  man  of  sin" 
became  fully  revealed,  "  sitting  in  the  temple  of  God,  and  showing 
himself  as  God." 

The  apostles  of  Jesus  Christ  gave  many  intimations  in  their  writ- 
ings of  the  corruptions  which  should  arise  under  the  Christian  profes- 
sion at  a  future  period.  There  were  not  wanting  symptoms  of  this 
even  in  their  own  days,  as  appears  from  the  following  passages. 
When  the  apostle  Paul  delivered  to  the  elders  of  the  church  at  Ephe- 
sus,  a  solemn  warning  to  take  heed  to  themselves,  and  to  the  flock 
over  which  the  Holy  Ghost  had  made  them  overseers,  he  adds,  as  the 
reason  of  it ;  "  for  I  know  this,  that  after  my  departure  shall  grievous 
w olves  enter  in  among  you,  not  sparing  the  flock ;  also  of  your  own- 
selves  shall  men  arise,  speaking  perverse  things,  to  draw  away  dis- 
ciples after  them."  Acts  xx.  29,  30.  The  jealousy  and  fear,  which 
lie  entertained  relative  to  the  influence  of  false  teachers,  is  manifest  in 
the  following  passage.  "  But  I  fear,  lest  by  any  means,  as  the  ser- 
pent beguiled  Eve,  through  his  subtilty,  so  your  minds  should  be  cor- 
rupted from  the  simplicity  that  is  in  Christ :  For  such  are  false  apos- 
tles, deceitful  workers,  transforming  themselves  into  the  apostles  of 
Christ ;  and  no  wonder,  for  Satan  himself  is  transformed  into  an  angel 
of  light,  therefore  it  is  no  great  thing  if  his  ministers  also  be  trans- 
formed into  ministers  of  righteousness,"  (2  Cor.  xi.  3,  13,  14,  15.) 
The  same  general  caution  against  the  effects  which  should  proceed 
from  false  teachers,  is  very  plainly  given  by  the  apostle  Peter.  "  But 
there  were  false  prophets  also  among  the  people,  even  as  there  shall 
be  false  teachers  among  you,  who  privily  shall  bring  in  damnable 
heresies,  even  denying  the  Lord  that  bought  them,  and  bringing  upon 
themselves  swift  destruction.  And  many  shall  follow  their  pernicious 
ways,  by  reason  of  whom  the  way  of  truth  shall  be  evil  spoken  of. 
And  through  covetousness  shall  they  with  feigned  words  make  mer- 
chandise of  you,  whose  judgment  now  of  a  long  time  lingereth  not, 
and  their  damnation  slumbereth  not.'  2  Pet.  ii.  1 — 3.  To  these  pas- 
sages, and  many  others  that  might  be  adduced,  as  calculated  to  awaken 
the  attention  of  Christians  to  the  dangers  they  should  be  exposed  to 
from  corrupt  teachers,  we  may  particularly  add  the  following,  as  it  not 
only  foretells  but  describes  the  nature  of  the  apostasy  that  should  take 
place,  and  at  a  period  remote  from  the  time  when  the  predictions  were 
delivered.  "  Now  the  Spirit  speaketh  expressly,  -that  in  the  latter 
times  some  shall  depart  from  the  faith,  giving  heed  to  seducing  spirits 
and  doctrines  of  devils  ;  speaking  lies  in  hypocrisy,  having  their  con- 


Nature  of  the  Jlntichristian  apostasy.  155 

sciences  seared  with  a  hot  iron ;  forbidding  to  marry,  and  command- 
ing to  abstain  from  meats,  which  God  hath  created  to  be  received  with 
thanksgiving  of  them  who  believe  and  know  the  truth."  1  Tim.  iv. 
1 — 3.  Again,  "  This  know  also,  that  in  the  last  days  perilous  times 
shall  come ;  Sot  men  shall  be  lovers  of  their  own  selves,  covetous, 
boastera,  proud,  blasphemers,  disobedient  to  parents,  unthankful,  un- 
holy, without  natural  affection,  truce-breakers,  false  accusers,  inconti- 
nent, fierce,  despisers  of  those  that  are  good,  traitors,  heady,  high- 
minded,  lovers  of  pleasure  more  than  lovers  of  God ; — having  a  form 
of  godliness,  but  denying  the  power  thereof,"  2  Tim.  iii.  1 — 5.  But  of 
all  the  predictions  contained  in  the  New  Testament,  the  most  particu- 
lar and  express  description  of  the  antichristian  power  that  should  arise 
under  the  Christian  name,  is  the  following :  "  Now,  we  beseech  you, 
brethren,  by  the  coming  of  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ,  and  by  our  gather- 
ing together  unto  him,  that  ye  be  not  soon  shaken  in  mind,  or  be 
troubled;  neither  by  spirit,  nor  by  word,  nor  by  letter  as  from  us,  as 
that  the  day  of  Christ  is  at  hand.  Let  no  man  deceive  you  by  any 
means :  for  that  day  shall  not  come,  except  there  come  a  falling  away 
first,  and  that  man  of  sin  be  revealed,  the  son  of  perdition  ;  who  op- 
poseth  and  exalteth  himself  above  all  that  is  called  God,  or  that  is  wor- 
shipped ;  so  that  he  as  God  sitteth  in  the  temple  of  God,  showing  him- 
self that  he  is  God.  Remember  ye  not,  that  when  I  was  yet  with 
you,  I  told  you  these  things?  And  now  ye  know  what  withholdeth 
that  he  might  be  revealed  in  his  time.  For  the  mystery  of  iniquity 
doth  already  work  ;  only  he  who  now  letteth  will  let,  until  he  be  taken 
out  of  the  way ;  and  then  shall  that  wicked  be  revealed,  whom  the 
Lord  shall  consume  with  the  spirit  of  his  mouth,  and  shall  destroy 
with  the  brightness  of  his  coming ;  even  him,  whose  coming  is  after 
the  working  of  Satan,  with  all  power,  and  signs,  and  lying  wonders  ; 
and  with  all  deceivableness  of  unrighteousness  in  them  that  perish  ;  be- 
cause they  received  not  the  love  of  the  truth,  that  they  might  be  saved." 
2  Thess.  ii.  1—10. 

In  this  representation  of  the  apostasy  from  the  purity  of  the  Chris- 
tian faith  and  its  influence,  which  terminated  in  the  man  of  sin  sitting 
in  the  temple  of  God,  we  may  notice  the  following  particulars  : — 

1.  That  the  apostle  describes  its  origin  as  taking  place  in  his  own 
day.  "  The  mystery  of  iniquity  doth  already  work,"  ver.  7.  The 
seed  was  then  sown ;  idolatry  was  already  stealing  into  the  churches, 
1  Cor.  x.  14.  A  voluntary  humility,  and  worshipping  of  angels,  Col. 
ii.  18.  Men  of  corrupt  minds,  destitute  of  the  truth,  supposing  that 
gain  was  godliness,  and  teaching  things  which  they  ought  not,  for  filthy 
lucre-sake.  Men  of  this  cast  appear  to  have  early  abounded,  and,  as 
acting  not  wholly  in  direct  opposition  to  Christianity,  but  corrupting  it 
in  the  way  of  deceit  and  hypocrisy.  During  the  whole  progress  to- 
wards the  full  revelation  of  the  man  of  sin,  there  was  no  direct  disa- 
vowal of  the  truth  of  Christianity ;  it  was  "  a  form  of  godliness  without 
the  power  of  it." 

2.  There  is  an  evident  intimation  in  this  passage  of  an  obstacle  or 
hinderance  in  the  way  of  his  power  being  fully  revealed.  "And  now 
ye  know  what  withholdeth  that  he  might  be  revealed  in  his  time.  For 


156  History  of  the  Christian  Church. 

the  mystery  of  iniquity  doth  already  work,  only  he  who  now  letteth 
will  let  until  he  be  taken  out  of  the  way.  And  then  shall  that  wicked 
be  revealed,  &c."  ver.  6,  7.  Without  going  into  any  minute  and  criti- 
cal examination  of  these  verses,  it  is  obvious  that  the  wicked  power 
which  is  here  the  subject  of  the  apostle's  discourse,  and  denominated 
the  man  of  sin,  had  not  then  been  fully  displayed,  and  that  there  exist- 
ed some  obstacle  to  a  complete  revelation  of  the  mystery  of  iniquity. 
The  apostle  uses  a  particular  caution  when  hinting  at  it ;  but  the  Thes- 
salonians,  he  says,  knew  of  it;  probably  from  the  explanation  he  had 
o-iven  them  verbally,  when  he  was  with  them.  It  can  scarcely  be  ques- 
tioned, that  the  hinderance  or  obstacle,  referred  to  in  these  words,  was 
the  heathen  or  pagan  Roman  government,  which  acted  as  a  restraint 
upon  the  pride  and  domination  of  the  clergy,  through  whom  the  man 
of  sin  ultimately  arrived  at  his  power  and  authority,  as  will  afterwards 
appear.  The  extreme  caution  which  the  apostle  manifests  in  speaking 
of  this  restraint,  renders  it  not  improbable  that  it  was  something  relat- 
ing to  the  higher  powers  ;  for  we  can  easily  conceive  how  improper  it 
would  have  been  to  declare  in  plain  terms,  that  the  existing  government 
of  Rome  should  come  to  an  end.  There  is  a  remarkable  passage  in 
Tertullian's  Apology,  that  may  serve  to  justify  the  sense  which  Pro- 
testants put  upon  these  verses ;  and  since  it  was  written  long  before 
the  accomplishment  of  the  predictions,  it  deserves  the  more  attention. 
"  Christians,"  says  he,  "  are  under  a  particular  necessity  of  praying 
for  the  emperors,  and  for  the  continued  state  of  the  empire;  because 
we  know  that  dreadful  power  which  hangs  over  the  world,  and  the  con- 
clusion of  the  age,  which  threatens  the  most  horrible  evils,  is  restrained 
by  the  continuance  of  the  time  appointed  for  the  Roman  empire.  This 
is  what  we  would  not  experience ;  and  while  we  pray  that  it  may  be 
deferred,  we  hereby  show  our  good-will  to  the  perpetuity  of  the  Roman 
state."*  From  this  extract  it  is  very  manifest  that  the  Christians,  even 
in  Tertullian's  time,  a  hundred  and  twenty  years  before  the  Pagan  go- 
vernment of  Rome  came  to  its  end,  looked  forward  to  that  period  as 
pregnant  with  calamity  to  the  cause  of  Christ;  though  it  is  probable 
they  did  not  accurately  understand  the  manner  in  which  the  evils 
should  be  brought  on  the  church.  And  this  indeed,  the  event  proved 
to  be  the  case.  For  while  the  long  and  harassing  persecutions,  which 
were  carried  on  by  the  Pagan  Roman  emperors  continued,  and  all  secu- 
lar advantages  were  on  the  side  of  Paganism,  there  was  little  encour- 
agement for  any  one  to  embrace  Christianity,  who  did  not  discern  some- 
what of  its  truth  and  excellence.  Many  of  the  errors,  indeed,  of  several 
centuries,  the  fruit  of  vain  philosophy,  paved  the  way  for  the  events 
which  followed ;  but  the  hinderance  was  not  effectually  removed,  until 
Constantine  the  emperor,  on  professing  himself  a  Christian,  undertook 
to  convert  the  kingdom  of  Christ  into  a  kingdom  of  this  world,  by  ex- 
alting the  teachers  of  Christianity  to  the  same  state  of  affluence,  gran- 
deur, and  influence  in  the  empire,  as  had  been  enjoyed  by  Pagan  priests 
and  secular  officers  in  the  state.  The  professed  ministers  of  Jesus  hav- 
ing now  a  wide  field  opened  to  them  for  gratifying  their  lust  of  power, 

*  Tertullian's  Apology,  ch.  xxxii. 


Concluding  Reflections  on  Antichrist.  157 

■wealth,  and  dignity,  the  connection  between  the  Christian  faith  and  the 
cross,  was  at  an  end.  What  followed  was  the  kingdom  of  the  clergy, 
supplanting  the  kingdom  of  Jesus  Christ. 

3.  It  is  worthy  of  observation,  in  what  language  the  apostle  describes 
the  revelation'of  the  man  of  sin,  when  this  hinderance,  or  let,  should  be 
removed.  "  And  then  shall  that  wicked  be  revealed, — whose  coming 
is  after  the  working  of  Satan,  with  all  power,  and  signs,  and  lying  won- 
ders, and  with  all  deceivableness  of  unrighteousness  in  them  that  per- 
ish." He  had  before  described  this  power,  and  personified  him  as  "  the 
son  of  perdition,  who  opposeth  and  exalteth  himself,  above  all  that  is 
called  God,  or  that  is  worshipped ;  so  that  he,  as  God,  sitteth  in  the 
temple  of  God,  showing  himself  that  he  is  God." 

Every  feature  in  this  description  corresponds  to  that  of  a  religious 
power,  in  the  assumption  of  Divine  authority,  Divine  honours,  and  Di- 
vine worship ;  a  power  which  should  arrogate  the  prerogatives  of  the 
Most  High,  having  its  seat  in  the  temple  or  house  of  God,  and  which 
should  be  carried  on  by  Satan's  influence,  with  all  deceit,  hypocrisy, 
and  tyranny ;  and  with  this  corresponds  the  figurative  representation 
given  of  the  same  power,  Rev.  xiii.  5 — 8. 

As  many  things  in  the  Christian  profession,  before  the  reign  of  Con- 
stantine,  made  way  for  the  kingdom  of  the  clergy,  so,  after  they  were 
raised  to  stations  of  temporal  dignity  and  power,  it  was  not  wholly  at 
one  stride  that  they  arrived  at  the  climax  here  depicted  by  the  inspired 
apostle.  Neither  the  corruption  of  Christianity,  nor  the  reformation  of 
its  abuses  was  effected  in  a  day ;  "  evil  men  and  seducers  waxed  worse." 
There  was  a  course  of  mutually  deceiving  and  being  deceived.  The 
conscience  of  man  is  not  blunted  all  at  once  against  the  convictions  of 
guilt;  and  there  is  something  uncommonly  expressive  in  the  apostle's 
words,  when  he  describes  the  blessed  God  as  giving  men  up  to  strong 
delusions,  that  they  all  might  be  damned  who  believed  not  the  truth, 
but  had  pleasure  in  unrighteousness ;  and  this  he  represents  as  the  ne- 
cessary consequence  of  their  not  receiving  the  love  of  the  truth,  that 
they  might  be  saved. 

In  the  sequel,  it  will  appear,  that  when  the  bishops  were  once  ex- 
alted to  wealth,  power,  and  authority,  this  exaltation  was  of  itself  the 
prolific  source  of  every  corrupt  fruit.  Learning,  eloquence,  and  influ- 
ence, were  chiefly  exerted  to  maintain  their  own  personal  dominion 
and  popularity.  Contests  for  pre-eminence  over  each  other,  became 
the  succedaneum  of  the  ancient  contention  for  the  faith,  and  its  influ- 
ence over  the  world.  Power  was  an  engine  of  support  to  the  different 
factions  ;  and  the  sword  of  persecution,  which,  for  three  centuries,  had 
been  drawn  by  the  Pagans  against  the  followers  of  Christ,  the  besotted 
ecclesiastics  employed  against  each  other  in  defence  of  what  was  now 
called  "  the  Holy  Catholic  Church." 

The  history  of  this  church,  from  the  accession  of  Constantine  to  the 
period  when  the  bishop  of  Rome  was  elevated  to  supreme  authority, 
discovers  a  progressive  approximation  to  that  state  of  things,  denoted 
in  scripture  by  the  revelation  of  "  the  man  of  sin  sitting  in  the  temple 
of  God."  All  the  violent  contentions,  the  assembling  of  councils,  the 
persecutions  alternately  carried  on  by  the  different  parties,  were  so 
14 


158  History  of  the  Christian  Church. 

many  means  of  preparing  the  way  for  the  assumption  of  spiritual  ty- 
ranny, and  the  idolatry  and  superstition  of  the  Roman  hierarchy.  In 
all  these  transactions,  the  substitution  of  human  for  divine  authority, 
contentions  about  words  instead  of  the  faith  once  delivered  to  the  saints  ; 
pomp  and  splendour  of  worship,  for  the  primitive  simplicity ;  and 
worldly  power  and  dignity  instead  of  the  self-denied  labours  of  love 
and  bearing  the  cross ; — this  baneful  change  operated  in  darkening  the 
human  mind  as  to  the  real  nature  of  true  Christianity,  until,  in  process 
of  time,  it  was  lost  sight  of. 

When  Jesus  Christ  was  interrogated  by  the  Roman  governor  con- 
cerning his  kingdom,  he  replied,  "  My  kingdom  is  not  of  this  world." 
This  is  a  maxim  of  unspeakable  importance  in  his  religion  ;  and  almost 
every  corruption  that  has  arisen,  and  by  which  this  heavenly  institu- 
tion has  been  debased,  from  time  to  time,  may  be  traced,  in  one  way 
or  other,  to  a  departure  from  that  great  and  fundamental  principle  of 
the  Christian  kingdom.  It  may,  therefore,  be  of  importance  to  the 
reader  to  keep  his  eye  steadily  fixed  upon  it,  while  perusing  the  follow- 
ing pages,  as  that  alone  can  enable  him  to  trace  the  kingdom  of  the 
Son  of  God,  amidst  the  labyrinths  of  error  and  delusion  which  he  will 
presently  have  to  explore. 


(     159     ) 


CHAPTER  III. 


THE  STATE  OF  CHRISTIANITY  FROM    THE    ACCESSION    OF    CONSTANTINE  TO 
THE   RISE  OF  THE   WALDENSES. A.   D.   306 800. 


SECTION  I. 

A   VIEW  OF    THE    REIGN  OF  CONSTANTINE,    AND    THE    ESTABLISHMENT  OF 

CHRISTIANITY    AS  THE   RELIGION    OF    THE    ROMAN     EMPIRE. A.    D.     306 

TO   337. 

At  the  commencement  of  the  fourth  century  of  the  Christian  aera, 
the  Roman  empire  was  under  the  dominion  of  four  monarchs  ;  of  whom 
two,  viz.  Dioclesian  and  Maximin  Herculeus  were  of  superior  rank 
and  each  distinguished  by  the  title  of  Augustus  ;  while  the  other  two, 
Constantius  Chlorus  and  Maximums  Galerius,  sustained  a  subordinate 
dignity,  and  were  honoured  with  the  humbler  appellation  of  Caesars. 

Dioclesian  was  raised  to  the  throne  in  the  year  284,  consequently 
had  swayed  the  imperial  sceptre  sixteen  years;  but,  though  much  ad- 
dicted to  superstition,  he  entertained  no  aversion  to  the  Christians  ; 
and  during  this  period  they  had  enjoyed  a  large  portion  of  outward 
peace.  Constantius  Chlorus,  to  whose  lot  it  fell  to  exercise  the  so- 
vereign power  in  Gaul  and  the  western  provinces,  was  a  mild  and 
amiable  prince,  under  whose  government  we  find  no  traces  of  perse- 
cution. He  had  himself  abandoned  the  absurdities  of  Polytheism,  and 
treated  the  Christians  with  benevolence  and  respect.  The  principal 
offices  of  his  palace  were  executed  by  Christians.  He  loved  their  per- 
sons, esteemed  their  fidelity,  and  entertained  no  dislike  to  their  reli- 
gious principles.  This  alarmed  the  Pagan  priests,  whose  interests 
were  so  intimately  connected  with  the  continuance  of  the  ancient  su- 
perstition, and  who,  apprehending,  not  without  reason,  that,  to  their 
great  detriment,  the  Christian  religion  was  becoming  daily  more  uni- 
versal and  triumphant  throughout  the  empire,  addressed  themselves  to 
Dioclesian,  whom  they  knew  to  be  of  a  timorous  and  credulous  dispo- 
sition, and  by  fictitious  oracles  and  other  perfidious  stratagems,  endea- 
voured to  engage  him  to  persecute  the  Christians.* 

The  treacherous  arts  of  a  selfish  and  superstitious  priesthood  failed, 
however,  for  some  time,  to  move  Dioclesian.  Their  recourse  was 
next  had  to  Maximinus  Galerius,  one  of  the  Caesars,  who  had  married 
the  daughter  of  Dioclesian ;  a  prince,  whose  gross  ignorance  of  every 
thing  but  military  affairs,  was  accompanied  with  a  fierce  and  savage 

*   Mosheim,  Cent.  iv.  ch.  1. 


160  History  of  the  Christian  Church. 

temper,  which  rendered  him  a  proper  instrument  for  executing  their 
designs.  Stimulated  by  the  malicious  insinuations  of  the  heathen 
priests,  the  suggestions  of  a  superstitious  mother,  and  the  ferocity  of 
his  own  natural  temper,  he  importuned  Dioclesian  in  so  urgent  a  man- 
ner for  an  edict  against  the  Christians,  that  he,  at  length,  obtained  his 
horrid  purpose.  * 

It  seems  to  have  been  the  practice  of  the  Roman  emperors  about  this 
time,  to  take  up  their  residence  occasionally  at  Nicomedia,  the  capital 
of  the  province  of  Bythinia — the  place  from  M'hence  Pliny  addressed 
his  celebrated  letter  to  Trajan.t  This  city,  for  its  beauty  and  greatness, 
has  been  compared  to  Rome,  Antioch,  and  Alexandria ;  but,  what  is 
more  to  our  purpose,  it  abounded  with  Christians,  even  from  the  days 
of  the  apostles.J  Dioclesian  having  taken  up  his  abode  at  Nicomedia, 
Galerius,  his  son-in-law,  had  come  to  spend  the  winter  with  him.  In 
the  year  302,  the  latter  prevailed  upon  his  colleague  to  grant  an  edict 
for  pulling  down  all  the  places  of  worship  belonging  to  the  Christians, 
to  burn  all  their  books  and  writings,  to  deprive  them  of  all  their  civil 
rights  and  privileges,  and  render  them  incapable  of  any  honours  or 
civil  promotion.  This  first  edict,  though  rigorous  and  severe,  did  not 
extend  to  the  lives  of  the  Christians,  for  Dioclesian  was  much  averse 
to  slaughter  and  bloodshed.  It  was,  however,  merely  a  prelude  to 
what  Avas  to  follow  ;  for,  not  long  after  the  publication  of  this  first 
edict,  a  fire  broke  out  at  two  different  times  in  the  palace  of  Nicome- 
dia, where  Galerius  lodged  with  Dioclesian.  The  former,  though  in 
all  probability  the  real  incendiary,  threw  all  the  odium  of  this  upon  the 
Christians,  as  an  act  of  revenge  ;  and  the  credulous  Dioclesian,  too 
easily  persuaded  of  the  truth  of  this  charge,  caused  the  most  inhuman 
torments  to  be  inflicted  upon  multitudes  of  them  at  Nicomedia. 

Soon  after  this,  a  new  edict  was  issued,  ordering  all  the  bishops,  pas- 
tors, and  public  teachers,  throughout  the  empire,  to  be  apprehended  and 
imprisoned ;  hoping  probably,  that  if  the  leaders  could  be  once  effectually 
silenced,  their  respective  flocks  might  be  easily  dispersed.  Nor  did 
his  inhuman  policy  stop  there ;  for,  a  third  edict  was  presently  issued, 
by  which  it  was  ordered,  that  all  sorts  of  torments  should  be  employed, 
and  the  most  intolerable  punishments  resorted  to,  in  order  to  force  the 
disciples  of  Jesus  to  renounce  their  profession,  and  sacrifice  to  the  hea- 
then gods.  The  consequence  was,  that  an  immense  number  of  persons 
became  the  victims  of  this  cruel  stratagem  throughout  every  part  of  the 
Roman  empire,  except  those  who  had  the  felicity  to  be  placed  under  the 
mild  and  equitable  government  of  Constantius  Chlorus.  The  shameful 
manner  in  which  multitudes  of  them  were  punished,  it  would  be  difficult 
to  relate  without  violating  the  rules  of  decency  ;  and,  in  the  present  day, 
would  scarcely  obtain  credit ;  while  others  were  put  to  death,  after 
having  their  constancy  tried  by  tedious  and  inexpressible  torments ;  and 
not  a  few  sent  to  the  mines,  where  they  were  doomed  to  linger  out  the 
remains  of  a  miserable  life  in  poverty  and  bondage. 

In  the  third  year  of  this  horrible  persecution  (A.  D.  304,)  a  fourth 
edict  was  published  by  Dioclesian,  at  the  instigation  of  Galerius,-  com- 

•  Mosheim,  ubi  supra.  f  See  page  116.  +  1  Pet.  i.  1. 


The  Dioclesian  Persecution.  161 

missioning  the  magistrates  to  force  all  Christians,  without  distinction 
of  rank  or  sex,  to  sacrifice  to  the  gods,  and  authorizing  them  to  employ 
all  sorts  of  torments,  with  the  view  of  driving  them  to  this  act  of  apos- 
tasy. The  diligence  and  zeal  of  the  Roman  magistrates  in  the  execu- 
tion of  this  inhuman  edict,  ultimately  reduced  the  Christian  profession 
to  a  very  low  ebb;  for  this  horrid  persecution  lasted  ten  years. 

The  rigorous  edicts  of  Dioclesian,  were  strictly  and  cheerfully  executed 
by  his  associate  Maximian,  who  had  long  hated  the  Christians,  and 
who  delighted  in  acts  of  blood  and  violence.  It  is  the  remark  of  Gibbon, 
when  speaking  of  Maximian  and  Galerius,  that  the  minds  of  those 
princes  had  never  been  enlightened  by  science.  Education  had  never 
softened  their  temper.  They  owed  their  greatness  to  their  swords ; 
and  in  their  most  elevated  fortune  they  still  retained  their  superstitious 
prejudices  of  soldiers  and  peasants.  Maximian  swayed  the  sceptre  over 
the  provinces  of  Syria,  Palestine,  and  Egypt,  where  he  gratified  his 
own  inclination  by  yielding  a  rigorous  obedience  to  the  stern  demands 
of  Dioclesian. 

A  learned  French  writer,  Monsieur  Godeau,  computes  that  in  this 
tenth  persecution,  as  it  is  commonly  termed,  there  were  not  less  than 
seventeen  thousand  Christians  put  to  death  in.  the  space  of  one  month. 
And  that  "  during  the  continuance  of  it,  in  the  province  of  Egypt  alone, 
no  less  than  one  hundred  and  fifty  thousand  persons  died  by  the  violence 
of  their  persecutors;  and  five  times  that  number  through  the  fatigues  of 
banishment,  or  in  the  public  mines  to  which  they  were  condemned."* 

Galerius  now  no  longer  made  a  secret  of  his  ambitious  designs.  He 
obliged  Dioclesian  and  Maximian  to  resign  the  imperial  dignity,  and  got 
himself  declared  emperor  of  the  east,  resigning  the  west,  for  the  present, 
to  Constantius  Chlorus,  at  that  time  in  Britain,  with  the  ill  state  of 
whose  health  he  was  well  acquainted. 

But  Divine  Providence  was  now  preparing  more  tranquil  times  for 
the  church  ;  and,  in  order  to  this,  it  confounded  the  schemes  of  Galerius, 
and  brought  his  counsels  to  nothing.  In  the  year  306,  Constantius 
Chlorus,  finding  his  end  approaching,  wrote  to  Galerius  to  send  him 
his  son  Constantine,  who  had  been  kept  as  an  hostage  at  court.  The 
request  was  refused ;  but,  coming  to  the  ears  of  young  Constantine,  and 
aware  of  the  danger  of  his  situation,  he  resolved  to  attempt  his  escape, 
and  seizing  a  favourable  moment,  he  made  the  best  of  his  way  for  Bri- 
tain, and,  to  prevent  pursuit,  is  said  to  have  killed  all  the  post  horses 
on  his  route.  He  arrived  at  York  just  in  time  to  witness  the  death  of 
his  father  Constantius,  who  had  in  the  meantime  nominated  his  son  as  his 
successor ;  and  the  army,  without  waiting  to  consult  Galerius,  imme- 
diately pronounced  Constantine  emperor  of  the  west,  in  the  room  of  his 
father — a  proceeding  which  must  have  stung  the  tyrant  to  the  heart, 
who  was  nevertheless  obliged  to  submit,  and  even  to  confirm  the  ap- 
pointment with  the  outward  marks  of  his  approbation. 

*  See  a  Sermon  of  Dr.  Calamy's,  on  Matt.  xvi.  18.  Mr.  Gibbon  has  laboured 
to  diminish  the  number  of  martyrs  on  this  trying  occasion,  and  to  show  that  they 
were  inconsiderable  indeed ;  but  even  his  own  account  of  things,  when  impar* 
tially  weighed,  will  be  found  to  justify  all  I  have  said  of  it, 

H*    - 


162  History  of  the  Christian  Church. 

Not  long  after  this  (A.  D.  311,)  Galerius  himself,  the  author  of  all 
this  series  of  complicated  suffering  to  the  Christians,  was  reduced  to 
the  brink  of  the  grave  by  a  dreadful  and  lingering  disease,  in  which  he 
suffered  horrors  that  no  language  can  express.  "  The  frequent  disap- 
pointments of  his  ambitious  views,"  says  Gibbon,  "the  experience  of 
six  years  of  persecution,  and  the  salutary  reflections  which  a  lingering 
and  painful  distemper  suggested  to  the  mind  of  Galerius,  at  length  con- 
vinced him  that  the  most  violent  efforts  of  despotism  are  insufficient  to 
extirpate  a  whole  people,  or  to  subdue  their  religious  prejudices."  De- 
sirous of  repairing  the  mischief  that  he  had  occasioned,  he  published  in 
his  own  name,  and  in  those  of  Licinius  and  Constantine,  a  general  edict, 
which  after  a  pompous  recital  of  the  imperial  titles,  proceeded  in  the 
following  manner: 

"Among  the  important  cares  which  have  occupied  our  minds,  for 
the  utility  and  preservation  of  the  empire,  it  was  our  intention  to  correct 
and  re-establish  all  things  according  to  the  ancient  laws  and  public  dis- 
cipline of  the  Romans.  We  were  particularly  desirous  of  reclaiming, 
into  the  way  of  reason  and  nature,  the  deluded  Christians  who  had  re- 
nounced the  religion  and  ceremonies  instituted  by  their  fathers,  and 
presumptuously  despising  the  practice  of  antiquity,  had  invented  ex- 
travagant laws  and  opinions  according  to  the  dictates  of  their  fancy,  and 
had  collected  a  various  society  from  the  different  provinces  of  our  em- 
pire. The  edicts  which  we  have  published,  to  enforce  the  worship  of 
the  gods,  having  exposed  many  of  the  Christians  to  danger  and  distress, 
many  having  suffered  death,  and  many  more,  who  still  persist  in  their 
impious  folly,  being  left  destitute  of  any  public  exercise  of  religion,  we 
are  disposed  to  extend  to  those  unhappy  men  the  effects  of  our  wonted 
clemency.  We  permit  them,  therefore,  freely  to  profess  their  private 
opinions,  and  to  assemble  in  their  conventicles  without  fear  of  moles- 
tation, provided  always  that  they  preserve  a  due  respect  to  the  estab- 
lished laws  and  government.  By  another  rescript,  we  shall  signify  our 
intentions  to  the  judges  and  magistrates  ;  and  tve  hope  that  our  indul- 
gence will  engage  the  Christians  to  offer  up  their  prayers  to  the  Deity 
whom  they  adore,  for  our  safety  and  prosperity,  for  their  own,  and 
for  that  of  the  republic."* 

This  important  edict  was  issued  and  set  up  at  Nicomedia,  on  the 
13th  April,  311  ;  but  the  wretched  Galerius  did  not  long  survive  its 
publication  ;  for  he  died  about  the  beginning  of  May,  under  torments 
the  most  excruciating,  and  in  the  nature  of  his  complaint  and  manner 
of  his  death,  very  much  resembling  the  case  of  Herod.  After  his 
death,  Maximin  succeeded  him  in  the  government  of  the  provinces  of 
Asia.  In  the  first  six  months  of  his  new  reign  he  affected  to  adopt 
the  prudent  counsels  of  his  predecessor ;  and,  though  he  never  conde- 
scended to  secure  the  tranquillity  of  the  church  by  a  public  edict,  he 
caused  a  circular  letter  to  be  addressed  to  all  the  governors  and  magis- 
trates of  the  provinces,  expatiating  on  the  imperial  clemency,  acknow- 
ledging the  invincible  obstinacy  of  the  Christians,  and  directing  the 
officers  of  justice  to  cease  their  ineffectual  prosecutions,  and  to. con- 

*  Gibbon's  Decline  and  Fall,  vol.  ii.  ch.  16. 


Conversion  of  Const antine  the  Great.  163 

nive  at  the  secret  assemblies  of  those  enthusiasts.  In  consequence  of 
these  orders,  says  Gibbon,  great  numbers  of  Christians  were  released 
from  prison,  or  delivered  from  the  mines.  "  The  confessors,  singing 
hymns  of  triumph,  returned  into  their  own  countries  ;  and  those  who 
had  yielded  to  the  violence  of  the  tempest,  solicited  with  tears  of  re- 
pentance, their  re-admission  into  the  bosom  of  the  Church."* 

This  treacherous  calm,  however,  was  of  short  duration.  Cruelty 
and  superstition  were  the  ruling  passions  of  the  soul  of  Maxim  in — the 
former  suggested  the  means,  the  latter  pointed  out  the  objects  of  per- 
secution. He  was  devoted  to  the  worship  of  the  Pagan  deities,  to  the 
study  of  magic,  and  to  the  belief  of  oracles.  Happily,  while  this 
bigoted  monarch  was  preparing  fresh  measures  of  violence  against  the 
Christians  with  deliberate  policy,  a  civil  war  broke  out  between  him- 
self and  his  colleague  Licinius,  which  occupied  his  whole  attention ; 
and  his  defeat  and  death  taking  place  soon  after,  delivered  the  Chris- 
tians from  this  last  and  most  implacable  of  their  enemies. 

The  government  of  the  Roman  world,  which,  a  few  years  before, 
had  been  administered  by  no  less  than  six  emperors  at  one  time,  now 
became  divided  between  Constantine  and  Licinius,  Avho  immediately 
granted  to  the  Christians  permission  to  live  according  to  their  own 
laws  and  institutions,  a  privilege  which  was  still  more  clearly  ascer- 
tained by  an  edict  drawn  up  at  Milan,  in  the  year  313.  By  this  edict, 
every  subject  of  the  empire  was  allowed  to  profess  either  Christianity 
or  Paganism  unmolested.  It  also  secured  the  places  of  Christian 
worship^  and  even  directed  the  restoration  of  whatever  property  they 
had  been  dispossessed  by  the  late  persecution.  The  rival  princes, 
however,  were  not  long  in  seeking  or  finding  occasion  to  turn  their 
arms  against  each  other,  in  the  issue  of  which  Licinius  fell,  and  left 
his  competitor  in  the  undisturbed  possession  of  the  empire. 

No  character  has  been  exhibited  to  posterity  in  lights  more  contra- 
dictory and  irreconcilable  than  that  of  Constantine.  Christian  wri- 
ters, transported  with  his  profession  of  their  faith,  have  magnified  his 
abilities  and  virtues  to  excess,  and  thrown  an  almost  celestial  splen- 
dour over  every  part  of  the  portrait ;  while  the  Pagan  historians  have 
spread  their  gloomy  shades  upon  the  canvass,  and  obscured  every  trait 
that  was  great  and  amiable. 

The  circumstances  attending  his  conversion  to  Christianity,  are  too 
familiar  to  most  readers,  to  render  any  thing  like  a  minute  detail  of 
them  proper  in  this  place.  His  father  Constantius  had  shown  himself 
very  favourably  disposed  towards  the  Christians,  and  Constantine  gave 
early  indications  of  a  desire  to  protect  and  favour  its  professors.  If 
we  may  credit  his  own  assertion,  he  had  been  an  indignant  spectator 
of  the  savage  cruelties  which  had  been  inflicted  by  the  hands  of  the 
Roman  soldiers,  on  those  citizens  whose  religion  was  their  only  crime. 
In  the  east  and  in  the  west  he  had  seen  the  different  effects  of  severity 
and  indulgence  ;  and  as  the  former  was  rendered  still  more  odious  by 
the  example  of  Galerius,  his  implacable  enemy,  the  lattter  was  recom- 
mended to  his  imitation  by  the  authority  and  advice  of  a  dying  father, 

*  Gibbon's  Decline  and  Fall,  vol.  ii.  ch.  16. 


1 64  History  of  the  Christian  Church. 

These  tolerant  principles  were  displayed  alike  both  towards  Pagans 
and  Christians,  before  the  emperor  had  avowed  any  peculiar  attach- 
ment towards  the  latter.  It  is  true,  nevertheless,  that  he  did  not  always 
maintain  this  state  of  indifference;  he  appears  evidently  to  have  been 
convinced  of  the  folly  and  impiety  of  the  Pagan  superstition,  which  in- 
duced him  to  exhort  all  his  subjects  earnestly  to  embrace  the  gospel, 
and  at  length  to  employ  all  the  force  of  his  authority  to  abolish  the 
ancient  heathen  worship. 

According  to  his  own  account,  he  was  marching  at  the  head  of  his 
army,  from  France  into  Italy,  against  Maxentius,  on  an  expedition, 
which  he  was  fully  aware,  involved  in  it  his  future  destiny.  Oppress- 
ed with  extreme  anxiety,  and  reflecting  that  he  needed  a  force  superior 
to  arms,  for  subduing  the  sorceries  and  magic  of  his  adversary,  he 
anxiously  looked  out  for  the  aid  of  some  deity,  as  that  which  alone 
could  secure  him  success.  About  noon,  when  the  sun  began  to  de- 
cline, whilst  praying  for  supernatural  aid,  a  luminous  cioss  was  seen 
by  the  emperor  and  his  army,  in  the  air,  above  the  sun,  inscribed  with 
the  words,  "  By  this  conquer,"  at  the  sight  of  which,  amazement 
overpowered  both  himself  and  the  soldiery  on  the  expedition  with  him. 
He  continued  to  ponder  On  the  event  till  night,  when,  in  a  dream,  the 
author  of  Christianity  appeared  to  him,  to  confirm  the  vision,  direct- 
ing him  at  the  same  time,  to  make  the  symbol  of  the  cross  his  military 
ensign.* 

*  Few  things  have  occasioned  more  perplexity  to  the  writers  of  ecclesiastical 
history,  and  set  them  more  at  variance,  than  this  vision  of  Constantine.  Mr. 
Milner,  whose  credulity  on  most  occasions  is  sufficiently  apparent,  entertains  no 
doubt  of  the  reality  of  the  miracle;  and  such  is  his  inconsistency  with  his  own 
theological  creed,  that  he  resolves  it  into  an  answer  to  Constantine's  importunate 
prayer.  "He  prayed,  he  implored,"  says  he,  "  with  much  vehemence  and  im- 
portunity, and  God  left  him  not  unanswered."  (As  though  the  blessed  God 
would  listen  to  any  prayer  but  that  of  faith!  Prov.  xv.  8.  and  Heb.  xi.  6.)  Dr. 
Haweis  gives  up  the  miracle  altogether,  and  seems  to  consider  the  whole  as  an 
imposition.  The  learned  Mosheim  is  evidently  perplexed  about  it,  and  seems 
at  a  loss  in  what  light  to  consider  it — and  so  also  is  his  translator.  "  The  whole 
story,"  says  the  latter,  "  is  attended  with  difficulties  which  render  it,  both  as  a 
miracle  and  as  a  fact,  extremely  dubious,  to  say  no  more."  If  any  should  think 
the  subj'vt  worthy  of  further  investigation,  I  would  recommend  to  their  perusal 
a  very  ingenious  and  learned  disquisition  upon  it,  subjoined  as  an  appendix  to 
the  first  volume  of  Dr.  Gregory's  Church  History,  written  by  Mr.  Ilenely  of 
Itendlesham.  They  will  there  find  a  compressed  account  of  the  opinions  of  the 
different  writers  on  the  subject,  and  the  following- deductions  not  unfairly  drawn 
from  the  whole — That  Eusebius,  who  received  the  account  of  this  extraordinary 
scene  from  the  mouth  of  Constantine  himself,  and  who  wrote  the  life  of  that 
emperor,  does  not  appear  to  have  given  credit  to  it,  though  the  latter  attested  it 
by  an  oath — that  neither  the  day,  the  year,  the  time,  nor  the  place  of  this  vision 
is  recorded — that  there  is  no  evidence  that  any  one  of  the  army  saw  the  pheno- 
menon besides  the  emperor — that  the  accounts  given  of  it  by  the  emperor  at  dif- 
ferent times  do  not  quadrate — that  the  whole  story  is  replete  with  contradictions 
— and  that  there  exists  a  presumption  diametrically  opposite  to  the  intent  of  the 
alleged  miracle,  in  the  declaration  of  Christ  to  the  Roman  governor,  "  My  king- 
dom is  not  of  this  world;  if  my  kingdom  were  of  this  world,  then  would  my  ser- 
vants fight,"  &c. — and  that,  in  a  word,  the  powerful  inducements  of  policy  and 
party,  the  obvious  character  of  Constantine,  and  the  opinions  of  the  times,  when 
judiciously  considered  and  properly  combined,  present  in  themselves  an  easy  so- 
lution of  the  whole  contrivance  and  fraud. 


Character  of  Constantine.  165 

Constantine  vanquished  his  adversary  ;  and  no  sooner  was  he  made 
master  of  Rome,  by  the  destruction  of  Maxentius  than  he  honoured  the 
cross  by  putting  a  spear  of  that  form  into  the  hand  of  the  statue  erect- 
ed for  him  at  Rome.  He  now  built  places  for  Christian  worship,  and 
showed  great  beneficence  to  the  poor.  He  encouraged  the  meeting  of 
bishops  in  synods — honoured  them  with  his  presence,  and  employed 
himself  continually  in  aggrandizing  the  church.  He  removed  the  seat 
of  empire  to  Byzantium,  which  he  embellished,  enlarged,  and  honoured 
with  the  name  of  Constantinople  ;  and  prohibited,  by  a  severe  edict,  the 
performance  of  any  Pagan  rites  and  ceremonies  throughout  the  city. 
His  religious  zeal  augmented  with  his  years  ;  and  towards  the  close  of 
his  life,  several  imperial  edicts  were  issued  for  the  demolition  of  the 
heathen  temples,  and  the  prevention  of  any  sacrifices  upon  their  altars. 
He  was  on  the  other  hand,  scrupulously  attentive  to  the  religious  rites 
and  ceremonies  which  were  prescribed  by  the  Christian  clergy.  He 
fasted  ;  observed  the  feasts  in  commemoration  of  the  martyrs,  and  de- 
voutly watched  the  whole  night  on  the  vigils  of  the  saints.  And  in 
his  last  illness,  he  summoned  to  the  imperial  palace  at  Nicomedia,  se- 
veral Christian  bishops,  fervently  requesting  to  receive  from  them  the 
ordinance  of  baptism,  and  solemnly  protesting  his  intention  of  spend- 
ing the  remainder  of  his  life  as  the  disciple  of  Christ.  He  was  accord- 
ingly baptized  by  Eusebius,  bishop  of  that  city:  after  which  he  entire- 
ly laid  aside  his  purple  and  regal  robes,  and  continued  to  wear  a  white 
garment  till  the  day  of  his  death,  which,  after  a  short  illness,  took 
place  on  the  22d  of  May,  in  the  year  337,  at  the  age  of  sixty-four, 
having  reigned  thirty-three  years.* 

The  extraordinary  occurrences  of  the  life  of  Constantine  produc- 
ed an  entire  change  in  the  whole  of  the  Christian  profession.  Its 
friends  were  now  no  longer  called  to  endure  patiently  the  hatred  of  the 
world — to  take  up  their  cross,  and  press  after  a  conformity  to  Christ  in 
his  sufferings,  and  through  much  tribulation,  to  enter  his  kingdom ; 
but  they  were  to  bask  in  the  sunshine  of  worldly  prosperity,  enjoying 
the  smiles  of  the  great,  and  connecting  with  their  profession  the  riches 
and  honours  of  this  present  world — the  baneful  effects  of  which  began 
speedily  to  develope  themselves.  So  long  as  the  Christians  were  per- 
secuted by  the  heathen  on  account  of  their  faith  and  practices,  they 
were  driven  to  the  gospel  as  their  only  source  of  consolation  and  sup- 
port; and  they  found  it  every  Avay  sufficient  for  their  utmost  need. 
The  animating  principles  which  it  imparted,  raised  their  minds  supe- 
rior to  the  enjoyments  of  this  world,  and  in  the  hope  of  life  and  immor- 
tality, they  were  happy,  even  if  called  to  lay  down  their  lives  for  the 
sake  of  their  profession.  And,  herein,  the  power  of  their  religion  was 
conspicuous.  It  was  not  with  them  an  empty  speculation,  floating  in 
the  mind,  destitute  of  any  influence  upon  the  will  and  the  affections. 
While  it  induced  them  to  count  no  sacrifice  too  costly  which  they  were 
called  to  make  for  the  gospel's  sake,  they  were  led  by  it  to  exercise 
the  most  Christian  affection  one  towards  another — to  sympathize  ten- 
derly with  each  other  in  all  their  sorrows  and  distresses — and  by  bear- 

*  Eusebius's  Life  of  Constantine,  b.  iv.  ch.  62. 


166  History  of  the  Christian  Church. 

ing  one  another's  burdens,  they  fulfilled  their  Lord's  new  command  of 
brotherly  love.  This  was  the  prominent  feature  in  Christianity  during 
the  first  three  centuries.  The  writings  of  the  apostles  and  evangelists 
all  breathe  this  amiable  spirit,  and  abound  with  exhortations  to  culti- 
vate this  God-like  disposition  ;  and  so  couspicuous  was  the  exercise  of 
it  among  the  primitive  Christians  that  it  was  commonly  remarked  by 
their  enemies,  and  recommended  by  them  as  worthy  of  imitation. 

Such,  however,  is  the  depravity  of  human  nature,  that,  as  they  en- 
joyed any  intervals  from  persecution,  they  became  more  profligate  in 
their  morals  and  more  litigious  in  their  tempers.  But  now  that  the  re- 
straint was  wholly  taken  off  by  Constantine,  the  churches  endowed, 
and  riches  and  honours  liberally  conferred  on  the  clergy  ;  when  he  au- 
thorized them  to  sit  as  judges  upon  the  consciences  and  faith  of  others, 
he  confirmed  them  in  the  spirit  of  this  world — the  spirit  of  pride,  ava- 
rice, domination,  and  ambition — the  indulgence  of  which  has,  in  all 
ages,  proved  fatal  to  the  purity,  peace  and  happiness  of  the  kingdom 
of  Christ.  This  inconsistent  conduct  of  the  leading  men  among  them, 
in  professing  a  religion,  the  prominent  characteristics  of  which  are  hu- 
mility and  self-denial,  and  at  the  same  time  aspiring  after  the  pleasures 
and  the  honours  of  this  world,  seems  to  have  forcibly  struck  the  very 
heathens  themselves.  Hence,  an  historian  of  the  latter  class,  who 
lived  shortly  after  the  time  of  Constantine,  remarks  concerning  the  bi- 
shops of  Rome,  "  It  would  be  well  if,  despising  the  magnificence  of 
the  city,  they  would  imitate  some  of  the  bishops  of  provincial  towns, 
whose  temperance  in  eating  and  drinking,  plainness  of  apparel,  and 
looking  above  the  world,  recommended  them  to  the  deity  as  his  true 
worshippers."* 

Now  they  began  to  new-model  the  Christian  church,  the  govern- 
ment of  Avhich  was,  as  far  as  possible,  arranged  conformably  to  the 
government  of  the  state.  The  emperor  himself  assumed  the  title  of 
bishop — and  claimed  the  power  of  regulating  its  external  affairs  ;  and 
he  and  his  successors  convened  councils,  in  which  they  presided,  and 
determined  all  matters  of  discipline.  The  bishops  corresponded  to 
those  magistrates  whose  jurisdiction  was  confined  to  single  cities  ;  the 
metropolitans  to  the  pro-consuls  or  presidents  of  provinces  ;  the  pri- 
mates to  the  emperor's  vicars,  each  of  whom  governed  one  of  the  im- 
perial provinces.  Canons  and  prebendaries  of  cathedral  churches  took 
their  rise  from  the  societies  of  ecclesiastics,  which  Eusebius,  bishop  of 
Verceil,  and  after  him  Augustine,  formed  in  their  houses,  and  in  which 
these  prelates  were  styled  their  fathers  and  masters.! 

This  constitution  of  things  was  an  entire  departure  from  the  order  of 
worship,  established  under  Divine  direction  by  the  apostles  of  Christ 
in  the  primitive  churches.  In  fact,  scarcely  any  two  things  could  be 
more  dissimilar  than  was  the  simplicity  of  the  gospel  dispensation  from 
the  hierarchy  established  under  Constantine  the  Great.  "  Let  none," 
says  Dr.  Mosheim,  alluding  to  the  first  and  second  centuries,  "  con- 
found the  bishops  of  this  primitive  and  golden  period  of  the  church, 

*  Ammianus  Marcellinus,  b.  xxvii.  362. 

f  Priestley's  History  of  the  Corruptions  of  Christianity,  voL  ii.  p.  342. 


Christianity  Established  by  Law.  167 

with  those  of  whom  we  read  in  the  following  ages.  For  though  they 
were  both  designated  by  the  same  name,  yet  they  differed  extremely, 
in  many  respects.  A  bishop,  during  the  first  and  second  centuries, 
was  a  person  who  had  the  care  of  one  Christian  assembly,  which,  at 
that  time,  was,  generally  speaking,  small  enough  to  be  contained  in  a 
private  house.  In  this  assembly,  he  acted,  not  so  much  with  the  au- 
thority of  a  master,  as  with  the  zeal  and  diligence  of  a  faithful  servant. 
The  churches  also,  in  those  early  times,  were  entirely  independent ; 
none  of  them  subject  to  any  foreign  jurisdiction,  but  each  one  govern- 
ed by  its  own  rulers  and  its  own  laws.  Nothing  is  more  evident  than 
the  perfect  equality  that  reigned  among  the  primitive  churches ;  nor 
does  there  ever  appear,  in  the  first  century,  the  smallest  trace  of  that 
association  of  provincial  churches,  from  which  councils  and  metropo- 
litans derive  their  origin."*  To  which  we  may  add,  that  the  first 
churches  acknowledged  no  earthly  potentate  as  their  head.  This  had 
been  expressly  prohibited  by  their  Divine  Master.  "  The  kings  of  the 
Gentiles,"  said  he,  "exercise  lordship  over  them;  and  they  that  exer- 
cise an  authority  upon  them  are  termed  benefactors.  But  with  you  it 
shall  not  be  so  ; — let  him  that  is  greatest  among  you  be  as  the  younger, 
and  he  that  is  chief,  as  he  that  doth  serve. "t  Again,  "  Be  not  ye  call- 
ed Rabbi ;  for  one  is  your  Master,  even  Christ,  and  all  ye  are  breth- 
ren. And  call  no  man  your  father  upon  the  earth ;  for  one  is  your  fa- 
ther who  is  in  heaven.  Neither  be  ye  called  masters  ;  for  one  is  your 
Master,  even  Christ.  But  he  that  is  greatest  among  you  shall  be  your 
servant ;  and,  whosoever  exalteth  himself  shall  be  abased,  while  he 
that  humbleth  himself  shall  be  exalted. "J  These  divine  maxims, 
which  are  in  perfect  unison  with  the  whole  tenor  of  the  New  Testa- 
ment, were  entirely  disregarded  by  the  ecclesiastics  who  undertook  to 
new-model  the  constitution  of  the  Christian  church,  under  the  auspices 
of  Constantine,  and  whom,  as  a  matter  of  courtesy,  they  condescended 
to  make  its  earthly  head.     But  to  proceed. 

Thus  restored  to  the  full  exercise  of  their  liberty,  their  churches  re- 
built, and  the  imperial  edicts  every  where  published  in  their  favour, 
these  new  bishops  immediately  began  to  discover  what  spirit  they  were 
of.  As  their  several  revenues  increased,  they  grew  more  ambitious, 
less  capable  of  contradiction,  more  haughty  and  arrogant  in  their  beha- 
viour, more  quarrelsome  in  their  tempers,  and  more  regardless  of  the 
simplicity  and  gravity  of  their  profession  and  character.  Constantine's 
letters  afford  abundant  proof  of  the  jealousies  and  animosities  that  reign- 
ed among  them.  Adverting  to  a  violent  quarrel  which  had  taken  place 
between  Miltiades,  bishop  of  Rome,  and  Coecilianus,  bishop  of  Car- 
thage, in  which  the  principals  had  enlisted  a  host  of  their  colleagues  as 
their  respective  auxiliaries,  he  states  to  them,  that  it  was  a  very  griev- 
ous thing  to  him  to  see  so  great  a  number  of  persons  divided  into  par- 
ties, and  the  bishops  disagreeing  among  themselves.  He  earnestly 
wishes  to  compose  their  differences;  but  in  spite  of  all  his  efforts,  they 
persisted  in  their  quarrels — which  drew  from  him  a  pathetic  complaint, 

*  Eccles.  Hist.  vol.  i.  p.  105—107.  f  Luke  xxii.  25,  26, 

t  Matt,  xxiii.  3—12. 


168  History  of  the  Christian  Church. 

that  those  who  ought  to  have  been  the  foremost  in  maintaining  a  bro- 
therly affection  and  peaceable  disposition  towards  each  other,  were  the 
first  to  separate  from  one  another  in  a  scandalous  and  detestable  man- 
ner, giving  occasion  to  the  common  enemies  of  Christianity  to  scoff  and 
deride  them. 

To  put  an  end  to  such  factious  and  disgraceful  proceedings,  he  sum- 
moned a  council  to  meet  at  Aries  in  France,  in  order,  if  it  were  possi- 
ble, to  bring  to  a  friendly  and  Christian  compromise  this  long  pending 
altercation.  He  himself  condescended  to  be  present  on  the  occasion, 
and  exerted  all  his  influence  to  restore  peace  and  harmony  among  them, 
but  with  little  effect.  He  had  unfortunately  sown  the  seeds  of  strife 
and  contention,  by  his  liberal  endowment  of  churches,  and  by  the  riches 
and  honours  that  he  had  conferred  upon  the  bishops,  and  he  was  now 
reaping  the  fruit  of  his  folly. 

Had  this  first  of  the  Christian  emperors,  rested  satisfied  with  the  pri- 
mary edict  which  he  published  in  favour  of  the  Christians,  he  had  act- 
ed the  part  of  a  wise,  good,  and  impartial  governor.     That  decree,  with- 
out particularizing  any  sects  or  parties,  gave  full  liberty  to  all  of  them, 
both  Christians  and  Pagans,  to  follow  whatever  religious  profession 
seemed  to  them  most  eligible.     But  that  liberty  was  of  no  long  dura- 
tion, and  was  soon  abridged  in  reference  to  both  Christians  and  Hea- 
thens.    For,  although  in  that  edict  he  had  commanded  that  the  places 
of  worship  and  other  effects  should  be  restored  to  Christians  in  general, 
it  was  soon  followed  by  another,  which  restricts  this  grant  to  "  the 
catholic  church."     After  this,  in   a  letter   to   Miltiades,  bishop  of 
Rome,  complaining  of  the  differences  fomented  by  the  African  bishops, 
he  tells  him,  that  he  had  so  great  a  reverence  for  "  the  catholic  church," 
that  he  would  not  have  him  suffer,  in  any  place,  any  schism  or  differ- 
ence whatsoever  to  exist.     There  are  in  his  letters  many  things  which 
savour  of  the  same  spirit,  and  which  can  leave  us  in  no  doubt,  that,  by 
"  the  catholic  faith  and  church"  we  are  to  understand  that  which  was 
approved  by  those  bishops  who  had  the  greatest  interest  in  his  favour. 
And  with  regard  to  his  treatment  of  the  Pagans,  it  was  in  flagrant 
violation  of  the  first  principle  of  Christianity,  as  well  as  of  the  excellent 
edict  which  he  had  formerly  issued.     He  prohibited  by  law*  the  wor- 
ship of  idols  in  cities  and  country — commanded  that  no  statues  of  the 
gods  should  be  erected,  nor  any  sacrifices  offered  upon  their  altars,  and 
sent  into  all  the  provinces  Christian  presidents,  forbidding  the  Pagan 
priests  to  offer  sacrifice,  and  confirming  to  the  former  the  honours  due 
to  their  characters  and  stations  ;  thus  endeavouring  to  support  the  king- 
dom of  Christ,  which  is  not  of  this  world,  by  means  altogether  world- 
ly, viz.  the  prospects  and  rewards  of  worldly  honour  and  preferment. 
It  can  excite  no  surprise,  that  those  persons  who  could  advise  the 
issuing  of  these  edicts,  to  suppress  the  ancient  religion  of  the  empire, 
should  be  against  tolerating  any  sects  among  themselves  that  should  pre- 
sume to  differ  from  them  on  any  articles  of  the  Christian  faith  or  dis- 
cipline.    For  nothing  can  be  more  evident  than  that,  if  the  civil  magis- 
trate is  vested  with  authority  to  prohibit  religious  opinions,  or  punish 

*  .Eusebius,  b.  10.  ch.  5,  6, 


Rise  of  the  Avian  Controversies.  1 69 

the  abettors  of  them,  merely  because  in  his  view  they  are  erroneous,  it 
must  necessarily  follow,  that  he  has  an  equal  right  to  punish  a  profess- 
ing Christian  whose  sentiments  or  practices  differ  from  his  own,  as  he 
would  have  to  punish  those  of  a  Pagan  or  Mahommedan.  If  the  ma- 
gistrate's jurisdiction  extend  to  his  exercising  a  control  over  the  human 
mind  in  one  instance,  it  will  be  impossible  consistently  to  deny  it  to 
him  in  any  other;  and  as  his  own  judgment  is,  in  all  cases,  the  author- 
ized standard  of  what  is  truth  and  error,  in  religion,  he  bears  the  sword, 
on  this  principle  to  punish  every  deviation  from  that  standard  which  he 
has  erected,  whether  found  in  Christian,  Jew,  or  Pagan.  Thus,  if 
Constantine  and  his  bishops  were  justified  in  abolishing  heathenism  by 
the  civil  power,  because  they  believed  it  erroneous,  Dioclesian  and  Gal- 
lienus  with  their  priests,  were  equally  right  in  prohibiting  Christianity 
by  civil  laws,  because  they  believed  it  to  be  not  only  false  and  impious, 
but  blasphemy  against  their  gods,  and  even  as  bordering  upon  atheism 
itself. 

It  has  been  well  remarked  by  a  sensible  writer,  that  "men  have  been 
very  long  in  discovering,  and  even  yet  seem  scarcely  to  have  discover- 
ed, that  true  religion  is  of  too  delicate  a  nature  to  be  compelled,  by  the 
coarse  implements  of  human  authority  and  worldly  sanctions.  Let  the 
law  of  the  land  restrain  vice  and  injustice  of  every  kind,  as  ruinous  to 
the  peace  and  order  of  society ;  for  this  is  its  proper  province  :  but  let 
it  not  tamper  with  religion,  by  attempting  to  enforce  its  exercises  and 
duties.  These,  unless  they  be  free-will  offerings,  are  nothing  ;  they 
are  worse  [than  nothing.]  By  such  an  unnatural  alliance,  and  ill- 
judged  aid,  hypocrisy  and  superstition  may,  indeed,  be  greatly  promot- 
ed; but  genuine  piety  never  fails  to  suffer."* 

The  sentiments  of  primitive  Christians  for  the  first  three  centuries, 
in  reference  to  the  divinity  of  the  Saviour,  were  generally  speaking, 
pretty  uniform ;  nor  do  there  appear  to  have  been  any  public  controver- 
sies regarding  this  leading  article  of  the  Christian  faith.  But  a  dispute 
now  arose  which  may  be  said  to  have  involved  all  Christendom  in  a 
flame.  It  originated  in  the  church  of  Alexandria,  in  Egypt,  between 
Alexander  and  Arius,  two  of  the  pastors  of  that  church,  and  soon  spread 
itself  into  other  churches,  inflaming  bishops  against  bishops,  who,  under 
the  pretext  of  supporting  divine  truth,  excited  tumults,  and  fomented 
the  most  deadly  strifes  and  hatreds  towards  each  other.  These  divi- 
sions of  the  prelates  set  the  people  together  by  the  ears,  and  the  dis- 
pute was  managed  with  such  violence,  that  it  involved  the  whole 
Christian  world,  and  gave  occasion  to  the  heathens  to  ridicule  the 
Christian  religion  upon  their  public  theatres.t 

The  occasion  of  this  dispute,  which  is  well  known  by  the  name  of 
"The  Arian  Controversy,"  seems  to  have  been  simply  this.  Alex- 
ander, one  of  the  prelates  of  that  church,  speaking  upon  the  subject  of 
the  Trinity,  had  affirmed  that  there  was  "  an  unity  in  the  Trinity,  and 
particularly  that  the  Son  was  co-eternal,  and  con-substantial,  and  of  the 
same  dignity  with  the  Father."     Arius  objected  to  this  language,  and 

*  Campbell's  Lectures  on  Eccles.  Hist.  vol.  i.  p.  73. 
f  Socrates's  Eccles.  Hist.  b.  i.  ch.  6. 
15 


170  History  of  the  Christian  Church. 

argued  that  "  If  the  Father  begat  the  Son,  he  who  was  begotten  must 
have  a  beginning  of  his  existence;  and  from  hence,  says  he,  'tis  mani- 
fest that  tbcre  was  a  time  Avhen  he  (the  Son)  was  not,"  Sic. 

It  is  wholly  incompatible  with  the  object  of  this  history  to  discuss 
points  of  Christian  doctrine ;  but  the  reader  will,  probably,  excuse  a 
few  remarks  on  this  extraordinary  controversy.  It  is  scarcely  possible 
for  any  one  who  entertains  a  reverential  regard  for  the  great  God,  not 
to  be  struck  with  the  presumption  of  poor,  finite,  erring  mortals,  dar- 
ing to  investigate,  in  the  rash  and  inconsiderate  manner  that  was  now 
done,  a  subject  of  such  awful  import  as  the  modus  of  the  divine  exist- 
ence. We  no  sooner  turn  our  thoughts  to  this  question  than  our  feeble 
capacities  are  overwhelmed  with  the  immensity  of  the  subject.  Reason, 
in  its  most  improved  state,  can  carry  us  but  a  little  way  in  our  disco- 
veries of  God ;  and,  if  we  are  wise,  we  shall  receive  in  simplicity  of 
mind,  every  information  which  the  great  First  Cause  hath  been  pleased 
to  afford  us  concerning  himself  in  his  holy  word.  There,  indeed,  we 
learn  with  certainty,  what  may  be  also  inferred  from  the  works  of  cre- 
ation and  providence,  that  there  is  a  God,  who  at  first  called  the  uni- 
verse into  being,  and  who  still  upholds  and  governs  all  things.  But  the 
works  of  creation  and  providence  could  never  teach  us,  what  the  Scrip- 
tures make  abundantly  plain, — that  there  is  in  this  one  immense  being, 
a  distinction  of  Father,  Word,  and  Spirit — a  distinction  which  lies  at 
the  foundation  of  the  whole  economy  of  our  redemption.  Men  in  the 
pride  of  their  hearts,  may  ask,  how  can  these  things  be?  But  we  are 
under  no  obligation  to  explain  that  point  to  them.  And,  indeed,  it  will 
be  early  enough  for  them  to  put  the  question,  when  they  shall  have  ex- 
plained how  body,  soul,  and  spirit  constitute  one  individual  human  per- 
son. Every  child  may  see  that  this  distinction  pervades  the  whole  of 
divine  revelation,  and  especially  the  New  Testament.  The  Father  is 
always  represented  as  sustaining  the  majesty  of  the  Godhead ;  as  the 
great  moral  Governor  of  the  world,  giving  laws  to  his  creatures,  enforced 
by  the  sanctions  of  the  rewards  and  punishments  of  a  future  state.  The 
Word  is  described  as  becoming  incarnate  to  accomplish  the  purposes 
of  the  Father's  love  in  the  redemption  of  the  guilty.  And  the  Holy 
Spirit  as  the  efficient  agent,  carrying  into  effect  the  purpose  of  the  Fa- 
ther and  the  grace  of  the  Son,  on  the  hearts  of  the  elect.  But  then  it 
never  leads  us  to  conceive  of  the  Son  of  God,  abstractedly  from  his  in- 
carnation. The  Word  was  made  flesh,  or  assumed  a  human  body, 
and  thus  "  that  holy  thing  which  was  born  of  the  Virgin,  was  the  Son 
of  God."*  The  doctrine  of  "  eternal  generation"  was  unknown  to 
the  inspired  writers,  and,  unquestionably,  hatched  in  the  school  of 
Alexandria.  Happy  had  it  been  for  the  Christian  world,  could  they 
have  rested  satisfied  with  the  simple  doctrine  of  divine  revelation  on 
this  sublime  subject ;  not  seeking  to  be  wise  beyond  what  is  written. 
Much  as  I  dislike  the  character  of  Athanasius,  it  is  only  due  to  him  to 
say,  that  he  has  in  a  few  words  said  all  that  can  with  propriety  be  said 
on  this  subject.  "  The  Father,"  says  he,  "cannot  be  the  Son,  nor  the 
>Son  the  Father;  and  the  Holy  Ghost  is  never  called  by  the  name  of 

*  Luke  i.  31 — 35.     John  i.  14. 


View  of  the  Arian  Controversy.  171 

the  Son,  but  is  called  the  Spirit  of  the  Father  and  of  the  Son.  The 
Holy  Trinity  is  but  one  divine  nature  and  one  God.  This  is  sufficient 
for  the  faithful;  human  knowledge  goes  no  further.  The  Cherubims 
vail  the  rest  with  their  wings." 

But  let  the  reader  mark  how  these  ecclesiastical  combatants  repre- 
sent each  other's  opinions.  Arius  in  a  letter  to  Eusebius  of  Nicome- 
dia,  thus  states  the  sentiments  of  Alexander.  "  God  is  always  and 
the  Son  always — the  same  time  the  Father,  the  same  time  the  Son — 
the  Son  co-exists  with  God  unbegottenly,  being  ever  begotten,  being 
unbegottenly  begotten — God  was  not  before  the  Son,  no  not  in  con- 
ception, or  the  least  point  of  time,  he  being  ever  God,  ever  a  Son — 
For  the  Son  is  out  of  God  himself."  Alexander,  on  the  contrary,  in 
a  letter  to  the  bishop  of  Constantinople,  gives  us  the  doctrine  of  Arius 
in  the  following  words.  "  There  was  'a  time  when  there  was  no  Son 
of  God,  and  that  he  who  before  was  not,  afterwards  existed,  being 
made,  whensoever  he  was  made,  just  as  any  man  whatsoever;  and 
that  therefore  he  was  of  a  mutable  nature,  and  equally  receptive  of  vice 
and  virtue,"  &c. 

If  these  things  were  publicly  taught  and  avowed,  by  these  men,  as 
each  represents  the  other's  sentiments,  every  sober  man  will  surely 
think  that  they  both  merited  severe  reprehension,  for  leaving  the  plain 
language  of  scripture,  and  introducing  terms  of  their  own  invention 
into  a  doctrine  of  pure  revelation,  and  at  last  dividing  the  whole  of 
Christendom  on  account  of  it. 

Numerous  expedients  were  tried  to  bring  Alexander  and  Arius 
to  one  mind,  the  emperor  himself  condescending  to  become  a  media- 
tor between  them  ;  but  all  attempts  proved  fruitless.  He  wrote  let- 
ters to  them  at  Alexandria,  exhorting  them  to  lay  aside  their  differ- 
ences and  become  reconciled  to  each  other.  He  informs  them  that  he 
had  diligently  examined  the  rise  and  progress  of  this  dispute,  and  that 
he  found  the  occasion  of  the  difference  to  be  very  trifling  and  not 
worthy  such  furious  contentions  ;  and  that  therefore  he  promised  him- 
self, his  mediation  for  peace  would  have  its  desired  effect.  He  re- 
minds Alexander  that,  "  He  required  from  his  presbyters  a  declaration 
of  their  sentiments  concerning  a  silly,  empty  question — and  Arius, 
that  he  had  imprudently  uttered  what  he  should  not  even  have  thought 
of,  or  what  at  least  he  should  have  kept  secret  in  his  own  bosom ;  that 
questions  about  such  things  ought  not  to  have  been  asked ;  if  asked, 
should  not  have  been  answered  ;  that  they  proceeded  from  an  idle  itch 
of  disputation,  and  were  in  themselves  of  so  high  and  difficult  a  nature, 
as  that  they  could  not  be  exactly  comprehended  or  suitably  explained. 
And  that  to  insist  on  such  points  before  the  people  could  produce  no 
other  effect  than  to  make  some  of  them  talk  blasphemy,  and  others 
turn  schismatics."* 

This,  unquestionably,  was  excellent  advice,  but  religious  animosi- 
ties are  not  so  easily  removed  ;  and  the  ecclesiastical  combatants  were 
too  warmly  engaged  to  listen  to  such  salutary  counsel.  Finding  all 
other  resources  ineffectual,  the  emperor  was  at  length  under  the  neces- 

*  Eusebius's  Life  of  Constantine,  b.  1.  ch.  63. 


172  History  of  the  Christian  Church. 

sity  of  issuing  letters  to  the  bishops  of  the  several  provinces  of  the 
empire,  enjoining  them  to  assemble  together  at  Nice,  in  Bythinia, 
which  was  accordingly  done,  A.  D.  325.  This  is  what  goes  by  the 
name  of  "  The  First  General  Council."  The  number  of  bishops  was 
three  hundred  and  eighteen,  besides  a  multitude  of  presbyters,  deacons, 
acolythists,  and  others,  amounting  in  the  whole  to  two  thousand  and 
forty-eight  persons.  The  ecclesiastical  historians  inform  us,  that  in 
this  vast  collection  of  the  bishops,  some  were  remarkable  for  their  gra- 
vity, patience  under  sufferings,  modesty,  integrity,  and  eloquence,  yet 
they  all  agree  that  there  were  others  of  very  opposite  characters.* 

On  the  day  appointed  for  holding  the  council,  the  bishops  and  infe- 
rior clergy  were  assembled  in  the  largest  room  in  the  palace,  rows  of 
seats  being  placed  on  each  side  of  it;  and  all  having  taken  their  places, 
they  waited,  standing  in  respectful  silence  for  the  emperor,  who,  being 
preceded  by  several  of  his  friends,  at  length  made  his  appearance,  as 
Eusebius  says,  like  an  angel  of  God,  exceeding  all  his  attendants,  in 
size,  gracefulness,  and  strength ;  and  dazzling  all  eyes  with  the  splen- 
dour of  his  dress  ;  but  showing  the  greatest  humility  and  modesty  in 
his  manner  of  walking,  gesture,  and  behaviour.  Having  taken  his  sta- 
tion in  the  middle  of  the  upper  part  of  the  room,  near  a  low  chair 
that  was  covered  with  gold,  he  did  not  sit  down,  till  the  fathers  de- 
sired it. 

All  being  now  seated,  says  Eusebius,  the  bishop  whose  place  was  the 
first  on  his  right  hand  (Maimbourg  informs  us  it  was  Eustathius,  patri- 
arch of  Antioch,)  rose,  and  addressing  the  emperor,  gave  thanks  to  God 
on  his  account,  congratulating  the  church  on  its  prosperous  condition, 
brought  about  by  his  means,  and  particularly  in  the  destruction  of  the 

*  "  The  eloquence  of  Lactantius,  and  the  beauty  and  purity  of  his  style,  raise 
liim  superior  to  every  author  of  the  fourth  century,  and  place  him  upon  an 
equality  with  some  of  the  most  accomplished  writers  of  ancient  Rome.  En- 
trusted with  the  education  of  Crispus,  the  unfortunate  son  of  Constantine,  whom 
that  monarch  afterwards  put  to  death,  Lactantius,  amidst  the  splendours  of  a 
court,  was  distinguished  only  by  his  talents  and  his  poverty.  His  principal  work 
consists  of  a  masterly  refutation  of  Paganism,  and  a  learned  comparison  between 
it  and  Christianity.  It  is  to  the  indelible  disgrace  of  the  age,  that  while  a  num- 
ber of  fanatic  monks  and  popular  dcclaimers  obtained  the  highest  stations  in  the 
church,  a  man  who  possessed  die  learning  of  Aristotle,  with  the  eloquence  of 
Cicero,  who  united  philosophy  with  religion,  and  an  earnest  piety  with  all  the 
graces  of  a  polished  taste  and  enlightened  understanding,  should  be  permitted  to 
languish  without  distinction  or  reward.  It  is,  however,  but  too  common  a  case, 
that  the  service  which  is  rendered  to  a  party,  is  rated  higher  than  that  which  is 
rendered  to  mankind  in  general.  The  defence  of  a  single  dogma  shall  raise  a 
man  to  eminence  and  fortune;  while  the  enlightening  of  thousands,  the  improv- 
ing of  the  hearts,  the  morals,  the  judgments,  and  religious  sentiments  of  the  na- 
tion, shall  frequently  be  passed  over,  with  scarcely  the  cold  return  of  fruitless 
praise." — Gregory's  Church  History,  vol.  i.  p.  224. 

"  Such  was  the  taste  of  the  times  and  the  people,  that  Lactantius,  who  was  a 
man  of  learning  and  real  eloquence,  a  man  of  sound  sentiments,  extensive  know- 
ledge, and  inoffensive  life,  the  most  excellent  of  the  Latin  fathers,  and  justly 
called  the  Christian  Cicero,  was  in  want  of  common  necessaries;  while  Ambrose, 
who  was  not  worthy  to  carry  his  books,  was  elected  to  the  rich  see  of  "Milan; 
and  this  when  the  people  elected  their  own  bishops." — Robhison's  Eccles.  Re- 
searches. 


Proceedings  of  the  Nicene  council.  173 

idolatrous  worship  of  Paganism.  Then  sitting  down,  the  emperor 
himself  addressed  the  company  in  Latin,  expressing  his  happiness  at 
seeing  them  all  met  on  so  glorious  an  occasion  as  the  amicable  settle- 
ment of  all  their  differences,  which,  he  said,  had  given  him  more  con- 
cern than  all  his  wars ;  but  that  these  being  at  an  end,  he  had  nothing 
more  at  heart  than  to  be  the  means  of  settling  the  peace  of  the  church  ; 
and  he  concluded  with  expressing  his  earnest  wish  that  they  would,  as 
speedily  as  possible,  remove  every  cause  of  dissension,  and  lay  the 
foundation  of  a  lasting  peace.  What  he  said  in  Latin  was  interpreted 
to  the  fathers  in   Greek. 

Immediately  after  this  speech,  this  excellent  emperor  was  witness  to 
a  scene  which  must  have  afforded  him  a  very  unpromising  prospect  as 
to  the  success  of  his  project  for  peace.  For  before  they  entered  upon 
the  discussion  of  any  thing  that  related  to  the  great  object  of  their  meet- 
ing, the  bishops  began  with  complaining  to  the  emperor  of  each  other, 
and  vindicating  themselves.  To  every  thing  that  was  said,  he  gave  a 
patient  hearing,  and  by  his  mildness  and  great  address,  speaking  to  them 
in  Greek  (which  he  was  in  some  measure  able  to  do)  he  at  length  pre- 
vailed upon  them  to  come  to  an  agreement,  says  Eusebius,  not  only 
with  respect  to  their  private  differences,  but  also  with  regard  to  the  two 
great  objects  of  their  assembling — the  rule  of  faith  as  it  respected  the 
Arian  controversy,  and  the  time  of  celebrating  Easter. 

Socrates  says,  that  the  bishops  having  put  into  the  emperor's  hands 
written  libels,  containing  their  complaints  against  each  other,  he  threw 
them  all  together  into  the  fire,  advising  them,  according  to  the  doctrine 
of  Christ,  to  forgive  one  another  as  they  themselves  hoped  to  be  for- 
given. Sozomen  says,  that  the  bishops  having  made  their  complaints 
in  person,  the  emperor  bade  them  reduce  them  all  into  writing,  and  that 
on  the  day  which  he  had  appointed  to  consider  them,  he  said,  as  he 
threw  all  the  billets  unopened  into  the  fire,  that  it  did  not  belong  to  him 
to  decide  the  differences  of  Christian  bishops,  and  that  the  hearing  of 
them  must  be  deferred  till  the  day  of  judgment.* 

However,  the  emperor  ultimately  succeeded  in  restoring  them  to 
some  degree  of  temper  ;  and  they  consequently  proceeded  in  good  ear- 
nest to  draw  up  a  creed,  which  they  were  all  required  to  subscribe,  as 
the  only  true  and  orthodox  faith,  and  which,  from  the  place  where 
they  were  assembled,  bears  the  title   of  the  Nicene.I      The  principal 

*  Eusebius's  Life  of  Constantine,  b,  iii.  ch.  10 — 14. 

■j"  As  a  matter  of  curiosity,  which  may  gratify  some  readers,  I  subjoin  this  sum-, 
mary  of  the  orthodox  faith  at  this  period.  The  original  may  be  found  in  the 
epistle  of  Eusebius  to  the  Cesareans. 

"  We  believe  in  one  God,  the  Father  Almighty,  Maker  of  all  things,  visible  and 
invisible.  And  in  one  Lord  Jesus  Christ,  the  Son  of  God,  the  only  begotten  ;  be* 
gotten  of  the  Father,  that  is,  of  the  substance  of  the  Father,  God  of  God  \  Light 
of  Light ;  true  God  of  true  God  ;  begotten,  not  made  ;  consubstantial  with  the 
Father,  by  whom  all  things  were  made,  things  in  heaven,  and  tilings  on  earth  ; 
who  for  us  men,  and  for  our  salvation,  came  down  and  was  incarnate,  and  became 
man,  suffered  and  rose  again  the  third  day,  and  ascended  into  the  heavens,  and 
comes  to  judge  the  quick  and  the  dead  :  and  in  the  Holy  Ghost.  And  the  catholic 
and  apostolic  church  doth  anathematize  those  persons  who  say,  that  there  was  a, 
time  when  the  Son  of  God  was  not ;  that  he  was  not  before  he  was  born  }  that 
he  was  made  of  nothing,  or  of  anotiier  substance  or  being  ;  or  that  he  is  created^ 
or  changeable,  or  convertible." 

15* 


174  History  of  the  Christian  Church. 

persons  who  appeared  on  the  side  of  Arius,  and  assisted  him  in  the 
public  disputation,  were  Eusebius  of  Nicomedia,  Theognis  of  Nice, 
and  Maris  of  Calcedon  ;  and  the  person  who  chiefly  opposed  them  and 
took  the  part  of  Alexander,  was  Athanasius,  then  only  a  deacon  in  the 
church  of  Alexandria,  but  much  confided  in  by  the  bishop,  and  of  whom 
more  will  be  said  hereafter. 

No  sooner  were  the  decrees  and  canons  of  the  council  drawn  up, 
than  they  were  sent  to  Sylvester,  then  bishop  of  Rome,  who,  in  the 
thirteenth  council  of  Rome,  at  which  were  present  two  hundred  and 
seventy-five  bishops,  confirmed  them  in  these  words  :  "  We  confirm 
with  our  mouth,  that  which  has  been  decreed  at  Nice,  a  city  of  Bythi- 
nia,  by  the  three  hundred  and  eighteen  holy  bishops,  for  the  good  of 
the  catholic  and  apostolic  church,  mother  of  the  faithful.  We  anathe- 
matize all  those  who  shall  dare  to  contradict  the  decrees  of  the  great 
and  holy  council,  which  was  assembled  at  Nice,  in  the  presence  of  that 
most  pious  and  venerable  prince,  the  emperor  Constantine."  And  to 
this  all  the  bishops  answered,  "  We  consent  to  it."* 

The  council  began  their  discussions  on  the  19th  of  June,  and  ended 
them  on  the  25th  of  August,  of  the  same  year  (325)  to  the  joy  of  Con- 
stantine, the  defeat  of  Arius  and  the  triumph  of  the  Athanasian  party. 
Eusebius  of  Nicomedia,  and  sixteen  other  bishops,  opposed  the  gene- 
ral sense  of  the  council,  and  rejected  the  word  constcbstantial.  But 
finding  themselves  in  so  small  a  minority,  and  that  the  emperor  was 
determined  to  enforce  respect  to  the  decisions  of  the  council,  they  all, 
except  four,  ultimately  subscribed  the  confession  of  faith.  The  pre- 
vailing party  then  proceeded  to  excommunicate  Arius  and  his  follow- 
ers, banishing  the  former  from  Alexandria.  Letters  were  also  written 
to  all  the  churches  in  Egypt,  Lybia,  and  Pentapolis,  announcing  their 
decrees,  and  informing  them  that  the  holy  synod  had  condemned  the 
opinions  of  Arius,  and  had  fully  determined  the  time  for  the  celebra- 
tion of  Easter  ;  exhorting  them  to  rejoice  for  the  good  deed  they  had 
done,  for  that  they  had  cut  off  all  manner  of  heresy.  When  these 
things  were  ended,  Constantine  splendidly  treated  the  bishops,  filled 
their  pockets,  and  sent  them  honourably  home,  exhorting  them  at  part- 
ing to  maintain  peace  among  themselves,  and  that  none  of  them  should 
.  envy  another  who  might  excel  the  rest  in  wisdom  or  eloquence — that 
they  should  not  carry  themselves  haughtily  towards  their  inferiors,  but 
condescend  to,  and  bear  with,  their  weakness  ; — a  convincing  proof 
that  he  saw  into  their  tempers,  and  was  no  stranger  to  the  haughtiness 
and  pride  that  influenced  some,  and  the  envy  and  hatred  that  prevailed 
in  others.! 

It  requires  not  the  spirit  of  prophecy  to  anticipate  the  effects  which 
must  flow  from  the  disgraceful  proceedings  of  this  general  council, 
though  Constantine  himself  wrote  letters,  enjoining  universal  conform- 
ity to  its  decrees,  and  urges  as  a  reason  for  it,  that  "  what  they  had 
decreed  was  the  will  of  God,  and  that  the  agreement  of  so  great  a  num- 
ber of  such  bishops  was  by  inspiration  of  the  Holy  Ghost."  It  laid  the 
foundation  for  a  system  of  persecution  of  a  complexion  altogether  new 

*   Maimbourg's  History  of  Arianism,  vol.  i.  p.  48. 

j"  Eusebius's  Life  of  Constantine,  b.  ill.  ch.  20.     Socrates,  b.  i.  ch.  9. 


Conclusion  of  the  council  of  Nice.  175 

— professed  Christians  tyrannizing  over  the  consciences  of  each  other, 
and,  as  will  be  seen  in  the  sequel,  inflicting  torture  and  cruelties  upon 
each  other  far  greater  than  they  had  ever  sustained  from  their  heathen 
persecutors.  The  emperor's  first  letters  were  mild  and  gentle,  but  he 
was  soon  persuaded  into  more  violent  measures  ;  for  out  of  his  great 
zeal  to  extinguish  heresy,  he  issued  edicts  against  all  such  as  his  fa- 
vourite bishops  persuaded  him  were  the  authors  or  abettors  of  it,  and 
particularly  against  the  Novatians,  Valentinians,  Marcionists,  and 
others,  whom,  after  reproaching  with  being  "  enemies  of  truth,  de- 
structive counsellors,"  &c.  he  deprives  of  the  liberty  of  meeting  for 
worship,  either  in  public  or  private  places  ;  and  gives  all  their  orato- 
ries to  the  orthodox  church.  And  with  respect  to  the  discomfited  par- 
ty, he  banished  Arius  himself,  commanded  that  all  his  followers  should 
be  called  Porphyrians  (from  Porphyrius,  a  heathen,  who  wrote  against 
Christianity)* — ordained  that  the  books  written  by  them  should  be 
burnt,  that  there  might  remain  to  posterity  no  vestiges  of  their  doc- 
trine ;  and,  to  complete  the  climax,  enacted  that  if  any  should  dare  to 
keep  in  his  possession  any  book  written  by  Arius,  and  should  not  im- 
mediately burn  it,  he  should  no  sooner  be  convicted  of  the  crime,  than 
he  should  suffer  death.t  Such  were  the  acts  of  the  last  days  of  CON- 
STANTINE THE   GREAT. 


SECTION  II. 


THE  SUBJECT  CONTINUED. 


FROM  THE  DEATH  OF  CONSTANTINE  THE  GREAT,  TO  THE  CLOSE  OF  THE 
FOURTH  CENTURY. A.  D.  337 400. 

On  the  decease  of  Constantine,  the  government  of  the  Roman  em- 
pire was  distributed  between  his  three  sons.     To  Constantine  the  II. 

*  The  following  is  a  copy  of  the  Edict  which  Constantine  issued  on  that  occa- 
sion ;  it  was  addressed  to  the  Bishops  and  People  throughout  the  Empire. 

"  Since  Arius  hath  imitated  wicked  and  ungodly  men,  it  is  just  that  he  shoidd 
undergo  the  same  infamy  with  them.  As  therefore,  Porphyrius,  an  enemy  of 
godliness,  for  his  having  composed  wicked  books  against  Christianity,  hath  found 
a  suitable  recompense,  so  as  to  be  infamous  for  the  time  to  come,  and  to  be  loaded 
with  great  reproach,  and  to  have  all  his  impious  writings  quite  destroyed  ;  so  also 
it  is  now  my  pleasure,  that  Arius,  and  those  of  Arius's  sentiments,  shall  be  called 
Porphyrians,  so  that  they  may  have  the  appellation  of  those  whose  manner  they 
imitated.  Moreover,  if  any  book  composed  by  Arius  shall  be  found,  it  shall  be 
committed  to  the  flames  ;  that  not  only  his  evil  doctrine  may  be  destroyed,  but 
that  there  may  not  be  the  least  remembrance  of  it  left.  This  also  I  enjoin,  that 
if  any  one  shall  be  found  to  have  concealed  any  writing  composed  by  Arius,  and 
shall"  not  immediately  bring  it  and  consume  it  in  the  fire,  death  shall  be  his  pun- 
ishment ;  for  as  soon  as  he  is  taken  in  this  crime,  he  shall  suffer  a  capital  punish- 
ment. God  Pbeserve  You." 

f  Eusebius's  Life  of  Constantine,  b.  iii.  ch.  65,  Sozomen,  b.  i.  ch.  21.  So- 
crates, b.  i.  ch.  9.  The  reader  will  also  find  a  very  amusing  account  of  the 
proceedings  of  this  memorable  council  (provided  he  can  make  the  necessary 
allowance  for  the  author's  predilection  for  the  Catholic  party,  it  being  written 
More  Maimburgiano,  as  Dr.  Jortin  would  express  it)  in  Maimbourg's  History  of 
Arianism,  translated  by  Webster,  vol.  i.  book  1.  4to.  edition,  1727. 


176  History  of  the  Christian  Church. 

were  assigned  the  provinces  of  Britain,  Spain,  and  Gaul,  now  called 
France.  To  his  brother  Constans,  Illyricum,  Italy,  and  Africa  ;  whilst 
Constantius  inherited  the  east,  comprehending  Asia,  Syria,  and  Egypt, 
with  the  city  of  Constantinople,  to  which  his  father  had  transferred  the 
imperial  residence,  and  consequently  made  it  the  seat  of  government. 

In  the  year  340,  a  quarrel  arose  between  the  two  first  mentioned 
brothers,  which  ended  in  a  war,  and  that  war  in  the  death  of  Constan- 
tine.  Constans  now  added  the  dominions  of  the  deceased  prince  to 
his  own,  and  thereby  became  sole  master  of  all  the  western  provinces. 
He  retained  possession  of  this  immense  territory  until  the  year  350, 
when  Magnentius,  one  of  his  own  officers,  with  the  view  of  getting  him- 
self declared  emperor,  contrived  to  procure  the  assassination  of  Con- 
stans. The  usurper,  however,  did  not  long  enjoy  the  fruits  of  his  per- 
fidy; for  Constantius,  justly  incensed  by  his  rebellious  conduct,  march- 
ed an  army  against  him,  and  repulsing  him  at  the  outset,  Magnentius, 
transported  with  rage  and  despair  at  his  ill  success,  and  apprehending 
the  most  terrible  and  ignominious  death  from  the  resentment  of  the 
conqueror,  put  a  termination  to  his  own  life.  Thus,  Constantius, 
in  the  year  353,  became  sole  monarch  of  the  Roman  empire,  which  he 
governed  until  the  year  361.  Marching  at  the  head  of  his  army,  iu 
that  year,  to  chastise  the  presumption  of  his  own  kinsman,  Julian, 
whom  the  forces  entrusted  to  his  command  in  Gaul,  had,  in  an  hour 
of  victory,  saluted  with  the  title  of  Augustus,  he  was  arrested  by  the 
hand  of  death,  and  expired  at  Mopsucrene  in  Cilicia,  leaving  the  vacant 
throne  to  Julian. 

None  of  the  sons  of  Constantine  the  Great,  inherited  the  spirit  and 
genius  of  their  father.  They,  nevertheless,  so  far  trode  in  his  steps, 
as  to  extend  their  fostering  care  to  the  Catholic  religion,  to  accelerate 
its  progress  through  the  empire,  and  to  continue  to  undermine  and 
abolish  the  system  of  Paganism. 

But  the  controversy  which  had  arisen  between  Arius  and  Alexan- 
der, relative  to  the  sonship  of  Christ,  was  far  from  being  put  to  rest  by 
the  decision  of  the  council  of  Nice.  The  doctrine  of  Arius,  indeed, 
had  been  condemned  by  a  very  large  majority — he  himself  was  ban- 
ished to  Illyricum,  and  his  followers  compelled  to  assent  to  the  con- 
fession of  faith  composed  by  the  synod — his  writings  also  had  been  pro- 
scribed as  heretical,  and  the  punishment  of  death  decreed  against  all 
who  were  convicted  of  the  crime  of  harbouring  them  in  their  houses. 
But  persecuting  edicts  cannot  extend  their  dominion  over  the  thoughts, 
and  it  is  scarcely  less  difficult  to  impose  an  effectual  restraint  upon  the 
tongue.  Persecution  has  generally  been  found  favourable  to  whatever 
cause  it  has  been  directed  against ;  it  somehow  enlists  the  sensibilities 
of  our  nature  on  the  side  of  the  persecuted  party ;  and  disposes  the 
mind  to  a  more  candid  and  impartial  examination  of  the  question  in 
dispute,  than  we  should  otherwise  possess.  It  is  perhaps  too  much  to 
affirm  with  Dr.  Middleton,  that  "  truth  was  never  known  to  be  on  the 
persecuting  side  ;"*  an  impartial  examination,  however,  of  the  opinions 
find   proceedings  of  both  Arians  and  Athanasians  on  this    occasion, 

*  Preface  to  his  Free  Inquiry,  p.  8.  4to.  edit. 


Constantius  favours  Arianism.  177 

serves  in  some  degree  to  justify  the  maxim,  and  convinces  us  that  they 
were  equally  remote  from  the  truth,  even  as  they  were  alike  well  dis- 
posed to  persecute  each  other  in  proportion  as  either  party  obtained 
the  means  of  doing  it.  Only  it  is  due  to  the  orthodox  party  to  say,  that 
they  took  the  lead  in  punishing  heretics  with  death,  and  persuaded  the 
emperor  to  destroy  those  whom  they  could  not  convert. 

When  the  undivided  government  of  the  empire  centered  in  the  hands 
of  Constantius,  he  evinced  a  strong  predilection  for  the  Arian  side  of 
the  controversy,  and  Arianism  became  fashionable  at  court.  The  em- 
peror favoured  only  the  bishops  of  that  party.  Paul,  the  orthodox 
prelate  of  the  see  of  Constantinople,  was  ejected  from  his  office  by  the 
emperor's  order,  and  Macedonius  substituted  in  his  room.  This  man 
adopted  a  scheme  different  from  either  party,  and  contended  that  the 
Son  was  not  consubstantial,  but  of  a  like  substance  with  the  Father, 
openly  pi-opagating  this  new  theory,  after  thrusting  himself  into  the 
bishoprick  of  Paul ;  and  thus,  by  the  addition  of  a  single  letter,  affect- 
ing to  settle  the  whole  dispute.  Frivolous  as  was  this  distinction,  it 
enraged  the  orthodox  party,  who,  filled  with  rage  and  resentment,  rose 
in  a  body  to  oppose  Hermogenes,  the  officer  whom  Constantius  had 
sent  to  introduce  him  unto  his  episcopal  throne,  burnt  down  his  house, 
and  drew  him  round  the  streets  by  his  heels  until  they  had  murdered 
him. 

Athanasius,  who  had  rendered  such  essential  service  to  Alexander, 
his  bishop,  in  managing  the  dispute  with  Arius  at  the  council  of  Nice, 
had,  by  this  time,  risen  to  great  popularity,  and  in  reality  was  become 
the  oracle  of  the  orthodox  party.  We  are  supposed  to  be  indebted  to 
him  for  the  creed  which  bears  his  name,  and  which  fills  so  eminent  a 
place  in  the  liturgy  of  our  national  church.  Even  to  this  day  he  is  ex- 
tolled by  such  respectable  writers  as  Milner  and  Haweis,  as  a  prodigy 
of  evangelical  light.  But  whatever  may  be  said  of  the  soundness  of 
his  speculative  creed,  he  was  evidently  a  man  of  aspiring  views  and  of 
persecuting  principles.  In  a  letter  to  Epictetus,  bishop  of  Corinth, 
alluding  to  some  heretical  opinions  then  prevalent,  he  says,  "  I  won- 
der that  your  piety  hath  borne  these  things,  and  that  you  did  not 
immediately  put  those  heretics  under  restraint,  and  propose  the  true 
faith  to  them,  that  if  they  would  not  forbear  to  contradict  they  might 
be  declared  heretics,  for  it  is  not  to  be  endured  that  these  things  should 
be  either  said  or  heard  amongst  Christians."  And  upon  another  oc- 
casion, "  they  ought  to  be  held  in  universal  hatred,'1''  says  he,  "  for 
opposing  the  truth," — comforting  himself  that  the  emperor,  when  duly 
informed,  would  put  a  stop  to  their  wickedness,  and  that  they  would 
not  be  long-lived.  In  one  of  his  letters  he  exhorts  those  to  whom  he 
wrote,  to  "  hold  fast  the  confession  of  the  fathers,  and  to  reject  all  who 
should  speak  more  or  less  than  was  contained  in  it.  And,  in  his  first 
oration  against  the  Arians,  he  declares  in  plain  terms,  "  that  the  ex- 
pressing a  person's  sentiments  in  the  words  of  scripture,  was  no  suf- 
ficient proof  of  orthodoxy,  because  the  devil  himself,  used  scripture 
words  to  cover  his  wicked  designs  upon  our  Saviour,  and  that  heretics 
were  not  to  be  received  though  they  made  use  of  the  very  expressions 
of  orthodoxy  itself." 


178  History  of  the  Christian  Church. 

The  Scriptures  were  now  no  longer  the  standard  of  the  Christian 
faith.  What  was  orthodox,  and  what  heterodox,  was,  from  hence- 
forward, to  be  determined  by  the  decisions  of  fathers  and  councils ;  and 
religion  propagated  not  by  the  apostolic  methods  of  persuasion,  ac- 
companied with  the  meekness  and  gentleness  of  Christ,  but  by  impe- 
rial edicts  and  decrees ;  nor  were  gainsayers  to  be  brought  to  convic- 
tion by  the  simple  weapons  of  reason  and  scripture,  but  persecuted 
and  destroyed.  It  cannot  surprise  us,  if  after  this  we  find  a  continual 
fluctuation  of  the  public  faith,  just  as  the  prevailing  party  obtained  the 
imperial  authority  to  support  them  ;  or  that  we  should  meet  with  lit- 
tle else  in  ecclesiastical  history  than  violence  and  cruelties,  committed 
by  men  who  had  wholly  departed  from  the  simplicity  of  the  Christian 
doctrine  and  profession ;  men  enslaved  to  avarice  and  ambition  ;  and 
carried  away  with  views  of  temporal  grandeur,  high  preferments,  and 
large  revenues. 

To  dwell  upon  the  disgraceful  cabals,  the  violent  invectives,  and 
slanderous  recriminations  of  those  ruling  factions,  would  afford  little 
edification  to  the  reader,  and  certainly  no  pleasure  to  the  writer.  Were 
we  disposed  to  give  credit  to  the  complaints  of  the  orthodox  against 
the  Arians,  we  must  certainly  regard  them  as  the  most  execrable  set 
of  men  that  ever  lived.  They  are  loaded  with  all  the  crimes  that  can 
possibly  be  committed,  and  represented  as  bad,  if  not  worse,  than  in- 
fernal spirits.  And  had  the  writings  of  the  Arians  not  been  destroy- 
ed, we  should,  no  doubt,  have  found  as  many  and  grievous  charges 
laid  by  them,  perhaps  with  equal  justice,  against  the  Athanasians. 
Constantius  banished  Athanasius  from  his  bishoprick  at  Alexandria, 
and  wrote  a  letter  to  the  citizens,  in  which  he  terms  him  "  an  impos- 
tor, a  corrupter  of  men's  souls,  a  disturber  of  the  city,  a  pernicious 
fellow,  one  convicted  of  the  worst  crimes,  not  to  be  expiated  by  his 
suffering  death  ten  times  ;"  and  a  bishop,  named  George,  was  put  in- 
to his  see,  whom  this  eloquent  emperor  is  pleased  to  style  "  a  most 
venerable  person,  and  the  most  capable  of  all  men  to  instruct  them  in 
heavenly  things."  Athanasius,  however,  in  his  usual  style,  calls  him 
"  an  idolater  and  hangman  ;  and  one  capable  of  all  kinds  of  violence, 
rapine,  and  murders  ;"  and  whom  he  actually  charges  with  commit- 
ting the  most  impious  actions  and  outrageous  cruelties. 

The  truth  is,  that  the  clergy  of  the  Catholic  church  were  now  be- 
come the  principal  disturbers  of  the  empire  ;  and  the  pride  of  the  bish- 
ops, and  the  fury  of  the  people  on  each  side  had  grown  to  such  a 
height,  that  the  election  or  restoration  of  a  bishop  seldom  took  place  in 
the  larger  cities,  without  being  attended  with  scenes  of  slaughter. 
Athanasius  was  several  times  banished  and  restored  at  the  expense  of 
blood.  What  shall  we  make  of  the  Christianity  of  the  man  who  could 
act  thus,  or  countenance  such  proceedings  ?  Had  Athanasius  been  in- 
fluenced by  the  benign  and  peaceable  spirit  of  the  gospel,  he  would 
at  once  have  withdrawn  himself  from  such  disgraceful  scenes,  and  pre- 
ferred to  worship  God  in  the  society  of  only  a  dozen  day-labourers  in 
a  cellar  or  a  garret,  to  all  the  honour  and  all  the  emolument  which  he 
could  derive  from  being  exalted  to  the  dignity  of  archbishop  of  Alex- 
andria, on  such  degrading  conditions.     One  can  scarcely  forbear  con- 


Effects  of  the  Arian  Controversy.  179 

trasting  his  conduct  with  the  behaviour  of  Him,  whose  servant  he  pro- 
fessed to  be.     "  When  Jesus  perceived  that  they  would  come  and  take 
him  by  force,  and  make  him  a  king,  he  departed  again  into  a  moun- 
tain alone."     John  vi.  15.     The  fruits  of  the  Spirit  are  not  turbulence 
and  strife;  "but love,  joy,  peace,  long-suffering,  gentleness,  goodness, 
fidelity,  meekness  and  temperance ;  and  they  that  are   Christ's  have 
crucified  the  flesh  with   its  affections  and  lusts."     Gal.  v.  22.     The 
orthodox  were  deposed,  and  the  Arians  substituted  in  their  places,  with 
the  murder  of  thousands  ;  and  as  the  controversy  was  now  no  longer 
about  the  plain  doctrines  of  uncorrupted  Christianity,  but  about  secu- 
lar honours  and  dignified  preferments,  so  the  bishops  were  introduced 
into  their  churches  and  placed  upon  their  thrones  by  armed  soldiers. 
And  when  once  in  actual  possession,  they  treated  those  who  differed 
from  them  without  moderation  or  mercy,  turning  them   out  of  their 
churches,  denying  them  the  liberty  of  worship,  fulminating  anathemas 
against  them,  and  persecuting  them  by  every  species  of  cruelty,  as  is 
evident  from   the  accounts   given   by  the   ecclesiastical  historians   of 
Athanasius,  Macedonius,  George,  and  others.     In  short,  they  seem  to 
have  treated  one  another  with  the  same  implacable  bitterness  and  seve- 
rity, as  their  common  enemies,  the  heathen,  had  ever  exercised  towards 
them,  or  as  though  they  thought  persecution  for  conscience-sake  had 
been  the  distinguishing  characteristic  of  the  Christian  religion,  and  that 
they  could  not  more  effectually  recommend  themselves  as  the  disci- 
ples of  Christ,  than  by  devouring  each  other.     This  made  Julian,  the 
emperor,  say  of  them,  that  he  found  by  experience,   that  even  the 
beasts  of  the  forest  are  not  so  cruel  as  the  generality  of  Christians  then 
were  to  one  another.     Such  was  the  wretched  state  of  things  in  the 
reign  of  Constantius,  which  affords    us    little  more  than  the  history  of 
councils  and  creeds  differing  from,  and  clashing  with  each  other — bish- 
ops deposing,  censuring,  and  anathematizing  their  adversaries,  and  the 
people  divided  into  factions  under  their  respective  leaders,  for  the  sake 
of  words,  of  the  meaning  of  which  they  understood  nothing,  and  con- 
tending for  victory  even  to  bloodshed  and  death.     Thus,  as   Socrates 
observes,  "  was  the  church  torn  in  pieces   for  the  sake  of  Athanasius 
and  the  word  consubstantial .'" 

It  probably  would  not  be  easy  to  sketch  in  few  words  a  more  strik- 
ing picture  of  these  times  than  that  which  is  given  us  by  Ammianus 
Marcellinus,  who,  having  served  in  the  armies,  had  the  best  opportu- 
nities of  studying  the  character  of  Constantius.  "  The  Christian  re- 
ligion, which  in  itself,"  says  he,  "  is  plain  and  simple,  he  confounded 
by  the  dotage  of  superstition.  Instead  of  reconciling  the  parties  by  the 
weight  of  his  authority,  he  cherished  and  propagated  by  verbal  dis- 
putes, the  differences  which  his  vain  curiosity  had  excited.  The  high- 
Avays  were  covered  with  troops  of  bishops,  galloping  from  every  side 
to  the  assemblies,  which  they  called  synods ;  and  while  they  laboured 
to  reduce  the  whole  sect  to  their  own  particular  opinions,  the  public 
establishment  of  the  posts  was  almost  ruined  by  their  hasty  and  re- 
peated journeys."*     It  was  certainly  a  very  just,  though  severe  cen- 

*  Ammianus  Marcellinus,  1.  xxi.  ch.  16. 


180  History  of  the  Christian  Church. 

sure,  which  Gregory  Nazianzen  passed  upon  the  councils  that  were 
held  about  this  time.  "  If  I  must  speak  the  truth,"  says  he,  "  this  is 
my  resolution,  to  avoid  all  councils  of  the  bishops,  for  I  have  not  seen 
any  good  end  answered  by  any  synod  whatsoever;  for  their  love  of 
contention,  and  their  lust  of  power,  are  too  great  even  for  words  to 
express."*  The  scepticism  of  Gibbon  has  subjected  him  to  an  un- 
measurable  effusion  of  rancour  from  the  clergy  of  his  day ;  and  far  be 
it  from  me  to  stand  forward  the  advocate  of  scepticism  in  any  man ;  but 
I  most  cordially  agree  with  that  eminent  writer,  when  he  says,  "  the 
patient  and  humble  virtues  of  Jesus  should  not  be  confounded  with  the 
intolerant  zeal  of  princes  and  bishops,  who  have  disgraced  the  name 
of  his  disciples."} 

So  fascinating  is  the  influence  of  worldly  pomp  and  splendour  upon 
the  human  mind,  that  it  is  not  to  be  wondered  at,  that  the  see  of  Rome 
became  at  this  time  a  most  seducing  object  of  sacerdotal  ambition.  In 
the  episcopal  order,  the  bishop  of  Rome  was  the  first  in  rank,  and 
distinguished  by  a  sort  of  pre-eminence  over  all  other  prelates.  He 
surpassed  all  his  brethren  in  the  magnificence  and  splendour  of  the 
church  over  which  he  presided  ;  in  the  riches  of  his  revenues  and  pos- 
sessions ;  in  the  number  and  variety  of  his  ministers;  in  his  credit 
with  the  people ;  and  in  his  sumptuous  and  splendid  manner  of  living. 
Ammianus  Marcellinus,  a  Roman  historian,  who  lived  during  these 
times,  adverting  to  this  subject,  says,  "  It  was  no  wonder  to  see  those 
who  were  ambitious  of  human  greatness,  contending  with  so  much 
heat  and  animosity  for  that  dignity,  because  when  they  had  obtained 
it,  they  were  sure  to  be  enriched  by  the  offerings  of  the  matrons,  of 
appearing  abroad  in  great  splendour,  of  being  admired  for  their  costly 
coaches,  sumptuous  in  their  feasts,  out-doing  sovereign  princes  in  the 
expenses  of  their  table."  This  led  Proetextatus,  an  heathen,  who  was 
prtefect  of  the  city,  to  say,  "  Make  me  Bishop  of  Borne,  and  I'll  be  a 
Christian  too.'" 

In  the  year  366,  Liberius,  bishop  of  Rome,  died,  and  a  violent  con- 
test arose  respecting  his  successor.  The  city  was  divided  into  two 
factions,  one  of  which  elected  Damasus  to  that  high  dignity,  while 
the  other  chose  Ursicinus,  a  deacon  of  the  church.  The  party  of 
Damasus  prevailed,  and  got  him  ordained.  Ursicinus,  enraged  that 
Damasus  was  preferred  before  him,  set  up  separate  meetings,  and  at 
length  he  also  obtained  ordination  from  certain  obscure  bishops.  This 
occasioned  great  disputes  among  the  citizens,  as  to  which  of  the  two 
should  obtain  the  episcopal  dignity ;  and  the  matter  was  carried  to 
such  a  height,  that  great  numbers  were  murdered  on  either  side  in  the 
quarrel — no  less  than  one  hundred  and  thirty -seven  persons  being  de- 
stroyed in  the  very  church  itself  !J  But  the  very  detail  of  such  shame- 
ful proceedings  is  sufficient  to  excite  disgust ;  and  enough  has  been 
said  to  convince  any  unprejudiced  mind  of  the  absurdity  of  looking  for 
the  kingdom  of  the  Son  of  God  in  the  "  Catholic  Church,"  as  it  now 
began  to  be  denominated.      "  The  mystery  of  iniquity,"   which  had 

*  Opera,  vol.  i.  Epist.  55.  f  Decline  and  Fall,  vol.  ix.  ch.  50. 

t  Socrates'  Eccl.  Hist.  b.  xxvii.  ch.  3. 


Rise  of  the  Novatian  Churches.  181 

been  secretly  working  since  the  very  days  of  the  apostles,  (2  Thess. 
ii.  7,)  had  nevertheless  been  subject  to  considerable  control,  so  long  as 
Paganism  remained  the  established  religion  of  the  empire,  and  Chris- 
tians were  consequently  compelled  to  bear  their  cross,  by  patiently 
suffering  the  hatred  of  the  world,  in  conformity  to  the  Captain  of  their 
salvation.  But  no  sooner  was  this  impediment  removed  by  the  estab- 
lishment of  Christianity,  under  Constantine,  than  "  the  Man  of  Sin" 
— "  the  Son  of  perdition"  began  to  be  manifest.  Men  were  now 
found,  professing  themselves  the  disciples  of  the  meek  and  lowly 
Jesus,  yet  walking  after  the  course  of  this  world,  "  lovers  of  their 
ownselves,  covetous,  boasters,  proud,  blasphemers, — traitors,  heady, 
high-minded,  lovers  of  pleasure  move  than  lovers  of  God," — "  having 
a  form  of  godliness,  but  denying  the  power  thereof."*  And,  as  this 
state  of  things  continued  to  increase  in  progressive  enormity,  until  it 
ultimately  brought  forth  that  monstrous  system  of  iniquity,  denomi- 
nated "  Mystery,  Babylon  the  Great,  the  Mother  of  Harlots, 
and  abominations  of  THE  earth" — described  by  the  prophetic  pen, 
as  "  the  habitation  of  devils, — the  hold  of  every  foul  spirit, — the  cage 
of  every  unclean  ar.d  hateful  bird,"t  we  may  rest  fully  assured  that 
the  sheep  of  Christ, — those  who  heard  his  voice  and  followed  his 
will.J  would  see  it  their  indispensable  duty  to  separate  themselves 
from  such  an  impure  communion,  in  obedience  to  the  reiterated  com- 
mands of  God.§ 

It  may  be  proper  to  remark,  that  not  long  before  the  times  of  which 
we  now  treat,  some  Christians  had  seen  it  their  duty  to  withdraw  from 
the  communion  of  the  church  of  Rome.  The  first  instance  of  this  that 
we  find  on  record,  if  we  except  that  of  Tertullian,  is  the  case  of  Nova- 
tian, who  in  the  year  251,  was  ordained  the  pastor  of  a  church  in  the 
city  of  Rome,  which  maintained  no  fellowship  with  the  Catholic  party. 
It  is  a  difficult  matter,  at  this  very  remote  period,  to  ascertain  the  real 
grounds  of  difference  between  Novatian  and  his  opponents.  Those  who 
are  in  any  tolerable  degree  conversant  with  theological  controversy,  will 
scarcely  need  to  be  apprized  how  much  caution  is  necessary  to  guard 
against  being  misled  by  the  false  representations  which  different  parties 
give  of  each  other's  principles  and  conduct.  Novatian  is  said  to  have 
refused  to  receive  into  the  communion  of  the  church  any  of  those  per- 
sons who,  in  the  time  of  persecution,  had  been  induced  through  fear  of 
sufferings  or  death,  to  apostatize  from  their  profession,  and  offer  sacri- 
fices to  the  heathen  deities  ;  a  principle  which  he  founded  on  a  mistaken 
view  of  Heb.  vi.  4 — 6.  We  may  readily  conceive  how  interesting  and 
difficult  a  subject  this  must  have  been  to  all  the  churches  of  Christ  in 
those  distressing  times,  and  the  danger  that  must  have  arisen  from 
laying  down  any  fixed  rule  of  conduct  that  should  apply  to  all  cases 
that  would  come  before  them ;  or  even  verging  towards  an  extreme  on 
either  side  of  this  question.  The  following  is  the  account  given  of 
Novatian  by  the  late  Mr.  Robert  Robinson,  in  his  Ecclesiastical  Re- 
searches, p.  126;  and  I  the  more  readily  submit  it  to  the  reader,  because 

•  2  Tim.iii.  3 — 5.  f  Rev.  xvii.  5.  and  xviii.  2.  *  John  x.  27. 

§  2  Cor.  vi.  14 — 18.     2  Tim.  iii.  5.     Rev.  xviii.  4. 
16 


182  History  of  the  Christian  Church. 

none  who  know  Mr.  Robinson,  can,  for  a  moment,  suspect  him  of  hav- 
ing any  undue  predilection  for  the  principles  of  INovatian.  "  He  was," 
says  he,  "an  elder  in  the  church  of  Rome,  a  man  of  extensive  learning, 
holding  the  same  doctrine  as  the  church  did,  and  published  several  trea- 
tises in  defence  of  what  he  believed.  His  address  was  eloquent  and 
insinuating,  and  his  morals  irreproachable.  He  saw  with  extreme  pain 
the  intolerable  depravity  of  the  church.  Christians  within  the  space 
of  a  very  few  years  were  caressed  by  one  emperor,  and  persecuted  by 
another.  In  seasons  of  prosperity  many  persons  rushed  into  the  church 
for  base  purposes.  In  times  of  adversity,  they  denied  the  faith,  and 
reverted  again  to  idolatry.  When  the  squall  was  over,  away  they  came 
again  to  the  chureh,  with  all  their  vices,  to  deprave  others  by  their  ex- 
amples. The  bishops,  fond  of  proselytes,  encouraged  all  this  ;  and 
transferred  the  attention  of  Christians  from  the  old  confederacy  for  vir- 
tue, to  vain  shows  at  Easter,  and  other  Jewish  ceremonies,  adulterated 
too  with  Paganism.  On  the  death  of  bishop  Fabian,  Cornelius,  a  bro- 
ther elder,  and  a  violent  partizan  for  taking  in  the  multitude,  was  put 
in  nomination.  Novatian  opposed  him  ;  but  as  Cornelius  carried  his 
election,  and  he  saw  no  prospect  of  reformation,  but  on  the  contrary, 
a  tide  of  immorality  pouring  into  the  church,  he  withdrew  and  a  great 
many  with  him.  Cornelius,  irritated  by  Cyprian,  who  was  just  in 
the  same  condition,  through  the  remonstrances  of  virtuous  men  at  Car- 
thage, and  who  was  exasperated  beyond  measure  with  one  of  his  own 
elders,  named  Novatus,  who  had  quitted  Carthage,  and  gone  to  Rome 
to  espouse  the  cause  of  Novatian,  called  a  council  and  got  a  sentence 
of  excommunication  passed  against  Novatian.  In  the  end,  Novatian 
formed  a  church,  and  was  elected  bishop.  Great  numbers  followed  his 
example,  and  all  over  the  empire  Puritan  churches  were  constituted  and 
flourished  through  the  succeeding  two  hundred  years.  Afterwards, 
when  penal  laws  obliged  them  to  lurk  in  corners,  and  worship  God  in 
private,  they  were  distinguished  by  a  variety  of  names,  and  a  sicccessio?i 
of  them  continued  till  the  Beformation.'''' 

The  same  author,  afterwards  adverting  to  the  vile  calumnies  with 
which  the  catholic  writers  have  in  all  ages  delighted  to  asperse  the 
character  of  Novatian,  thus  proceeds  to  vindicate  him : 

They  say  Novatian  was  the  first  Antipope  ;  and  yet  there  was  at  that 
time  no  pope,  in  the  modern  sense  of  the  word.  They  call  Novatian 
the  author  of  the  heresy  of  Puritanism  ;  and  yet  they  know  that  Ter- 
tullian  had  quitted  the  church  near  fifty  years  before,  for  the  same  rea- 
son, and  Privatus,  who  was  an  old  man  in  the  time  of  Novatian,  had, 
with  several  more,  repeatedly  remonstrated  against  the  alterations  taking 
place ;  and,  as  they  could  get  no  redress,  had  dissented  and  formed 
separate  congregations.  They  tax  Novatian  with  being  the  parent  of 
an  innumerable  multitude  of  congregations  of  Puritans  all  over  the  em- 
pire ;  and  yet  he  had  no  other  influence  over  any,  than  what  his  good 
example  gave  him.  People  every  where  saw  the  same  cause  of  com- 
plaint, and  groaned  for  relief;  and  when  one  man  made  a  stand  for  virtue, 
the  crisis  had  arrived;  people  saw  the  propriety  of  the  cure,  and  applied 
the  same  means  to  their  own  relief.     They  blame  this  man,  and  all 


Vindication  of  Novation.  183 

these  churches  for  the  severity  of  their  discipline ; — yet  this  severe 
discipline,  was  the  only  coercion  of  the  primitive  churches,  and  it  was 
the  exercise  of  this  that  rendered  civil  coercion  unnecessary.  Some 
exclaimed,  it  is  a  barbarous  discipline  to  refuse  to  readmit  people  into 
Christian  communion,  because  they  have  lapsed  into  idolatry  or  vice. 
Others,  finding  the  inconvenience  of  such  a  lax  discipline,  required  a 
repentance  of  five,  ten,  or  fifteen  years  ;  but  the  Novatians  said,  you 
may  be  admitted  among  us  by  baptism — or,  if  any  Catholic  has  bap- 
tized you  before,  by  re-baptism ;  but  if  you  fall  into  idolatry,  we  shall 
separate  you  from  our  communion,  and  on  no  account  readmit  you. 
God  forbid  we  should  injure  either  your  person,  your  property,  or  your 
character,  or  even  judge  of  the  truth  of  your  repentance  or  your  future 
state ;  but  you  can  never  be  readmitted  to  our  community,  without  our 
giving  up  the  last  and  only  coercive  guardian  we  have  of  the  purity  of 
our  [fellowship.}  Whether  these  persons  reasoned  justly  or  not,  as 
virtue  was  their  object,  they  challenge  respect,  and  he  must  be  a  weak 
man  indeed,  who  is  frighted  out  of  it  because  Cyprian  is  pleased  to  say, 
they  are  the  children  of  the  devil." 

The  doctrinal  sentiments  of  the  Novatians  appear  to  have  been  very 
scriptural,  and  the  discipline  of  their  churches  rigid  in  the  extreme. 
They  were  the  first  class  of  Christians  who  obtained  the  name  of  [Ca- 
thari)  Puritans,  an  appellation  which  doth  not  appear  to  have  been 
chosen  by  themselves,  but  applied  to  them  by  their  adversaries ;  from 
which  we  may  reasonably  conclude  that  their  manners  were  simple  and 
irreproachable.  Some  of  them  are  said  to  have  disapproved  of  second 
marriages,  regarding  them  as  sinful;  but  in  this  they  erred  in  common 
with  Tertullian  and  many  other  eminent  persons.  A  third  charge  against 
them  was,  that  they  did  not  pay  due  reverence  to  the  martyrs,  nor  al- 
low that  there  was  any  virtue  in  their  relics  ! — A  plain  proof  of  their 
good  sense. 

Novatian  appears  to  have  been  possessed  of  considerable  talents— 
Mosheim  terms  him,  "  A  man  of  uncommon  learning  and  eloquence ;" 
— and  he  wrote  several  works,  of  which  only  two  are  now  extant.  One 
of  them  is  upon  the  subject  of  the  Trinity.  It  is  divided  into  thirty- 
one  sections  :  the  first  eight  relate  to  the  Father,  and  treat  of  his  na- 
ture, power,  goodness,  justice,  &c.  with  the  worship  due  to  him.  The 
following  twenty  sections  relate  to  Christ — the  Old  Testament  pro- 
phecies concerning  him — their  actual  accomplishment — his  nature — 
how  the  Scriptures  prove  his  divinity — confutes  the  Sabellians — shows 
that  it  was  Christ  who  appeared  to  the  patriarchs,  Abraham,  Jacob, 
Moses,  &e.  The  twenty-ninth  section  treats  of  the  Holy  Spirit — how 
promised — given  by  Christ — his  offices,  and  operations  on  the  souls  of 
men  and  in  the  church.  The  last  two  sections  recapitulate  the  argu- 
ments before  adduced.  The  work  appears  to  have  been  written  in  the 
year  257;  six  years  after  his  separation  from  the  Catholic  church. 
The  other  tract  is  upon  the  subject  of  "Jewish  Meats,"  addressed  in 
the  form  of  a  letter  to  his  church,  and  written  either  during  his  banish- 
ment or  retreat  in  the  time  of  persecution.  It  opens  up  the  typical  na- 
ture of  the  law  of  Moses,  and  while  he  proves  its  abolition,  is  careful  to 


184  History  of  the  Christian  Church. 

guard  his  Christian  brethren  against  supposing  that  they  were  there- 
fore at  liberty  to  eat  things  sacrificed  to  idols.* 

Dr.  Lardner  in  his  Credibility  of  the  Gospel  History,  ch.  xlvii.  has 
been  at  considerable  pains  in  comparing  the  various  and  conti-adictory 
representations  that  have  been  given  of  Novatian  and  his  followers,  and 
has  exonerated  them  from  a  mass  of  obloquy,  cast  upon  them  by  the 
Catholic  party.  Dionysius,  bishop  of  Alexandria,  wrote  many  epistles 
or  treatises  respecting  the  sect  of  the  Novatians,  which  afford  abundant 
evidence  that  their  rigid  discipline  was  relished  by  many.  Fabius, 
bishop  of  Antioch,  in  particular,  was  their  friend  and  favourer.  Mar- 
cian,  bishop  of  Aries,  was  firm  in  the  same  principles  in  the  time  of 
Stephen,  bishop  of  Rome.  A  church  was  formed  at  Carthage  for  the 
Novatian  party,  of  which  Maximus  Avas  the  pastor.  Socrates,  the  his- 
torian, speaks  of  their  churches  at  Constantinople,  Nice,  Nicomedia, 
and  Coticeus  in  Phrygia,  all  in  the  fourth  century — these  he  mentions 
as  their  principal  places  in  the  East,  and  he  supposes  them  to  have  been 
equally  numerous  in  the  West.  What  were  their  numbers  in  these 
cities  does  not  appear,  but  he  intimates  that  they  had  three  churches  in 
Constantinople. 

Though,  therefore,  Novatian  and  his  principles  were  condemned  by 
the  Catholic  party,  at  the  time  that  Dionysius  wrote  the  fore-mentioned 
letters  concerning  them  to  the  bishop  of  Rome,  he  still  continued  to  be 
supported  by  a  numerous  party  in  various  places,  separated  from  the 
Catholic  church.  They  had  among  them  some  persons  of  considerable 
note,  and  of  eminent  talents.  Among  these  were  Agelius,  Acesius, 
Sisinnius,  and  Marcian,  all  of  Constantinople.  Socrates  mentions  one 
Mark,  bishop  of  the  Novatians  in  Scythia,  who  died  in  the  year  439. 
In  fact,  the  pieces  written  against  them  by  a  great  variety  of  authors  of 
the  Catholic  church — such  as  Ambrose,  Pacian,  and  others — the  notice 
taken  of  them  by  Basil  and  Gregory  Nazianzen — and  the  accounts 
given  of  them  by  Socrates  and  Sozomen  in  their  ecclesiastical  histories, 
are  proofs  of  their  being  numerous,  and  that  churches  of  this  denomi- 
nation were  to  be  found  in  most  parts  of  the  world,  in  the  fourth  and 
fifth  centuries.  "  The  vast  extent  of  this  sect,"  says  Dr.  Lardner,  "is 
manifest  from  the  names  of  the  authors  who  have  mentioned  them,  or 
written  against  them,  and  from  the  several  parts  of  the  Roman  empire  in 
which  they  were  found. "t 

All  the  ecclesiastical  historians  complain  loudly  of  the  schism  that 
was  made  in  the  Christian  church  by  the  Novatians,  whose  difference 
from  the  Catholics  respected  matters  of  discipline  only.  But  we 
should  not  be  too  hasty  in  joining  issue  with  them  in  these  lamenta- 
tions. On  the  contrary,  it  may  fairly  admit  of  a  doubt,  whether  this 
breach  in  the  unity  of  the  Christian  church  in  that  age,  and  other  simi- 
lar breaches  that  have  taken  place  at  different  times,  have  not  been  pro- 
ductive, upon  the  whole,  of  the  happiest  effects.  For  besides  promot- 
ing free  inquiry  and  discussion,  without  which  no  subject  can  be  well 
understood,  this  multiplication  of  sects  has  had  a  powerful  tendency  to 

*  Dr.  A.  Clarke's  Succession  of  Sacred  Literature,  vol.  1.  p.  209 — 212. 
f  Lardner's  Works,  4to.  ed.  vol.  ii.  p.  57. 


Reign  of  the  Emperor  Julian.  185 

counteract  that  overbearing  authority  which  the  whole  Christian  church 
united,  could  not  have  failed  to  possess,  and  which,  if  there  had  been 
no  place  of  retreat  from  power,  would  have  been  insupportable.  What 
would  have  been  the  terror  of  an  excommunication  from  a  church,  and 
how  would  it  have  been  possible  to  correct  any  abuse  in  such  circum- 
stances ?  That  families  and  friends  should  be  divided,  and  that  those 
divisions  should  be  the  cause  of  so  much  animosity  as  they  have  often 
occasioned  is,  no  doubt,  to  be  lamented.  But  this  is  an  evil  that  does 
not  necessarily  arise  from  sects  in  religion,  but  solely  from  the  unrea- 
sonable spirit  of  bigotry  in  men,  which  cannot  bear  with  patience  that 
others  should  think  or  act  differently  from  them — that  bigotry,  which 
a  number  of  sects,  and  their  necessary  consequences,  can  alone  cure. 
Private  animosity  was  an  evil  inseparable  from  the  promulgation  of 
Christianity  itself,  and  was  distinctly  foretold  by  its  divine  author. 
The  excellent  character  of  many  of  the  Novatian  Bishops,  was  of  great 
use  in  exciting  emulation  among  those  of  the  Catholic  Church,  and  in 
checking  that  abuse  of  power,  which  has  often  disgraced  Christianity 
infinitely  more  than  the  divisions  that  are  the  subject  of  complaint. 
But  to  proceed. 

Constantius,  whose  death  has  been  already  mentioned,  was  succeed- 
ed in  the  administration  of  affairs  in  the  year  361,  by  his  nephew  Ju- 
lian. This  prince,  during  his  infancy,  had  been  entrusted  to  the  care 
of  Eusebius,  bishop  of  Nicomedia,  to  whom  he  was  related  on  his  mo- 
ther's side.  But  although  considerable  pains  had  been  taken  to  in- 
struct him  in  the  principles  of  Christianity,  the  mind  of  Julian  imbibed 
a  partiality  for  the  Pagan  worship,  which,  however,  he  dexterously 
contrived  to  conceal  until  he  had  assumed  the  reins  of  government.  Mr. 
Gibbon,  not  without  probability,  resolves  this  unhappy  bias  of  the 
young  prince's  mind  into  a  disgust  which  he  had  taken  at  the  manner 
in  which  the  Arian  controversy  was  carried  on.  "  He  was  educated," 
says  he,  "  in  the  lesser  Asia,  amidst  the  scandals  of  the  Arian  contro- 
versy. The  fierce  contests  of  the  Eastern  bishops,  the  incessant  alter- 
ations of  their  creeds,  and  the  profane  motives  which  appeared  to  actu- 
ate their  conduct,  insensibly  strengthened  the  prejudices  of  Julian  that 
they  neither  understood  nor  believed  the  religion  for  which  they  so 
fiercely  contended."*  There  is  surely  nothing  incredible  in  this — the 
wonder  would  have  been  that,  spectator  as  he  was  of  such  detestable 
squabbles,  he  should  have  retained  any  predilection  for  the  Christians. 

The  apostasy  of  Julian  (as  the  Catholic  clergy  delighted  to  call  it) 
was  carefully  concealed  during  his  minority;  and,  when  first  intimated, 
it  was  cautiously  done  among  the  adherents  of  the  ancient  Pagan  wor- 
ship. From  the  zeal  and  virtues  of  their  royal  proselyte,  they  fondly 
hoped  the  restoration  of  their  temples,  sacrifices,  and  worship,  of  which 
they  had  been  in  a  considerable  degree  deprived  during  the  reigns  of 
Constantine  and  his  sons.  Probably  they  expected  that  the  flames  of 
persecution  should  again  be  lighted  up  against  the  enemies  of  their 
deities ;  while  the  Christians  beheld  with  horror  and  indignation  the 
apostasy  of  Julian.     But  the  hopes  of  the  former,  and  the  fears  of  the 

•  Decline  and  Fall,  vol.  iv.  ch.  25. 
16* 


186  History  of  the  Christian  Church. 

latter,  were  disappointed  by  the  prudent  conduct  of  Julian,  who,  during 
his  short  reign,  consulted  the  good  of  his  subjects  and  the  public  tran- 
quillity. Actuated  by  these  motives,  and  apprehensive  of  disturbing  the 
repose  of  an  unsettled  reign,  he  surprised  the  world  by  an  edict,  ex- 
tending to  all  the  inhabitants  of  the  empire  the  benefits  of  a  free  and 
equal  toleration — but  he  had  seen  enough  of  the  intolerant  principles  of 
the  Catholic  clergy,  to  deprive  them  of  the  power  of  persecuting  their 
fellow  subjects.  The  Pagans  were  permitted  to  open  all  their  temples,, 
and  were  at  once  delivered  from  the  oppressive  laws  and  arbitrary  ex- 
actions imposed  upon  them  by  Constantine  and  his  sons.  At  the  same 
time,  the  bishops  and  clergy,  who  had  been  banished  by  Constantins, 
were  recalled  from  exile,  and  restored  to  their  respective  churches. 
Julian,  who  had  paid  considerable  attention  to  their  disputes,  invited 
the  leaders  of  the  different  parties  to  his  palace,  that  he  might  enjoy  the 
pleasure  of  witnessing  their  furious  encounters.  The  clamour  of  con- 
troversy sometimes  provoked  him  to  exclaim,  "  Hear  me  !  the  Franks 
have  heard  me,  and  the  Germans  ;" — but  he  soon  discovered  that  he 
was  now  engaged  with  more  obstinate  and  implacable  enemies  ;  and, 
though  he  exerted  all  the  powers  of  his  oratory  to  persuade  them  to 
live  in  concord,  or  at  least  in  peace,  he  was  perfectly  satisfied  he  had 
nothing  to  fear  from  their  union  and  co-operation. 

There  are  .two  particulars  in  the  reign  of  Julian  which  ought  not  to 
be  passed  over  without  being  briefly  adverted  to.  The  first  is,  the  ex- 
traordinary exertions  which  he  made  to  restore  the  ancient  superstitious 
worship.  No  sooner  did  he  ascend  the  throne,  than  he  assumed  the 
character  of  supreme  Pontiff,  and  became  a  perfect  devotee  to  the  rites 
of  Paganism.  He  dedicated  a  domestic  chapel  to  the  sun,  his  favourite 
deity — his  gardens  were  filled  with  statues  and  altars  of  the  gods — and 
each  apartment  of  his  palace  displayed  the  appearance  of  a  magnificent 
temple.  He  also  endeavoured,  by  his  own  zeal,  to  inflame  that  of  the 
magistrates  and  people.  "  Amidst  the  sacred  but  licentious  crowd  of 
priests,  of  inferior  ministers,  and  of  female  dancers,  who  were  dedicated 
to  the  service  of  the  temple,  it  was  the  business  of  the  emperor  to 
bring  the  wood,  to  blow  the  fire,  to  handle  the  knife,  to  slaughter  the 
victim,  and  thrusting  his  bloody  hands  into  the  bowels  of  the  expiring 
animal,  to  draw  forth  the  heart  or  liver,  and  to  read,  with  the  consum- 
mate skill  of  a  soothsayer,  the  imaginary  signs  of  future  events."* 
Encouraged  by  the  example  of  their  sovereign,  as  well  as  by  his  exhor- 
tations and  liberality,  the  cities  and  families  resumed  the  practice  of 
their  neglected  ceremonies.  "  Every  part  of  the  world,"  exclaims  one 
of  their  own  writers,  with  transport,  "  displayed  the  triumph  of  reli- 
gion— and  the  grateful  prospect  of  flaming  altars,  bleeding  victims,  the 
smoke  of  incense,  and  a  solemn  train  of  priests  and  prophets,  without 
fear,  and  without  danger.  The  sound  of  prayer  and  of  music  was  heard 
on  the  tops  of  the  highest  mountains;  and  the  same  ox  afforded  a  sacri- 
fice for  the  gods,  and  a  supper  for  their  joyous  votaries."  This  may 
give  us  some  notion  of  what  might  have  ensued  had  the  life  of  Julian 
not  been  cut  short. 

*  Gibbon,  vol.  iv.  ch.  23. 


Attempts  to  rebuild  the  Jewish  Temple.  187 

The  other  circumstance  alluded  to,  is  the  project  which  this  emperor 
entertained  of  rebuilding  the  temple  of  Jerusalem.  In  a  public  address 
to  the  people  of  the  Jews,  dispersed  throughout  the  provinces  of  his 
empire,  he  tells  them,  that  he  pities  their  misfortunes,  condemns  their 
oppressors,  praises  their  constancy,  declares  himself  their  gracious  pro- 
tector, and  expresses  a  hope,  that  after  his  return  from  the  Persian  war, 
he  may  be  permitted  to  pay  his  vows  to  the  Almighty  in  the  holy  city 
of  Jerusalem.  It  is  probable  that  the  vain  and  ambitious  mind  of  Julian 
aspired  to  the  honour  of  restoring  the  ancient  glory  of  the  temple.  He 
knew  the  Christians  were  firmly  persuaded  that,  by  the  coming  of 
Christ,  the  typical  dispensation  had  come  to  an  end;  and  could  he  suc- 
ceed in  restoring  the  Jews  to  their  city  and  the  ritual  of  their  worship, 
he  might  convert  it  into  an  argument  against  the  faith  of  prophecy  and 
the  truth  of  revelation.  He,  therefore,  resolved  to  erect,  on  Mount 
Moriah,  a  stately  temple ;  and  without  waiting  for  his  return  from  the 
Persian  war,  gave  instructions  to  his  minister  Alypius,  to  commence 
without  delay,  the  vast  undertaking.  At  the  call  of  their  great  deliverer, 
the  Jews,  from  all  the  provinces  of  the  empire,  repaired  to  Jerusalem. 
The  desire  of  rebuilding  the  temple  has,  in  every  age,  been  a  favourite 
project  with  them.  In  this  propitious  moment,  says  Gibbon,  the  men 
forgat  their  avarice  and  the  women  their  delicacy  ;  spades  and  pick- 
axes of  silver  were  provided  by  the  vanity  of  the  rich,  and  the  rubbish 
was  transported  in-  mantles  of  silk  and  purple.  Every  purse  was 
opened  in  liberal  contributions,  every  hand  claimed  a  share  in  the  pious 
labour;  and  the  commands  of  a  great  monarch  were  executed  by  the 
enthusiasm  of  a  whole  people. 

The  joint  efforts  of  power  and  enthusiasm  were,  however,  on  this 
occasion  unsuccessful.  I  am  aware  that  the  reason  of  this  is  different- 
ly accounted  for.  Some  resolve  it  wholly  into  the  early  death  of  Ju- 
lian, and  the  additional  circumstance  of  his  successor  being  actuated 
by  different  religious  principles.  I  shall,  however,  transcribe  the  ac- 
count which  is  given  of  this  extraordinary  affair,  not  by  a  Christian, 
but  by  a  heathen  writer,  who  lived  during  the  transaction,  and  wrote 
his  book  within  twenty  years  of  it — leaving  the  reader  to  make  his 
own  reflections  on  the  subject. 

Ammianus  Marcellinus,  detailing  the  history  of  his  own  times,  says, 
"  whilst  Alypius,  assisted  by  the  governor  of  the  province,  urged  with 
vigour  and  diligence  the  execution  of  the  work,  horrible  balls  of  fire, 
breaking  out  near  the  foundations,  with  frequent  and  reiterated  attacks, 
rendered  the  place,  from  time  to  time,  inaccessible  to  the  scorched  and 
blasted  workmen  ;  and  the  victorious  element  continuing  in  this  man- 
ner, obstinately  and  resolutely  bent  as  it  were,  to  drive  them  to  a  dis- 
tance, the  undertaking  was  abandoned."*  This  "  unexceptionable  tes- 
timony," as  Gibbon  candidly  admits  it  to  be,  is  also  supported  by 
Ambrose,  bishop  of  Milan,  in  a  letter  to  the  emperor  Theodosius— by 
the  eloquent  Chrysostom,  who  at  the  time  was  bishop  of  Antioch — 
and  by  Gregory  Nazianzen,  who  published  his  account  of  this  preter- 
natural event  before  the  expiration  of  the  same  year. 

«  Ammianus  Marcellinus,  b.  xxi.  at  the  beginning. 


188  History  of  the  Christian  Church. 

There   are   few   of   the   Roman  emperors,   whose  characters  have 
been  exhibited  in  more   discordant  lights,  than  that  of  Julian.     His 
predilection   for   Paganism,   or  his   prejudice  against  Christianity,  or 
both,  have  given  such  a  partial  bias  to  the  pen  of  Mr.  Gibbon  when 
recording  the  events  of  his  reign,  that  he  uniformly  represents  him  as 
a  virtuous  and  amiable  monarch.     But  there   certainly  were  traits  in 
his  character  of  a  very  different  nature.     Dr.  Lardner,  whose  impar- 
tiality has  never  been  called  in  question,  tells  us,  that  Julian  "  had  a 
certain  levity  of  mind  ;   was  a  great  talker ;  very  fond  of  fame  ;  super- 
stitious rather  than  properly  religious  ;  so  addicted  to  sacriticing,  that 
it  was  said  the  race  of  bulls  would  be  destroyed  if  he  returned  victo- 
rious from  Persia :  and  such  was  the  multitude  of  his  victims,  that  his 
soldiers,  who  partook  of  them,  were  frequently   much  disordered  by 
excess  in  eating  and  drinking.     He  received  the  rising  sun  with  blood, 
and  attended  him  with  blood  at  his  setting. — By  frequent  devotions  he 
engaged  the  gods  to  be  his   auxiliaries  in  war ;   worshipping  Mercury, 
Ceres,  Mars,  Calliope,  Apollo,  and  Jupiter.     Libanius,  complaining 
of  the  deities  who  had  deserted  him,  says,  "  Which  of  them  shall  we 
blame  ?  not  one,  but  all,  for  none  were  neglected  by  him,  neither  gods 
nor  goddesses.     And  is  this  the  return,"  says  he,  "  for  all  his  victims, 
for  all  his  vows,  for  all  the  incense,  and   all  the   blood  offered  up  to 
them,  by  day  and  night  1  Wherever  there  was  a  temple,  continues  the 
same  writer,  whether  in  the  city,  or  on  the  hill,  or  on  the  tops   of  the 
mountains,  no  place  was  so  rough  or  so  difficult  of  access  but  he  ran 
to  it,  as  if  the  way  had  been  smooth  and  pleasant." 

"  But  though  Julian  was  so  devout  and  religious  in  his  way,  he 
could  be  much  displeased  when  he  was  disappointed,  and  even  angry 
with  his  gods,  like  other  heathens.  In  the  Persian  war,  having  ob- 
tained some  successes  and  expecting  more,  he  prepared  a  grand  sacri- 
fice for  Mars  ;  but  the  omen  not  being  favourable,  he  was  greatly  in- 
censed; and  called  Jupiter  to  witness,  that  he  would  never  more  offer 
a  sacrifice  to  Mars.  This  excess  of  superstition,  it  seems  to  me,  is 
the  proof  of  the  want  of  judgment — a  defect  which  appeared  upon  di- 
vers occasions  and  in  many  actions  not  altogether  becoming  the  dignity 
of  an  emperor."* 

The  conduct  of  Julian  towards  the  Christians  does  not  seem  to  have 
been  characterized  by  all  that  impartiality  which  his  admirers  claim 
for  him.  Sozomen,  the  historian,  says,  he  ordered  the  strictest  in- 
quiry to  be  made  after  the  estates  that  belonged  to  Christians,  with  a 
view  to  confiscate  the  whole  of  them,  not  hesitating  to  employ  torture 
to  come  at  the  truth.  He  subjected  the  Christian  clergy  to  the  lowest 
services  in  the  army — and  threatened,  that  unless  the  Christians  re- 
built the  Pagan  temples,  he  would  not  suffer  the  Galileans  to  wear 
their  heads  ;  and  our  historian  observes,  that  if  it  had  been  in  his 
power,  and  he  had  not  been  prevented  by  death,  he  would  probably 
have  been  as  good  as  his   word.t 

Though  Julian  forbore  to  persecute  unto  death,  he  could  not,  on  se- 

*  Lardner's  Testimonies,  vol.  iv.  p.  25. 
f  Sozomen's  History,  bk.  v.  ch.  iv. 


Reign  of  the  Emperor  Jovian.  189 

veral  occasions,  refrain  from  using  insults,  which  sufficiently  showed 
what  he  felt,  and  what  he  wished  to  do.  When  he  was  sacrificing  in 
a  temple  at  Constantinople,  and  Maris,  the  bishop  of  Chalcedon,  a  man 
respectable  for  his  learning  and  for  the  part  he  had  acted  in  public  life, 
and  now  venerable  for  his  age,  happening  to  pass  by,  he  abused  him 
as  an  impious  person,  and  an  enemy  of  the  gods.  He  had  even  the 
meanness  to  reproach  him  for  his  blindness,  saying,  "  Will  not  your 
Galilean  God  cure  you?"  The  old  man  replied,  "  I  thank  my  God 
that  I  am  deprived  of  sight,  that  I  may  not  see  your  fall  from  piety." 
On  this  occasion,  Julian  had  so  much  command  of  himself,  as  to 
pass  on  without  making  any  reply. 

But  notwithstanding  his  affectation  of  magnanimity,  Julian  was  not 
always  so  much  master  of  himself,  as  he  appeared  to  be  on  this  occa- 
sion. While  at  Antioch,  just  before  he  set  out  on  his  expedition 
against  Persia,  two  of  the  officers  who  usually  attended  upon  his  per- 
son, inadvertently  complained,  that  by  his  orders,  every  thing  in  the 
city  was  polluted  with  the  rites  of  heathenism,  insomuch  that  the  very 
fountains  that  supplied  the  city,  and  every  thing  sold  in  the  market, 
bread,  butcher's  meat,  herbs,  fruit,  &c.  had  been  sprinkled  with  lus- 
tral  water,  by  which  they  were,  as  it  were,  consecrated  to  the  heathen 
gods  :  such  had  been  his  insidious  policy,  in  order  to  draw  the  people 
insensibly  into  idolatry. 

These  complaints  coming  to  the  ears  of  Julian,  he  ordered  them  to 
be  brought  before  him  ;  and  interrogating  them,  as  was  his  custom, 
with  great  familiarity,  they  frankly  told  him,  that  they  had  made  those 
complaints  ;  and  that  having  been  educated  in  the  Christian  religion, 
under  his  predecessors,  Constantine  and  Constantius,  they  could  not 
help  being  disgusted  at  seeing  every  thing  contaminated  with  the  rites 
of  heathenism ;  but  that  this  was  the  only  thing  in  his  reign  of  which 
they  complained.  At  this  he  was  so  provoked,  that  he  ordered  them 
to  be  put  to  death  with  torture  :  pretending  that  it  was  not  on  account 
of  their  religion,  but  for  their  petulance  in  insulting  their  emperor. 

About  the  same  time,  a  deaconess,  of  the  name  of  Pythia,  who  led 
the  female  singers,  happening,  as  the  emperor  was  passing  by  the 
doors  of  a  place  of  worship,  to  be  singing  a  psalm,  and  having,  per- 
haps imprudently,  pitched  upon  one  of  those  in  which  the  heathen 
gods  and  their  worshippers  are  spoken  of  with  contempt,  he  was  so 
provoked  that  he  sent  for  her;  and,  though  she  was  very  old,  one  of 
his  guards  struck  her  by  his  command,  and  in  his  presence,  on  both 
the  cheeks,  with  such  violence,  that  the  blood  gushed  out.* 

After  a  short  reign  of  twenty  months,  Julian,  who  perished  by  the 
lance  of  a  common  soldier,  while  prosecuting  the  Persian  war  upon  the 
banks  of  the  Euphrates,  was  succeeded  in  the  year  363  by  Jovian,  one 
of  the  officers  of  his  army.  He  had  been  educated  in  the  principles  of 
Christianity,  and  as  soon  as  he  ascended  the  throne,  transmitted  a  cir- 
cular letter  to  all  the  governors  of  the  provinces,  securing  the  legal  es- 
tablishment of  the  Christian  religion.  The  edicts  of  Julian  were  abo- 
lished, and  ecclesiastical  immunities  restored  and  enlarged.     The  Ca- 

*  Theod.  Hist.  b.  iii.  ch.  xv. 


190  History  of  the  Christian  Church. 

tholic  clergy  were  unanimous  in  the  loud  and  sincere  applause  which 
they  bestowed  on  Jovian,  but  they  were  yet  ignorant  what  creed  or 
what  synod  he  would  choose  for  the  standard  of  orthodoxy.  The  lead- 
ers of  the  different  factions  were  properly  aware,  how  much  depended 
upon  the  first  impressions  made  on  the  mind  of  an  untutored  soldier, 
and  they  hastened  to  the  imperial  court.  The  public  roads  were  crowd- 
ed with  Athanasian,  Arian,  Semi-arian,  and  Eunomian  bishops,  who 
struggled  to  outstrip  each  other  in  the  race  :  the  apartments  of  the  pa- 
lace resounded  with  their  clamours,  and  the  ears  of  the  prince  were  as- 
saulted, and  perhaps  astonished  by  the  singular  mixture  of  metaphysi- 
cal argument  and  personal  invective.  He  wisely  recommended  to  them 
charity  and  concord,  but  referred  the  disputants  to  the  decision  of  a  fu- 
ture council. 

The  conduct  of  Jovian  seems  to  have  given  the  death  blow  to  the 
prevalence  of  Paganism  in  the  empire.     "  Under  his  reign,"  says  the 
historian  of  the  Roman  empire,   "  Christianity  obtained  an  easy  and 
lasting  victory ;  and  as  soon  as  the  smile  of  royal  patronage  was  with- 
drawn, the  genius  of  Paganism,  which   had  been  fondly  raised  and 
cherished  by  the  acts  of  Julian,  sunk  irrecoverably  in  the  dust.     In 
many  cities,  the  temples  were  shut  or  deserted ;  the  philosophers  who 
had   abused  the  transient  favour,  thought  it  prudent  to  shave   their 
beards,  and  disguise  their  profession  ;  and  the  Christians  rejoiced,  that 
they  were  now  in  a   condition   to  forgive    or   to  revenge   the  injuries 
which  they  had  suffered  under  the  preceding  reign."*     Jovian,  never- 
theless, issued  a  wise  and  gracious  edict,  in  which  he  explicitly  de- 
clares, that  though  he  should  severely  punish  the  sacrilegious  rites  of 
magic,  his  subjects  might  exercise  with  freedom  and  safety,  the  cere- 
monies of  the  ancient  worship.     "  I  hate  contention,"  says  he,  "  and 
love  those  only  that  study  peace;"  declaring,  that  "he  would  trouble 
none  on  account  of  their  faith,  whatever  it  was  ;  and  that  such  only 
should  obtain  his  favour  and  esteem,  as  should  stand  forward,  in  re- 
storing the  peace  of  the  church."     The  senate  of  Constantinople  de- 
puted an  orator,  of  the  name  of  Themistius,  to  express  their  loyal  de- 
votion to  the  new  emperor.     His  oration  is  preserved,  and  merits  par- 
ticular attention,  for  the  discovery  which  it  inadvertently  makes  of  the 
state  of  the  established  Catholic  church  at  that  period.    "  In  the  recent 
changes,"  says  he,  "  both  religions  have  been  alternately  disgraced,  by 
the  seeming  acquisition  of  worthless   proselytes,   of  those  votaries  of 
the  reigning  purple,  who  could  pass,  without  a  reason  and  without  a 
blush,  from  the  church  to  the  temple,  and  from  the  altars  of  Jupiter  to 
the  sacred  table  of  the  Christians. "t     Could  a  volume  give  us  a  more 
striking  picture  of  the  wretched  state  to  which  the  Christian  profession 
was  reduced  in   so  short  a  time  as  half  a  century  after  its  establish- 
ment? 

Jovian  reigned  only  one  year.  He  appears  to  have  been  addicted  to 
intemperance  ;  for,  after  indulging  himself  in  the  pleasures  of  the  table 
at  supper,  he  retired  to  rest,  and  the  next  morning  was  found  dead  in 
his  bed.     The  throne  of  the  empire  now  remained  ten  days  vacant ;  but 

*  Gibbon,  vol.  iv.  ch.  lxxxv.  -j-  Quoted  by  Gibbon,  ubi  supra- 


Reign  of  Valentinian  and  Valens.  191 

it  was  at  length  filled  by  two  brothers,  Valentinian  and  Valens,  the  for- 
mer a  distinguished  officer  in  the  army,  who,  thirty  days  after  his  own 
elevation,  voluntarily  associated  his  brother  with  him  in  the  government 
of  the  empire,  A.  D.  364.  Of  both  these  princes,  Mr.  Gibbon  says, 
that  "  they  invariably  retained  in  the  purple,  the  chaste  and  temperate 
simplicity  which  had  adorned  their  private  life;  and  under  their  reign, 
the  pleasures  of  a  court  never  cost  the  people  a  blush  or  a  sigh." 
Though  in  a  great  measure  illiterate  themselves,  they  were  great  pro- 
moters of  learning  among  their  subjects.  They  planned  a  course  of  in- 
struction for  every  city  in  the  empire ;  and  the  academies  of  Rome  and 
Constantinople,  but  more  especially  the  latter,  were  considerably 
extensive. 

The  two  emperors  were  of  very  different  tempers,  and  took  different 
courses  in  regard  to  religion.  The  former  was  of  the  orthodox  party; 
but  though  he  especially  favoured  those  of  his  own  sentiments,  he  gave 
no  disturbance  to  the  Arians.  Valens,  on  the  contrary,  was  less  liberal 
in  his  views,  and  persecuted  all  who  differed  from  him.  In  the  begin- 
ning of  their  reign,  a  synod  was  convened  in  Illyricum,  which  again 
decreed  the  consubstantiality  of  Father,  Son,  and  Spirit.  The  empe- 
rors issued  a  circular  letter,  declaring  their  assent  to  this,  and  ordering 
that  this  doctrine  should  be  preached — though  they  published  laws  for 
the  toleration  of  all  religious  denominations,  and  even  of  Paganism.  In 
the  year  375,  Valentinian  died  suddenly  in  a  transport  of  rage,  and 
Valens  being  sole  emperor,  was  soon  prevailed  on  by  the  artifice  of 
Eudoxius,  bishop  of  Constantinople,  to  take  a  decided  part  with  the 
Arians,  and  to  abandon  his  moderation,  by  cruelly  persecuting  the  Or- 
thodox. The  first  thing  that  fired  his  resentment  was  the  conduct  of 
these  latter,  who  had  solicited  and  obtained  his  permission  to  hold  a 
synod  at  Lampsacus,  for  the  amendment  and  settlement  of  the  faith; 
when,  after  two  month's  consultation,  they  decreed  the  doctrine  of  the 
Son's  being  like  the  Father  as  to  his  essence,  to  be  the  true  orthodox 
faith,  and  deposed  all  the  bishops  of  the  Arian  party.  This  highly 
exasperated  Valens,  who,  without  delay,  convened  a  council  of°the 
Arian  bishops,  and  in  his  turn,  commanded  the  bishops  who  composed 
the  synod  of  Lampsacus  to  embrace  the  sentiments  of  Eudoxius  the 
Arian :  and  upon  their  refusal,  sent  them  into  exile,  transferring  their 
churches  to  their  opponents.  After  this,  he  pursued  measures  still 
more  violent  against  them ;  some  were  commanded  to  be  whipped, 
others  disgraced,  not  a  few  imprisoned,  and  many  fined. 

But  the  most  detestable  part  of  his  conduct  was  his  treacherous  and 
cruel  behaviour  towards  eighty  of  them,  whom,  under  the  pretence  of 
sending  them  into  banishment — a  thing  to  which  they  had  consented, 
rather  than  subscribe  what  they  did  not  believe — he  put  on  board  a 
ship,  and  caused  the  vessel  to  be  set  on  fire  as  it  sailed  out  of  the  har- 
bour, through  which  they  all  perished  either  by  fire  or  water.  These 
kinds  of  cruelty  continued  to  the  end  of  his  reign,  and  there  is  no  room 
to  doubt  that  he  was  greatly  stimulated  to  them  by  the  bishops  of  the 
Arian  party.  It  is  a  melancholy  reflection,  that  the  pity  which  such 
merciless  treatment  as  this  could  not  have  failed  to  excite  in  every  feel- 
ing mind,  the  orthodox  should  have  deprived  themselves  of,  by  their 


192  History  of  the  Christian  Church. 

own  imprudence,  in  commencing  the  first  assault  upon  the  Arians. 
They  ought  to  have  remembered  that  divine  maxim,  "  whatsoever  ye 
would  that  men  should  do  unto  you,  do  ye  even  so  unto  them;"  for  on 
most  of  those  occasions  it  was  only  "  the  measure  they  meted  that  was 
measured  to  them  again." 

But  the  conduct  of  Valens  was  not  regulated  by  the  strict  rules  of 
equity  ;  for  in  this  persecution  he  included  the  Novatians,  whose 
churches  he  commanded  to  be  shut  up,  and  their  pastors  banished  ; 
although,  so  far  as  I  can  perceive,  they  took  no  part  whatever  in  the 
squabbles  that  existed  between  the  contending  factions.  Agelius,  the 
pastor  of  the  church  in  Constantinople,  a  man  of  admirable  sanctity 
and  virtue,  and  remarkable  for  his  perfect  contempt  of  money,  was  ex- 
iled. Yet  he  was  restored  not  long  after,  and  recovered  the  churches 
of  his  communion.  Socrates,  the  historian,  who  seems  to  have  been 
intimately  acquainted  with  the  affairs  of  the  Novatians,  says,  that  the 
toleration  which  this  class  of  Christians  at  length  obtained,  they  owed 
under  providence  to  one  Marcian,  a  presbyter  of  their  church  in  Con- 
stantinople, a  man  of  learning  and  piety,  who  tutored  two  daughters  of 
the  emperor.  This  historian  particularly  mentions  the  liberality  and 
kindness  which  the  Novatians  exercised  towards  such  of  the  orthodox 
party  as  were  the  subjects  of  persecution  ;  while  they  themselves  were 
tolerated, — a  trait  in  their  history  which  even  Milner  is  obliged  to  ad- 
mit "reflects  an  amiable  lustre  on  the  character  of  these  Dissenters"* 
— and  for  showing  which  benevolence,  they  actually  incurred  the  dis- 
pleasure of  the  reigning  party.  Agelius  presided  over  that  church  forty 
years,  and  died  in  the  sixth  year  of  the  reign  of  Theodosius.  Before 
his  death,  some  difference  of  opinion  arose  in  the  church  relative  to  a 
successor.     Agelius   gave   the   preference  to    Sisinnius,t  a  person  of 

*   History  of  the  Church,  vol.  ii.  p.  157. 

f  Socrates,  the  historian,  has  given  us  some  interesting  particulai-s  of  Sisin- 
nius,  which,  as  I  do  not  recollect  to  have  seen  them  quoted  by  any  modern 
writer,  I  shall  here  extract.  "He  was,"  says  he,  "an  eloquent  person  and  an 
excellent  philosopher — had  diligently  cultivated  the  art  of  Logic,  and  was  in- 
comparably well  versed  in  the  sacred  Scriptures."  He  wore  a  white  garment, 
and  regularly  bathed  himself  twice  a  day  in  the  public  baths.  He  seems  to  have 
been  remarkable  for  the  readiness  of  his  wit  on  all  occasions;  in  illustration  of 
which,  Socrates  has  recorded  several  anecdotes  Being  interrogated  by  one  of 
his  acquaintance,  why  he,  who  was  a  bishop,  chose  to  bathe  twice  a  day,  Sisin- 
nius  promptly  replied,  "Because  I  cannot  bathe  thrice.'"  His  good  sense  led  him 
to  treat  with  levity  the  practice  of  clothing  the  clergy  in  black.  Calling  one  day 
to  pay  a  friendly  visit  at  the  house  of  Arsacius,  who  had  succeeded  Chrysostom 
in  the  see  of  Constantinople,  he  was  asked,  why  he  dressed  in  a  manner  so  un- 
suitable to  his  character  as  a  bishop.  "  Tell  me,"  said  he,  "where  it  is  written 
that  a  bishop  should  wear  a  black  garment?  You,"  said  he,  "can  never  show 
that  a  priest  ought  to  wear  black — but  I  will  give  you  my  authority  for  wearing 
white.  Hath  not  Solomon  expressly  said,  '  Let  thy  garments  be  always  white?'  " 
Eccles.  ix.  8.  He  then  referred  them  to  Luke  ix.  29,  on  which  occasion  both 
the  Lord  Jesus,  and  Moses,  and  Elias,  appeared  to  the  apostles  clothed  in  white. 
In  the  province  of  Galatia,  Leontius,  the  bishop  of  Ancyra,  commenced  a  prose- 
cution against  the  church  of  the  Novatians,  in  that  city,  and  took  from  them 
their  place  of  worship.  Happening  soon  afterwards  to  come  to  Constantinople, 
Sisinnius  waited  upon  him,  for  the  purpose  of  entreating  him  to  restore  to  his 
friends  their  chapel.     Leontius  flew  into  a  passion,  and  said,  "  You  Novatianists 


Character  of  Sisinnius.  193 

great  learning  and  talents,  and  consequently  ordained  him.  The  church 
had  a  great  partiality  for  Marcian,  who  had  been  eminently  instrumental 
in  enabling  them  to  weather  the  storm  of  persecution  under  Valens. 
Distressed  that  any  cause  of  murmuring  should  exist  among  them, 
Agelius  immediately  ordained  Marcian  to  the  episcopal  office,  and 
thereby  restored  harmony  and  concord. 

After  having  reigned  fourteen  years,  Valens  lost  his  life  in  a  battle 
with  the  Goths,  A.  D.  378,  and  was  succeeded  in  the  government  of 
the  empire  by  Gratian,  the  son  of  Valentinian.  He  was  of  the  ortho- 
dox party  ;  and  after  the  death  of  his  uncle  Valens,  he  recalled  those 
that  had  been  banished — restored  them  to  their  sees,  and  sent  Sapores, 
one  of  his  captains,  to  drive  the  Arians,  like  wild  beasts,  out  of  all  their 
churches.      This  emperor,  soon  after  his  accession  to  power,  united 

ought  not  to  have  churches,  for  you  discard  all  repentance,  and  exclude  the  lov- 
ing-kindness of  God,"  &c.  Sisinnius  listened  patiently  to  this  philippic,  and 
then  calmly  replied,  "But  no  man  can  repent  more  than  I  do!"  How,'  said 
Leontius,  do  you  repent?  "I  repent,"  replied  Sisinnius,  "  that  I  have  seen  your' 
Chrysostom,  who  was  at  the  head  of  the  Catholic  party,  and  who  was  a  man  of 
excessive  arrogance,  on  one  occasion  addressed  him  with  great  heat,  saying, 
"You  are  a  heretic,  and  I  will  make  you  leave  off  preaching."  "I'll  give  you  a 
reward,"  said  Sisinnius  "if  you  will  free  me  from  the  labour  of  it."  "O!  if  the 
office  is  laborious,"  rejoined  Chrysostom,  "  you  may  go  on  with  it." 

Socrates  closes  Ms  account  of  Sisinnius  with  the  following  sketch.  "He  was 
very  eminent  for  his  learning,  on  which  account  all  the  bishops  who  succeeded, 
loved  and  honoured  him.  Moreover,  all  the  eminent  personages  of  the  Senato- 
rian  order  had  a  great  affection  for  him  and  admired  him.  He  wrote  many 
books,  but  he  is  too  studious  about  words  in  them,  and  intermixes  too  many 
poetic  terms;  he  was  more  admired  for  his  speaking  than  for  his  writings.  In 
his  countenance  and  voice,  in  his  dress  and  aspect,  and  in  the  whole  of  his  action 
and  deportment,  there  was  much  gracefulness— by  reason  of  which  accomplish- 
ments, he  was  beloved  by  all  sects."  Upon  another  occasion,  he  remarks  that, 
such  was  the  high  estimation  in  which  Sisinnius  was  held  by  the  Novatian  peo- 
ple, that  "  his  word  was  law." 

Sisinnius  died  in  the  year  407,  and  was  succeeded  by  Chrysanthus,  a  man  of 
signal  prudence  and  modesty,  by  whose  means  the  churches  of  the  Novatians 
were  not  only  upheld  but  increased.  Eccles.  Hist.  b.  vi.  ch.  22.  and  b.  vii.  ch. 
12. 

It  is  quite  amusing  to  witness  Mr.  Milner's  spleen  against  the  characters  of 
Novatian  and  Sisinnius.  He  terms  the  latter  a  "facetious  gentleman,"  and  only 
mentions  him  for  the  sake  of  censuring  his  singularity  in  not  conforming  to  the 
catholic  clergy  and  the  clerical  garb.  Indeed,  he  seems  to  have  regarded  him  in 
much  the  same  light  as  that  in  which  Dr.  Johnson  regarded  Milton,  when  he  said, 
"he  was  not  of  the  Church  of  England,  he  was  not  of  the  Church  of  Rome— to 
be  of  no  church  is  dangerous."  But  of  .Erius  (concerning  whom  the  reader 
will  meet  with  some  account  in  the  next  section)  he  disdains,  so  far  as  I  can  per- 
ceive, even  to  record  his  name  or  his  heresy — though  on  St.  Augustine,  a  part 
of  whose  labours  were  employed  in  an  attempt  to  refute  him,  he'has  bestowed 
172  closely  printed  pages  ! — that  Augustine,  of  whom,  after  all,  he  is  constrained 
to  acknowledge  that  he  understood  not  Paul's  doctrine  of  justification — that  he 
perpetually  confounds  it  with  sanctification,  (vol.  ii.  p.  426,  &c.)  and  that  as  to 
the  doctrine  of  particular  redemption,  it  was  unknown  to  him  a.nd  all  the  ancients, 
as  he  [Mr.  Milner]  wishes  it  had  remained  equally  unknown  to  the  moderns." 
p.  467.  This  was,  indeed,  fulfilling  the  pledge  Mr.  M.  had  given  the  public,  of 
writing  an  Ecclesiastical  History  on  a  new  plan.  See  his  Preface  to  vol.  1.  of  his 
History  of  the  Christian  Church. 

17 


194  History  of  the  Christian  Church. 

with  himself  as  colleague  in  the  government,  "  the  great  Theodosius, 
a  name  celebrated  in  history,  and  dear  to  the  Catholic  church." 

Immediately  on  his  advancement  to  the  throne  of  the  empire,  Theo- 
dosius betrayed  a  warm  zeal  for  the  orthodox  opinions.  Hearing  that 
the  city  of  Constantinople  was  divided  into  different  religious  parties, 
he  wrote  a  letter  to  them  from  Thessalonica,  wherein  he  acquaints 
them,  that  "  it  ivas  his  pleasure,  that  all  his  subjects  should  be  of  the 
same  religious  profession  with  Damasus,  bishop  of  Rome,  and  Peter, 
bishop  of  Alexandria,  and  that  their  church  alone  should  be  denomi- 
nated "  Catholic,"  who  worshipped  the  divine  Trinity  as  equal  in  ho- 
nour, and  that  those  who  were  of  another  opinion  should  be  called 
heretics,  become  infamous,  and  be  liable  to  other  punishments."*  And 
on  his  arrival  in  the  imperial  city,  he  sent  for  Demophilus,  the  Arian 
bishop,  demanding  to  know  whether  he  would  subscribe  the  Nicene 
confession  of  faith,  adding,  "  if  you  refuse  to  do  it,  I  will  drive  you 
from  your  churches" — and  he  kept  his  word,  for  he  turned  him  and  all 
the  Arians  out  of  the  city. 

The  more  effectually ~Xo  extinguish  heresy,  he  in  the  year  383,  sum- 
moned a  council  of  bishops  of  his  own  persuasion  to  meet  at  Constan- 
tinople, in  order  to  confirm  the  Nicene  faith  ;  the  number  of  them 
amounted  to  an  hundred  and  fifty,  to  which  may  be  added,  thirty-six 
of  the  Macedonian  party.  This  is  commonly  termed  the  second  Oe- 
cumenical or  general  council.  They  decreed  that  the  Nicene  faith 
should  be  the  standard  of  orthodoxy,  and  that  all  heresies  should  be 
condemned.  When  the  council  was  ended,  the  emperor  issued  two 
edicts  against  heretics  ;  the  first  prohibited  them  from  holding  any  as- 
semblies ;  and  the  second,  forbidding  them  to  meet  in  fields  or  villages! 
And  as  though  this  were  not  sufficiently  extravagant,  he  followed  up 
this  absurd  procedure  by  a  law,  in  which  he  forbade  heretics  to  wor- 
ship or  to  preach,  or  to  ordain  bishops  or  presbyters,  commanding 
some  to  be  banished,  others  to  be  rendered  infamous  and  deprived  of 
the  common  privileges  of  citizens.  In  the  space  of  fifteen  years  he 
promulgated  at  least,  fifteen  several  edicts  against  the  heretics.  It  is 
some  apology  for  him  certainly  that  he  did  not  often  put  these  execra- 
ble statutes  in  force  ;  and  one  would  charitably  hope  that  Sozomen  and 
Socrates,  who  have  recorded  the  history  of  these  whimsical  transac- 
tions, are  correct  in  thinking  that  he  only  intended  by  them  to  terrify 
others  into  the  same  opinions  of  the  Divine  Being  with  himself. 

But  the  zeal  of  Theodosius  was  not  wholly  absorbed  in  the  estab- 
lishment of  uniformity  among  the  professors  of  Christianity ;  he  was 
equally  anxious  to  extinguish  the  expiring  embers  of  Paganism.  About 
the  year  390,  he  issued  a  law,  in  which  he  expressly  states  that  "it  is 
our  will  and  pleasure,  that  none  of  our  subjects,  whether  magistrates  or 
private  citizens,  however  exalted,  or  however  humble  may  be  their  rank 
and  condition,  shall  presume,  in  any  city  or  in  any  place,  to  worship 
an  inanimate  idol,  by  the  sacrifice  of  a  guiltless  victim. "t  The  act  of 
sacrificing,  and  the  practice  of  divination  by  the  entrails  of  the  victim, 

*   Sozomen,  b.  vli.  ch.  4 — 6. 
f  Theod.  1.  xvi.  tit.  10.  leg.  12. 


Reflections  on  the  fall  of  Paganism.  195 

are  declared  a  crime  of  high  treason  against  the  state  which  can  be  ex- 
piated only  by  the  death  of  the  guilty.  The  rites  of  Pagan  superstition 
are  abolished,  as  highly  injurious  to  the  truth  and  honour  of  religion ; 
and  luminaries,  garlands,  frankincense,  and  libations  of  wine  are  enu- 
merated and  condemned. 

Such  were  the  persecuting  edicts  of  Theodosius  against  the  Pagans, 
which  were  rigidly  executed;  and  tbey  were  attended  with  the  desired 
effect,  "for  so  rapid  and  yet  so  gentle  was  the  fall  of  Paganism,  that 
only  twenty-eight  years  after  the  death  of  Theodosius,  the  faint  and 
minute  vestiges  were  no  longer  visible  to  the  eye  of  the  legislator*. "t 


SECTION  III. 


THE  SUBJECT  CONTINUED. 


FROM  THE  COMMENCEMENT    OF  THE    FIFTH    CENTURY  TO    THE  ESTABLISH- 
MENT OF  THE  DOMINION  OF  THE  POPES. A.  D.  401 606. 

The  fall  of  Paganism,  which  may  be  considered  as  having  begun  to 
take  place  in  the  reign  of  Constantine,  and  as  nearly  consummated  in 
that  of  Theodosius,  is  probably  one  of  the  most  extraordinary  revolutions 
that  ever  took  place  on  the  theatre  of  this  world.     Their  own  writers 

*  Gibbon's  Rome,  vol.  v.  ch.  xx. 

■f  The  increase  of  the  Christian  profession  in  the  world,  must  always  be  an 
interesting1  topic  with  those  who  rightly  estimate  the  importance  of  the  gospel  to 
human  happiness  ;  but  every  one  must  be  aware  of  the  difficulty  there  is  in  ar- 
riving at  certain  calculations  on  the  subject.  The  reader,  however,  will  require 
uo  apology  from  me  for  subjoining  in  this  place,  a  short  extract  from  Gibbon's 
Decline  and  Fall  of  the  Roman  Empire.  "  Under  the  reign  of  Theodosius,"  says 
he,  "after  Christianity  had  enjoyed,  more  than  sixty  years,  the  sunshine  of  im- 
perial favour,  the  ancient  and  illustrious  church  of  Antioch  (in  Syria)  consisted 
of  one  hundred  thousand  persons  ;  three  thousand  of  whom  were  "supported  out 
of  the  public  oblations.  The  splendour  and  dignity  of  the  Queen  of  the  East, 
[the  name  then  given  to  Antioch]  the  acknowledged  populousness  of  Cxsarea, 
Seleucia,  and  Alexandria,  and  the  destruction  of  two  hundred  and  fifty  thousand 
souls  in  the  earthquake  which  afflicted  Antioch  under  the  elder  Justin,  are  so 
many  convincing  proofs  that  the  whole  number  of  its  inhabitants  was  not  less  than 
half  a  million."     Vol.  ii.  ch.  xv. 

Now,  according  to  this  calculation,  the  reader  will  see  that  at  the  time  Theo- 
dosius attempted  to  enforce  an  uniformity  of  worship  throughout  the  empire,  the 
proportion  which  the  nominal  Christians  in  Antioch  bore  to  the  rest  of  the  citizens, 
was  as  one  to  five.  Taking  this  as  a  fair  average,  there  must  have  been  in  Rome 
two  hundred  and  fifty  thousand  professed  Christians  at  that  time,  and  at  Alexan- 
dria, in  Egypt  which  was  the  second  city  in  the  empire,  probably  one  hundred 
and  fifty  thousand.  Thus  in  those  three  cities  alone  there  were  half  a  million  of 
nominal  Christians.  The  number  of  inhabitants  included  in  the  whole  of  the  Ro- 
man Empire  at  that  period,  was  one  hundred  and  twenty  millions  ;  and  if  we  ex- 
tend the  computation  to  that  multitude,  we  should  be  led  to  conclude  that  there 
were  among  them  twenty-four  millions  that  professed  the  Christian  religion.  We 
must,  however,  keep  this  consideration  always  in  view,  that  Christianity  had,  at 
this  time,  been  sixty  years  established  by  law  as  the  religion  of  the  empire,  and 
consequently  was  not  a  little  corrupted  from  its  original  purity. 


196  History  of  the  Christian  Church. 

have  described  it  as  "  a  dreadful  and  amazing  prodigy,  which  covered 
the  earth  with  darkness,  and  restored  the  ancient  dominion  of  chaos 
and  of  night."* 

But  the  pen  of  inspiration  has  depicted  the  awful  catastrophe  in  strains 
of  much  higher  sublimity  and  grandeur,  and,  doubtless,  upon  very  dif- 
ferent principles — "I  beheld,"  says  the  writer  of  the  Apocalypse, 
"when  he  had  opened  the  sixth  seal,  and  lo,  there  was  a  great  earth- 
quake, and  the  sun  became  black  as  sackcloth  of  hair,  and  the  moon 
became  as  blood  ;  and  the  stars  of  heaven  fell  unto  the  earth,  even  as  a 
fig-tree  casteth  her  untimely  figs,  when  she  is  shaken  of  a  mighty  wind. 
And  the  heaven  departed  as  a  scroll,  when  it  is  rolled  together :  and 
every  mountain  and  island  were  moved  out  of  their  places.  And  the 
kings  of  the  earth,  and  the  great  men,  and  the  rich  men,  and  the  chief 
captains,  and  the  mighty  men,  and  every  bondman,  and  every  freeman, 
hid  themselves  in  the  dens  and  in  the  rocks  of  the  mountains — and  said 
to  the  mountains  and  rocks,  fall  on  us,  and  hide  us  from  the  face  of  him 
that  sitteth  on  the  throne,  and  from  the  wrath  of  the  Lamb,  for  the  great 
day  of  his  wrath  is  come,  and  who  shall  be  able  to  stand  T't  The 
same  thing  seems  to  be  intended,  when  the  writer  says,  "  There  was 
war  in  heaven ;  Michael  and  his  angels  fought  against  the  dragon,  and 
the  dragon  fought  and  his  angels,  and  prevailed  not,  neither  was  their 
place  found  any  more  in  heaven ;  and  the  great  dragon  was  cast  out, 
that  old  serpent,  called  the  Devil  and  Satan,  which  deceiveth  the  whole 
world;  he  was  cast  out  into  the  earth,  and  his  angels  werecast  out  with 
him."j  In  this  highly-wrought  figurative  language  we  are  taught  to 
conceive  of  the  dreadful  conflict  which  subsisted  between  the  Christian 
and  heathen  professions,  the  persecutions  which  for  three  centuries  had 
been  inflicted  upon  the  former,  Tvith  the  iaauo  of  the  w  holer,  in  the  ulti- 
mate overthrow  of  the  Pagan  persecuting  powers,  and  the  subversion 
of  that  idolatrous  system  in  the  empire. 

From  the  time  of  the  establishment  of  Christianity  under  Constantine, 
to  the  end  of  the  fourth  century,  a  period  of  more  than  seventy  years, 
the  disciples  of  Jesus  were  highly  privileged.  They  were  in  general 
permitted  to  sit  under  their  own  vine  and  fig-tree,  exempt  from  the 
dread  of  molestation.  The  clergy  of  the  Catholic  church,  indeed  per- 
sisted in  waging  a  sanguinary  and  disgraceful  contest  with  each  other, 
about  church  preferments,  and  similar  objects  of  human  ambition;  but, 
notwithstanding  the  squabbles  of  those  men  of  corrupt  minds,  it  must 
have  been  a  season  of  precious  repose  and  tranquillity  to  the  real 
churches  of  Christ,  which  stood  aloof  from  such  scandalous  proceedings, 
and  kept  their  garments  unspotted  from  the  world. 

There  are  few  things  more  gratifying  to  the  friend  of  truth,  than  to 
have  an  opportunity  of  recording  the  disinterested  labours  of  such  as, 
under  circumstances  of  discouragement,  and  frequently  at  the  expense 
of  all  that  men  in  general  account  valuable,  have  stood  forth  the  cham- 
pions of  her  noble  cause,  against  a  prevailing  torrent  of  error.  We  have 
already  adverted  to  the  rise  of  the  Novatianist  churches,  which  stood 

*  See  Gibbon's  Rome,  vol.  v.  ch.  xxviii. 

f  Rev.  vi.  12— 17.  *  Chap.  xii.  7—9. 


The  discriminating  principles  of  JErius.  197 

firmly  attached  to  the  simple  doctrine  and  order  of  the  first  Christian 
churches,  and  maintained  a  public  testimony  against  the  corrupt  state 
of  the  Catholic  party.  Towards  the  close  of  the  fourth  century  arose 
Lucifer,  bishop  of  Cagliari,  in  the  island  of  Sardinia,  a  man  remarkable 
for  his  prudence,  the  austerity  of  his  character,  and  the  firmness  of  his 
mind  in  all  his  resolutions.  Though  he  wrote  in  defence  of  the  doc- 
trine of  the  Trinity  against  the  Arians,  he  refused  all  religious  fellowship 
with  both  parties,  on  account  of  the  corruption  of  their  doctrine  and  the 
laxity  of  their  discipline  ;  while  he  and  his  followers  were  content  to 
sutler  the  persecution  of  either  party.* 

About  the  same  time  rose  up  tErius,  the  founder  of  a  new  sect,  who 
propagated  opinions  different  from  those  that  were  commonly  received, 
and  collected  various  societies  throughout  Armenia,  Pontus,  and  Cap- 
padocia.  We  are  indebted  to  Epiphanius,  bishop  of  Cyprus,  Avhodied 
early  in  the  fifth  century,  for  recording  the  discriminating  tenets  of  this 
denomination  of  Christians.  iErius  was  an  elder  of  the  church  of 
Sebastia  in  Pontus ;  and,  as  Epiphanius.  who  undertook  to  confute  him 
and  all  other  heretics,  informs  us,  obstinately  defended  four  great  errors. 
These  were,  1.  That  bishops  were  not  distinguished  from  presbyters 
or  elders,  by  any  divine  right;  for  that,  according  to  the  New  Testa- 
ment, their  office  and  authority  were  absolutely  the  same.  2.  That  it 
was  wrong  to  offer  up  any  prayers  for  the  dead,  which  it  seems  was 
become  customary  in  those  days.  3.  That  there  was  no  authority  in 
the  word  of  God  for  the  celebration  of  Easter,  as  a  religious  solemnity  ; 
and  4.  That  fasts  ought  not  to  be  prefixed  to  the  annual  return  of  days, 
as  the  time  of  Lent  and  the  week  preceding  Easter.  Such  seems  to 
have  been  the  heresy  of  iErius,  and  his  writings  in  defence  of  which, 
we  are  told,  met  with  the  most  cordial  reception  from  his  cotemporaries. 
"We  know  with  the  utmost  certainty,"  says  Mosheim,  "that  it  was 
highly  agreeable  to  many  good  Christians,  who  were  no  longer  able  to 
bear  the  tyranny  and  arrogance  of  the  bishops  of  this  century." 

The  reader,  it  is  hoped,  will  excuse  a  remark  or  two  upon  this  sub- 
ject before  we  proceed.  The  learned  historian,  whom  I  have  just 
quoted,  informs  us  that — "  The  great  purpose  of  iErius  seems  to  have 
been  that  of  reducing  Christianity  to  its  primitive  simplicity ;"  he  then 
adds,  "  a  purpose  indeed  laudable  and  noble,  when  considered  in  itself; 
though  the  principles  from  whence  it  springs,  and  the  means  by  which 
it  is  executed,  are  generally  in  many  respects,  worthy  of  censure,  and 
may  have  been  so  in  the  case  of  this  reformer. "t  I  cannot  forbear 
subjoining  the  comment  of  his  erudite  translator,  Dr.  Maclaine,  upon 
the  text  of  this  historian.  "  The  desire,"  says  he,  "  of  reducing  reli- 
gious worship  to  the  greatest  possible  simplicity,  however  rational  it 
may  appear  in  itself,  and,  abstractedly  considered,  will  be  considerably 
moderated  in  such  as  bestow  a  moment's  attention  upon  the  imperfection 
and  infirmities  of  human  nature  in  its  present  state.  Mankind,  generally 
speaking,  have  too  little  elevation  of  mind  to  be  much  affected  by  those 
forms  and  methods  of  worship  in  which  there  is  nothing  striking  to  the 

*  Mosheim,  vol.  i.  p.  386. 

j-  Mosheim,  vol.  i.  cent.  iv.  part  ii.  ch,  iii. 

17* 


198  History  of  the  Christian  Church. 

outward  senses.  The  great  difficulty  here  lies  in  determining  the  lengths 
which  it  is  prudent  to  go  in  the  accommodation  of  religious  ceremonies 
to  human  infirmity;  and  the  grand  point  is  to  fix  a  medium,  in  which 
a  due  regard  may  be  shown  to  the  senses  and  imagination,  without 
violating  the  dictates  of  right  reason,  or  tarnishing  the  purity  of  true 
religion.  It  has  been  said,  that  the  church  of  Rome  has  gone  too  far 
in  its  condescension  to  the  infirmities  of  mankind — and  this  is  what 
the  ablest  defenders  of  its  motley  worship  have  alleged  in  its  behalf. 
But  this  observation  is  not  just;  the  church  of  Rome  has  not  so  much 
accommodated  itself  to  human  weakness,  as  it  has  abused  that  weakness, 
by  taking  occasion  from  it  to  establish  an  endless  variety  of  ridiculous 
ceremonies,  destructive  of  true  religion,  and  only  adapted  to  promote 
the  riches  and  despotism  of  the  clergy,  and  to  keep  the  multitude  still 
hoodwinked  in  their  ignorance  and  superstition."* 

Now  according  to  Dr.  Mosheim's  manner  of  expressing  himself  on 
this  subject,  the  reader  will  readily  perceive,  that,  however  much  some 
of  the  friends  of  truth  might  labour  to  stem  the  torrent  of  corruption, 
and  restore  Christianity  to  its  original  simplicity,  such  attempts  were 
almost  certain  to  be  condemned  by  both  this  eminent  historian  and 
his  translator.  With  them  nothing  is  more  common  than  to  extol  the 
simplicity  of  gospel  worship  during  the  apostolic  age,  and  in  a  few 
pages  afterwards  to  censure  the  efforts  of  those  who  have  laboured  to 
retrieve  it  from  the  corruptions  to  which  the  folly  and  wickedness  of 
men  have  subjected  it.  Hence,  we  invariably  find  persons  of  this  de- 
scription ranked  in  the  class  of  "  heretics,"  and  reprobated  as  troublers 
of  "  the  church !"  The  design  of  iErius,  it  is  admitted,  was  laudable  and 
noble  in  itself,  nor  is  it  affirmed  that  the  means  which  he  made  use  of 
were  actually  worthy  of  censure ;  but  they  may  have  been  so.  But, 
surely,  a  cordial  attachment  to  the  simplicity  of  primitive  Christianity 
would  have  prompted  the  historian  to  evince  some  few  grains  of  allow- 
ance for  the  conduct  of  iErius,  even  though  in  the  prosecution  of  a 
"  laudable  and  noble  design,"  he  had  been  betrayed  into  some  little  in- 
discretion in  regard  to  the  means  of  effecting  it,  which,  after  all,  in  the 
present  instance,  is  not  pretended.  This  is  only  what  might  have 
been  reasonably  expected  ;  since  to  impute,  without  evidence,  the 
worst  motives  that  can  be  assigned  to  the  actions  of  men,  is  not  the 
immediate  operation  of  that  charity  which  thinketh  no  evil.  The 
learned  translator,  however,  takes  up  the  subject  in  a  somewhat  differ- 
ent point  of  view ;  for,  upon  his  principle,  the  simplicity  of  gospel- 
worship,  as  established  in  the  apostolic  churches,  must  be  considered 
as  altogether  unsuitable  to  the  exigencies  of  human  nature  ;  for,  that 
the  constitution  and  worship  of  the  first  churches  were  remarkable  for 
a  divine  simplicity,  none  will  deny.  Now  if  it  be  lawful  for  men  to 
depart  from  this  simplicity,  and  to  accommodate  the  forms  of  Chris- 
tian worship  to  the  ignorance,  infirmities,  or  prejudices  of  men,  ac- 
cording as  these  may  happen  to  prevail  in  different  ages,  then,  indeed, 
a  power  to  decree  rites  and  ceremonies  in  matters  of  religion,  is  quite 
necessary  to  adapt  the   Christian  profession  to  the  incessant  fluctua- 

*  Ubi  supra,  p.  388. 


Distinction  between  Bishop  and  Elder.  199 

tions  of  the  state  of  this  world  ;  though  it  will  not  be  very  easy,  when 
this  right  is  once  admitted,  to  show,  on  what  principle  the  church  of 
Rome  can  be  condemned  for  going  to  an  extreme  in  this  matter  ;  since, 
in  that  case,  it  is  no  divine  ride  that  is  to  regulate  our  conduct,  but  the 
different  fancies  of  men,  as  these  respect  human  infirmities. 

It  is  happy  for  simple  Christians  that  their  rule  of  duty  is  plain, 
though,  unlortunately,  not  sanctioned  by  either  the  catholic  or  the  re- 
formed church.  It  is  "not  to  admit  into  the  worship  of  God,  any 
thing  which  is  either  not  expressly  commanded,  or  plainly  exempli- 
fied m  the  New  Testament."  This  was  evidently  the  principle  upon 
which  jEnus  proceeded  in  opposing  the  superstitions  of  his  time,  and 

for  which  he  deserves  to  be  held  in  perpetual  remembrance it  is  the 

only  principle  which  evinces  a  becoming  deference  to  the  wisdom  and 
authority  of  God  in  the  institution  of  his  worship — and,  it  may  be 
added,  which  secures  the  uniform  regard  of  his  people  to  the  institu- 
tions of  his  kingdom,  to  the  end  of  time. 

The  distinction  between  bishop  and  presbyter  or  elder,  which  iErius 
so  strongly  opposed,  seems  to  have  prevailed  early  in  the  Christian 
church;  yet  it  is  demonstrably  without  any  solid  foundation  in  the 
New  Testament.  "  That  the  terms  bishop  and  elder  are  sometimes 
used  promiscuously  in  the  New  Testament,"  says  Dr.  Campbell, 
"  there  is  no  critic  of  any  name  who  now  pretends  to  dispute.  The 
passage,  Acts  xx.  17,  &c.'is  well  known.  Paul,  from  Miletus  sent  to 
Ephesus,  and  called  the  elders  of  the  church,  saying,  "  Take  heed  to 
yourselves,  and  to  all  the  church  over  which  the  Holy  Ghost  hath 
made  you  overseers  (literally  sm<txoirxg  bishops.)  Similar  to  this  is  a 
passage  in  Titus,  chap.  i.  5.  "  For  this  cause  left  I  thee  in  Crete,  that 
thou  shouldest  set  in  order  the  things  that  are  wanting,  and  ordain  el- 
ders (vtgeifPvlsps)  in  every  city."  Ver.  7,  "  For  a  bishop  (s*irfxo*0v) 
must  be  blameless."  In  like  manner  the  apostle  Peter,  1  Epist.  v.  1. 
"  The  elders  (»sge<f(3vleg>sg)  which  are  among  you,  I  exhort,"  &c.  Ver. 
2.  "  Feed  the  flock  of  God  which  is  among  you,  taking  the  over- 
sight thereof,  (sviHfxoiriivlsg)  discharging  the  office  of  bishops."*  So 
much  for  the  heresy  of  iErius  as  it  respected  the  denial  of  any  distinc- 
tion between  the  office  of  bishop  and  presbyter.  On  the  other  three 
particulars  of  his  heresy,  it  is,  at  this  time  of  day,  quite  unnecessary 
for  us  to  bestow  a  word  in  the  way  of  apology. 

Amongst  the  innumerable  corruptions  of  Christianity  which  have 
prevailed  in  the  Catholic  church,  there  is  none  that  makes  a  more  con- 
spicuous figure  than  the  institution  of  monachism  or  monkery  ;  and  if 
traced  to  its  origin,  it  will  be  found  strikingly  to  exemplify  the  truth 
of  the  maxim  that,  as  some  of  the  largest  and  loftiest  trees  spring  from 
very  small  seeds,  so  the  most  extensive  and  wonderful  effects  some- 
times arise  from  very  inconsiderable  causes.  In  times  of  persecution, 
during  the  first  ages  of  the  church,  whilst  "  the  heathen  raged,  and  the 
rulers  took  counsel  together,  against  the  Lord  and  against  his  anoint- 
ed," many  pious  Christians,  male  and  female,  married  and  unmarried, 
justly  accounting  that  no  human  felicity  ought  to  come  in  competition 

•  Campbell's  Lectures  on  Ecclesiastical  History,  vol.  i.  p.  125,  126, 


200  History  of  the  Christian  Church. 

with  their  fidelity  to  Christ,  and  diffident  of  their  own  ability  to  per- 
severe in  resisting  the  temptations  wherewith  they  were  incessantly- 
harassed  by  their  persecutors,  took  the  resolution  to  abandon  their 
possessions  and  worldly  prospects,  and,  whilst  the  storm  lasted,  to  re- 
tire to  unfrequented  places,  far  from  the  haunts  of  men,  the  married 
with,  or  without,  their  wives,  as  agreed  between  them,  that  they  might 
enjoy  in  quietness  their  faith  and  hope,  and,  exempt  from  temptations 
to  apostasy,  employ  themselves  principally  in  the  worship  and  service 
of  their  Maker.  The  cause  was  reasonable,  and  the  motive  praise- 
worthy ;  but  the  reasonableness  arose  solely  from  the  circumstances. 
When  the  latter  were  changed  the  former  vanished,  and  the  motive 
could  no  longer  be  the  same.  When  there  was  not  the  same  danger 
in  society,  there  was  not  the  same  occasion  to  seek  security  in  solitude. 
Accordingly,  when  persecution  ceased,  and  the  profession  of  Chris- 
tianity rendered  perfectly  safe,  many  returned  without  blame  from  their 
retirement,  and  resumed  their  stations  in  society.  Some,  indeed,  fami- 
liarized by  time  to  a  solitary  life,  at  length  preferred  through  habit, 
what  they  had  originally  adopted  through  necessity.  They  did  not, 
however,  waste  their  time  in  idleness  ;  they  supported  themselves  by 
their  labour,  and  gave  the  surplus  in  alms.  But  they  never  thought  of 
fettering  themselves  by  vows  and  engagements  ;  because,  by  so  doing, 
they  must  have  exposed  their  souls  to  new  temptations,  and,  perhaps, 
greater  dangers.  It  was,  therefore,  a  very  different  thing  from  that 
system  of  monkery  which  afterwards  became  so  prevalent,  though,  in 
all  probability  it  suggested  the  idea  of  it,  and  may  be  considered  as  the 
first  step  towards  it.* 

Such  signal  sacrifices,  not  only  of  property,  but  of  all  secular  pur- 
suits, have  a  lustre  in  them,  which  dazzles  the  eyes  of  the  weak,  and 
powerfully  engages  imitation.  Blind  imitators,  regardless  of  the  cir- 
cumstances which  alone  can  render  the  conduct  laudable,  are  often,  by 
a  strong  perversion  of  intellect,  led  to  consider  it  as  the  more  meritori- 
ous the  less  it  is  rational,  and  the  more  eligible  the  less  it  is  useful. 
The  spirit  of  the  measure  comes  in  time  to  be  reversed.  What  at  first, 
through  humble  diffidence,  appeared  necessary  for  avoiding  the  most 
imminent  danger,  is,  through  presumption,  voluntarily  adopted,  though 
in  itself  a  source  of  perpetual  peril.  Such  was  the  operation  of  the 
principle  in  the  case  referred  to.  Multitudes  came  in  process  of  time 
to  impose  upon  themselves  vows  of  abstinence,  poverty,  celibacy,  and 
virginity,  solemnly  engaging  in  an  uninterrupted  observance  of  those 
virtues,  as  they  accounted  them,  to  the  end  of  their  lives. 

Every  attentive  reader  of  the  Scriptures  must  see  that  they  are  far 
from  countenancing  this  piece  of  superstition.  Both  Christ  and  his 
apostles  kept  up  a  free  and  open  intercourse  with  the  world  ;  and  their 
writings  abound  with  instructions  to  Christians,  not  to  withdraw  them- 
selves from  society,  and  shut  themselves  up  in  cloistered  cells  in  a 
state  of  seclusion,  but  to  fill  up  their  respective  stations  usefully  in 
civil  society,  performing  all  the  social  and  relative  duties  of  life  in  the 
most  exemplary  manner.     Man  was  made  for  action ;  powers  were 

*   Essay  bn  Christian  Temperance  and  Self-denial,  by  Dr.  George  Campbell. 


Prevalence  of  Monkery.  201 

given  him  for  exertion,  and  various  talents  have  been  conferred  upon 
him  by  Providence,  as  instruments  not  of  doing  nothing,  but  of  doing 
good,  by  promoting  the  happiness  both  of  the  individual  and  of  so- 
ciety. 

Egypt,  the  fruitful  parent  of  superstition,  afforded  the  first  example, 
strictly  speaking,  of  the  monastic  life.  Anthony,  an  illiterate  youth  of 
that  country,  in  the  times  of  Athanasius,  distributed  his  patrimony,  de- 
serted his  family  and  house,  took  up  his  residence  among  the  tombs 
and  in  a  ruined  tower,  and  after  a  long  and  painful  novitiate,  at  length 
advanced  three  days  journey  into  the  desert,  to  the  eastward  of  the 
Nile,  where  discovering  a  lonely  spot  which  possessed  the  advantages 
of  shade  and  water,  he  fixed  his  last  abode.  His  example  and  his  les- 
sons infected  others,  whose  curiosity  pursued  him  to  the  desert ;  and 
before  he  quitted  life,  which  was  prolonged  to  the  term  of  a  hundred 
and  five  years,  he  beheld  a  numerous  progeny  imitating  his  original. 
The  prolific  colonies  of  monks  multiplied  with  rapid  increase  on  the 
sands  of  Lybia,  upon  the  Rocks  of  Thebais,  and  the  cities  of  the  Nile. 
Even  to  the  present  day  the  traveller  may  explore  the  ruins  of  fifty 
monasteries,  which  were  planted  to  the  south  of  Alexandria,  by  the 
disciples  of  Anthony. 

Inflamed  by  the  example  of  Anthony,  a  Syrian  youth,  whose  name 
was  Hilarion,  fixed  his  dreary  abode  on  a  sandy  beach  between  the 
sea  and  a  morass,  about  seven  miles  from  Gaza.  The  austere  penance 
in  which  he  persisted  forty-eight  years,  diffused  a  similar  enthusiasm, 
and  innumerable  monasteries  were  soon  distributed  over  all  Palestine. 
In  the  west,  Martin  of  Tours,  "  a  soldier,  a  hermit,  a  bishop,  and  a 
saint,"  founded  a  monastery  near  Poictier^,  and  thus  introduced  mo- 
nastic institutions  into  France.  His  monks  were  mostly  of  noble  fa- 
milies, and  submitted  to  the  greatest  austerities  both  in  food  and  rai- 
ment ;  and,  such  was  the  rapidity  of  their  increase,  that  two  thousand 
of  them  attended  his  funeral  !  In  other  countries,  they  appear  to  have 
increased  in  a  similar  proportion,  and  the  progress  of  monkery  is  said 
not  to  have  been  less  rapid  nor  less  universal  than  that  of  Christianity 
itself.  Every  province,  and,  at  last,  every  city  of  the  empire,  wag  fill- 
ed with  their  increasing  multitudes.  The  disciples  of  Anthony  spread 
themselves  beyond  the  tropic,  over  the  Christian  empire  of  Ethiopia. 
The  monastery  of  Bangor,  in  Flintshire,  a  few  miles  south  of  Wrex- 
ham, contained  above  two  thousand  monks,  and  from  thence  a  nume- 
rous colony  was  dispersed  among  the  Barbarians  of  Ireland  ;  and  Iona, 
one  of  the  western  isles  of  Scotland,  which  was  planted  by  the  Irish 
Monks,  diffused  over  the  northern  regions  a  ray  of  science  and  super- 
stition. 

The  monastic  institution  was  not  confined  to  the  male  sex.  Females 
began  about  the  same  time  to  retire  from  the  world,  and  dedicate  them- 
selves to  solitude  and  devotion.  The  practice  is  alluded  to  in  the  earlier 
councils  ;  but  it  is  expressly  ordained  by  the  council  of  Carthage,  A. 
D.  397,  that  orphan  virgins  shall  be  placed  in  a  nunnery — and  that  the 
superior  of  the  nunnery  shall  be  approved  by  the  bishop  of  the  diocese. 
"Widows,  and  children  above  six  years  of  age,  were  admitted  after  a 
year's  probation.     They  were  strictly  shut  up  in  the  monastery,  and 


202  History  of  the  Christian  Church. 

secluded  from  all  worldly  intercourse.  They  were  neither  allowed  to 
go  out,  nor  was  any  person  permitted  to  come  in  unto  them,  nor  even 
to  enter  the  church  whither  they  went  to  worship,  except  the  clergy 
of  approved  reputation,  who  were  necessary  to  conduct  the  religious 
services.  None  was  allowed  to  possess  property,  for  among  them 
all  things  were  common.  They  served  themselves  or  helped  one  ano- 
ther. They  made  their  own  clothes,  which  were  white  and  plain 
woollen — the  height  of  the  cap  or  head-dress  was  restricted  to  an  inch 
and  two  lines — they  were  tasked  daily,  but  forbidden  to  work  em- 
broidery, or  to  bleach  their  garments,  assume  any  ornaments,  or  ac- 
commodate themselves  to  any  fashion  which  they  might  happen  to 
see  or  hear  of  in  the  world.  The  means  of  correction  and  discipline 
were  reproof  and  excommunication  ;  but  the  latter  consisted  only  in 
separation  from  public  prayers,  and  from  the  common  table  at  meals, 
and  if  these  failed  to  reclaim  the  delinquent,  recourse  was  had  to  fla- 
gellation.* 

These  unhappy  exiles  from  social  life  were  impelled  by  the  dark 
genius  of  superstition,  to  persuade  themselves  that  every  proselyte 
who  entered  the  gates  of  a  monastery,  trod  the  steep  and  thorny  path 
of  eternal  happiness.  The  popular  monks,  whose  reputation  was 
connected  with  the  fame  and  success  of  the  order,  assiduously  labour- 
ed to  multiply  the  number  of  their  fellow  captives.  They  insinuated 
themselves  into  noble  and  opulent  families,  and  the  specious  arts  of 
flattery  and  seduction  were  employed  to  secure  those  proselytes,  Avho 
might  bestow  wealth  or  dignity  on  the  monastic  profession.  The  lives 
of  the  monks  were  consumed  in  penance  and  solitude,  undisturbed  by 

the  vnrinne  oooupatione  wirrek  fill  *Vip  timp  nnrl  exercise  the  faculties  of 
reasonable,  active,  ami  social  beings.  They  passed  their  lives  without 
personal  attachments,  among  a  crowd  which  had  been  formed  by  acci- 
dent, and  was  detained  in  the  same  prison  by  force  or  prejudice.  Their 
days  were  professedly  employed  in  vocal  or  mental  prayer :  they  as- 
sembled in  the  evening,  and  were  awakened  in  the  night  for  the  public 
worship  of  the  monastery;  and  to  such  a  pitch  was  absurdity  at  length 
carried,  that  one  class  of  them  came  ultimately  to  sink  under  the  pain- 
ful weight  of  crosses  and  chains,  and  their  emaciated  limbs  were  con- 
fined by  collars,  bracelets,  gauntlets,  and  greaves  of  massy  iron.t 

The  times  of  martyrdom  were  now  passed,  and  of  course  that  sort  of 
courage  and  constancy  could  not  be  exerted ;  a  method  was  therefore 
contrived  of  voluntary  martyrdom,  and  persons  of  fanatical  dispositions 
inflicted  upon  themselves  as  many  pains  and  penalties  as  Pagan  cruelty 
had  invented.  They  left  parents,  wives,  children,  friends,  families, 
and  fortunes  ;  they  retired  from  the  world,  obliged  themselves  to  a  sin- 
gle and  solitary  life,  and  allowed  themselves  no  more  food,  raiment,  and 
sleep,  than  would  barely  support  life. 

The  ethics  of  monks  is  a  mere  caricature  of  virtue,  in  which  every 
feature  is  exaggerated,  distorted,  or  out  of  place ;  and,  as  hath  often 
happened  in  other  matters,  though  the  likeness  is  preserved,  what  is 
beautiful   in  the  original  is  hideous  in  the  copy.     The  doctrines  of 

*  Fleury's  Eccles.  Hist.  torn.  vii.  f  Gibbon's  Rome,  vol.  vi.  ch.  xxvii- 


Monkery  extolled  by  the  Fathers.  203 

Christianity  are  divinely  adapted  to  the  state  of  man  in  this  world,  con- 
sidered as  a  fallen  and  corrupted  being.  They  exhibit  a  remedy  for 
his  moral  depravity  in  the  grand  and  interesting  truths  which  the  gos- 
pel proclaims  as  the  objects  of  his  faith,  the  ground  of  his  hope,  and 
the  motives  of  his  love  and  joy.  But  he  is  called  to  the  exercise  of 
self-denial,  the  mortification  of  his  fleshly  appetites,  disconformity  to 
the  course  of  this  world,  patience  under  sufferings  of  various  kinds,  and 
in  the  way  of  well-doing  to  seek  for  glory,  honour,  and  immortality  in 
the  world  to  come.  In  the  system  of  monkery  all  these  Christian  vir- 
tues are  carried  to  the  most  ridiculous  extreme.  About  the  middle  of 
the  fourth  century,  Gregory  Nazianzen  wrote  an  eulogy  in  praise  of 
the  monastic  life,  wherein  he  describes  the  manner  in  which  it  was 
practised  at  Nazianzum.  "  There  are  some,"  says  he,  "who  loaded 
themselves  with  iron  chains  in  order  to  bear  down  their  bodies — who 
shut  themselves  up  in  cabins,  and  appeared  to  nobody— who  continued 
twenty  days  and  twenty  nights  without  eating,  practising  often  the  half 
of  Jesus  Christ's  fast — another  abstained  entirely  from  speaking,  not 
praising  God  except  in  thought — another  passed  whole  years  in  a 
church,  his  hands  extended,  without  sleeping,  like  an  animated 
statue."* 

Now,  admitting  the  possibility  of  these  things,  how  grossly  must 
men's  notions  of  truth  and  rectitude  be  perverted,  who  can  think  that 
the  all-wise  Creator  gave  hands  to  any  man  to  be  kept  in  a  position 
which  unfitted  them  for  being  of  use  to  himself  or  others — that  he  gave 
the  faculty  of  speech,  but  not  to  be  employed  in  communicating  know- 
ledge? Yet  these  things  are  the  subject  of  panegyric  even  from  the 
pen  of  Gregory  Nazianzen,  a  person  of  unquestionable  talents  and  vir- 
tue. "  To  go  into  a  convent,"  said  Dr.  Johnson,  "for  fear  of  being 
immoral,  is,  as  if  a  man  should  cut  off  his  hands  for  fear  he  should 
steal."t  To  suffer  with  patience  and  fortitude,  when  called  to  it,  for 
the  cause  of  truth,  is  both  virtuous  and  heroical ;  but  the  self-inflicted 
penances  of  the  miserable  hermit  serve  as  a  testimony  of  nothing  so 
much  as  the  idiocy  or  insanity  of  the  sufferer;  for  with  regard  to  God, 
they  are  derogatory  from  his  perfections — they  exhibit  him  as  an  ob- 
ject rather  of  terror  than  of  love,  as  a  tyrant  rather  than  the  parent  of 
the  universe. 

One  of  the  most  renowned  examples  of  monkish  penance  that  is 
upon  record,  is  that  of  St.  Symeon,  a  Syrian  monk,  who  lived  about 
the  middle  of  the  fifth  century,  and  who  is  thought  to  have  outstripped 
all  those  that  preceded  him.  He  is  said  to  have  lived  thirty-six  years 
on  a  pillar  erected  on  the  summit  of  a  high  mountain  in  Syria,  whence 
he  got  the  name  of  "Symeon  Stylites."  From  his  pillar,  it  is  said, 
he  never  descended,  unless  to  take  possession  of  another  ;  which  he  did 
four  times,  having  in  all  occupied  five  of  them.  On  his  last  pillar, 
which  was  loftier  than  any  of  the  former,  being  sixty  feet  high  and  only 
three  broad,  he  remained,  according  to  report,  fifteen  years  without  in- 
termission, summer  and  winter,  day  and  night,  exposed  to  all  the  in- 

*  Fleury's  Eccles.  Hist.  b.  xvi.  eh.  li. 
f  Boswell's  life  of  Johnson,  vol.  ii. 


204  History  of  the  Christian  Church. 

clemencies  of  the  seasons,  in  a  climate  liable  to  great  and  sudden 
changes,  from  the  most  sultry  heat  to  the  most  piercing  cold.  We  are 
informed,  that  he  always  stood — the  breadth  of  his  pillar  not  permit- 
ting him  to  lie  down.  He  spent  the  day  till  three  in  the  afternoon  in 
meditation  and  prayer;  from  that  time  till  sunset,  he  harangued  the 
people,  who  flocked  to  him  from  all  countries — they  were  then  dis- 
missed with  his  benediction.  He  would  on  no  account  permit  females 
to  come  within  his  precincts,  not  even  his  own  mother,  who  is  said, 
through  grief  and  mortification,  in  being  refused  admittance,  to  have 
died  the  third  day  after  her  arrival.  In  order  to  show  how  indefatiga- 
ble he  was  in  every  thing  that  conduced  to  the  glory  of  God  and  the 
good  of  mankind,  he  spent  much  time  daily  in  the  exemplary  exercise 
of  bowing  so  low  as  to  make  his  forehead  strike  his  toes,  and  so  fre- 
quently, that  one  who  went  with  Theodoret  to  see  him,  counted  no 
fewer  than  twelve  hundred  and  forty-four  times,  when  being  more 
wearied  in  numbering  than  the  saint  was  in  performing,  he  gave  over 
counting.  He  is  said  to  have  taken  no  food  except  on  Sundays,  and 
that  all  the  last  year  of  his  life  he  stood  upon  one  leg  only,  the  other 
having  been  rendered  useless  by  an  ulcer.* 

Instances  of  similar  fanaticism  abound  in  the  pages  of  ecclesiastical 
history.  Baradatus,  in  the  same  century,  and,  in  all  probability  from 
similar  motives,  betook  himself  to  a  wooden  coffer,  or  rather  cage,  in 
which  he  was  so  confined  by  its  dimensions  and  form,  that  he  was 
always  bowed  down  in  it,  and  could  not  stand  upright.  This  mansion 
was  placed  on  the  top  of  a  rock,  where  he  was  exposed  to  the  sun,  the 
rain,  and  all  kinds  of  weather.  Theodatus,  the  bishop  of  the  diocese, 
unable  to  comprehend  either  the  dignity  or  the  utility  of  such  sublimated 
virtue,  cruelly  obliged  him  to  quit  his  cage,  that  he  might  live  like  other 
men.  He  complied;  but  to  make  compensation  for  one  restraint  that 
was  taken  off,  he  made  choice  of  another,  and  devoutly  abjured  the  use 
of  his  hands,  in  any  way  in  which  they  could  be  serviceable  either  to 
himself  or  others.  This  he  did  by  devoting  them  to  remain  always  in 
one  posture,  extended  towards  heaven,  probably  in  commemoration  of 
the  crucifixion.  In  this  situation,  it  is  said,  that  he  lived  in  the  open 
air  disdaining  to  take  shelter  in  any  house,  or  building,  from  the  incle- 
mencies of  the  weather. 

Extravagancies  the  most  marvellous,  and  the  most  frantic,  such  as 
dishonoured  the  name  of  religion,  and  rendered  men  worse  than  useless, 
were  considered  as  the  most  sublime  attainments  in  the  Christian  life. 
And  thus  the  daemon  of  superstition,  under  the  mask  of  superior  piety, 
led  men  to  counteract  the  designs  of  providence  in  the  application  of 
their  natural  powers.  The  Christian  religion  is  disgraced  by  such  fool- 
eries, which  assimilate  it  to  the  very  worst  of  heathen  superstitions. 

*  The  reader  whose  curiosity  may  prompt  him  to  look  further  into  the  history 
of  this  champion  of  monkish  austerity,  may  consult  Dr.  Middleton's  Free  Inqui- 
ry, 4to.  p.  164 — 168.  It  may  justly  excite  one's  astonishment,  that  only  half  a 
century  ago  there  were  to  be  found  learned  doctors  of  the  established  church  of 
England,  defending  the  fame  of  this  wretched  fanatic,  and  advocating,  with  all 
their  might,  the  truth  and  reality  of  the  miracles  reported  to  have  been  wrought 
by  him  !     See  Middleton,  ut  supra. 


Monkery  extolled  by  the  Fat  Iters.  205 

Yet  all  the  principal  fathers  of  the  Catholic  Church,  both  Greek  anil 
Latin,  employed  their  authority  and  eloquence  in  extolling  the  perfec- 
tion of  monkery,  and  recommending  its  practice.  This  they  did  by 
writing  the  lives  of  particular  monks,  celebrating  their  wonderful  sanc- 
tity and  miraculous  gifts,  and  founding  monasteries  wherever  they  tra- 
velled. "  There  was  a  certain  shadow  of  it,"  says  Bellarmine,  its 
great  advocate,  "  m  the  law  of  nature  before  the  flood ;  a  plainer  ex- 
pression of  it  under  the  Mosaic  dispensation;  but  in  the  time  of  the 
apostles  it  came  to  perfection."  Adianasius  was  one  of  the  first,  who, 
from  the  pattern  of  the  Egyptian  monasteries,  introduced  them  into 
Italy  and  Rome  where  they  had  previously  been  held  in  utter  contempt. 
It  is  amazing  to  read  the  flights  of  fancy  in  which  tlie  great  oracles  of 
the  Catholic  church,  at  that  time,  indulged,  when  recommending  this 
stupid  practice.  Basil  terms  it  "  an  angelical  institution ;  a  blessed  and 
evangelic  life,  leading  to  the  mansions  of  the  Lord."  Jerome  declares 
the  societies  of  monks  and  nuns  to  be  "  the  very  flower  and  most  pre- 
cious stone  among  all  the  ornaments  of  the  church."  Chrysostom  calls 
it,  "a  way  of  life  worthy  of  heaven;  not  at  all  inferior  to  that  of  an- 
gels." ^And  Augustine  styles  them  upon  every  occasion  "  the  servants 
of  God."  By  the  influence  of  these  renowned  fathers,  all  of  whom 
flourished  in  the  fourth  and  following  century ;  and  by  the  many  lies 
and  forged  miracles  which  they  diligently  propagated  in  honour  of  the 
monks,  innumerable  monasteries,  as  they  themselves  tell  us,  were 
founded  over  the  western  world,  but  especially  in  Syria,  Palestine,  and 
Egypt,  whose  deserts  were  covered  with  them ;  and  some  of  them  in 
the  fifth  century,  are  said  to  have  contained  each  five  thousand  monks 
at  a  time. 

We  find  Chrysostom  frequently  haranguing  also  on  the  great  bless- 
ings which  the  church  reaped  from  the  relics  of  the  martyrs,  and  the 
daily  miracles  which  were  wrought  by  them ;  and  he  concludes  one  of 
his  homilies  on  two  female  martyrs  in  the  following  manner:  "With 
this  ardour,  therefore,  let  us  fall  down  before  their  relics :  let  us  em- 
brace their  coffins,  for  these  may  have  some  power,  since  their  bones 
have  so  great  an  one ;  and  not  only  on  the  day  of  their  festival,  but  oa 
other  days  also,  let  us  fix  ourselves  as  it  were  to  them,  and  entreat  them 
to  be  our  patrons" — and  on  other  occasions  he  exhorts  his  hearers  "to 
dwell  in  their  sepulchres,  to  fix  themselves  to  their  coffins  ;  that  not 
only  their  bones,  but  their  tombs  and  their  urns  also  overflowed  with 
blessings."  Basil  informs  us,  that  "  all  who  were  pressed  with  any 
difficulty  or  distress,  were  wont  to  fly  for  relief  to  the  tombs  of  the 
martyrs ;  and  whosoever  did  but  touch  their  relics  acquired  some  share 
of  their  sanctity."* 

*  Introductory  Discourse  to  Dr.  Middleton's  Free  Inquiry,  p.  52—56  where, 
the  reader  will  find  the  authorities  quoted.  Of  these,  and  a  thousand  other  le- 
gendary tales,  with  which  the  writings  of  the  fathers  of  this  period  are  prolific 
we  may  say,  as  Voltaire  has  said  upon  a  similar  occasion  ;  «  They  have  been  re- 
lated by  many  historians,  and  cannot  be  denied  without  overturning  the  verv 

n^ltlT  lhlstory  '  bu,t  J  is  c,ertain  we  ca™°t  give  credit  to  them  without 
overturning  the  very  foundation  of  reason  !" 


206  History  of  the  Christian  Church. 

In  the  beginning  of  the  fifth  century,  Vigilantius,  a  learned  and  emi- 
nent presbyter  of  a  Christian  church,  took  up  his  pen  to  oppose  these 
growing  superstitions.  His  book,  which  unfortunately  is  now  lost,  was 
directed  against  the  institution  of  monks — the  celibacy  of  the  clergy, — 
praying  for  the  dead  and  to  the  martyrs — adoring  their  relics — cele- 
brating their  vigils — and  lighting  up  candles  to  them  after  the  manner 
of  the  Pagans.  Jerome,  esteemed  a  great  luminary  of  the  Catholic 
church,  who  was  a  most  zealous  advocate  for  all  these  superstitious 
rites,  undertook  the  task  of  refuting  Vigilantius,  whom  he  politely 
styles  "  a  most  blasphemous  heretic,"  comparing  him  to  the  Hydra,  to 
Cerberus,  the  Centaurs,  &c.  and  considers  him  only  as  the  organ  of  the 
daemon.  He,  however,  furnishes  us  with  all  the  particular  articles  of 
his  heresy,  in  the  words  of  Vigilantius  himself,  which  are  as  follow  : 

"  That  the  honours  paid  to  the  rotten  bones  and  dust  of  the  saints 
and  martyrs,  by  adoring,  kissing,  wrapping  them  up  in  silk  and  vessels 
of  gold,  lodging  them  in  their  churches  and  lighting  up  wax  candles 
before  them,  after  the  manner  of  the  heathens,  were  the  ensigns  of  ido- 
latry. That  the  celibacy  of  the  clergy  was  a  heresy,  and  their  vows  of 
chastity  the  seminary  of  lewdness.  That  to  pray  to  the  dead,  or  to 
desire  the  prayers  of  the  dead,  was  superstitious  ;  for  that  the  souls  of 
the  departed  saints  and  martyrs  were  at  rest  in  some  particular  place, 
whence  they  could  not  remove  themselves  at  pleasure,  so  as  to  be  pre- 
sent every  where  to  the  prayers  of  their  votaries.  That  the  sepulchres 
of  the  martyrs  ought  not  to  be  worshipped,  nor  their  fasts  and  vigils  to 
be  observed  ;  and  lastly,  that  the  signs  and  wonders  said  to  be  wrought 
by  their  relics  and  at  their  sepulchres,  served  to  no  good  end  or  pur- 
pose of  religion." 

These  were  the  sacrilegious  tenets,  as  Jerome  calls  them,  which  he 
could  not  hear  with  patience,  or  without  the  utmost  grief,  and  for  which 
he  declares  Vigilantius  to  be  a  detestable  heretic,  venting  his  foul- 
mouthed  blasphemies  against  the  relics  of  the  martyrs,  which  were 
working  daily  signs  and  wonders.  He  tells  him  to  go  into  the  churches 
of  those  martyrs,  and  he  would  be  cleansed  from  the  evil  spirit  which 
possessed  him,  and  feel  himself  burnt,  not  by  those  wax  candles  which 
so  much  offended  him,  but  by  invisible  flames  which  would  force  that 
daemon  who  talked  within  him,  to  confess  himself  to  be  the  same  who 
had  personated  a  Mercury,  perhaps,  or  a  Bacchus,  or  some  other  of 
their  gods  among  the  heathen."  Such  is  the  wild  rate,  as  Dr.  Middle- 
ton  well  observes,  at  which  this  renowned  father  raves  on  through 
several  pages.* 

It  may  probably  gratify  the  reader  to  see  how  Jerome  refutes  the 
arguments  of  Vigilantius  ;  and  he  may  take  as  a  specimen  the  following 
passage.  "  If  it  were  such  a  sacrilege  or  impiety,"  says  he,  "  to  pay 
those  honours  to  the  relics  of  the  saints,  as  Vigilantius  contends,  then 
the  emperor  Constantius  must  needs  be  a  sacrilegious  person,  who 
translated  the  holy  relics  of  Andrew,  Luke,  and  Timothy  to  Constanti- 
nople; then  Arcadius  Augustus  also  must  be  held  sacrilegious,  who 
translated  the  bones  of  the  blessed  Samuel  from  Judea,  where  they  had 

*  Postscript  to  Free  Inquiry,  p.  131 — 134. 


Prevalence  of  Monkery,  %-c.  207 

lam  so  many  ages,  into  Thrace;  then  all  the  bishops  were  not  only 
sacrilegious  but  stupid  too,  who  submitted  to  carry  a  thing  the  most 
contemptible,  and  nothing  but  mere  dust,  in  silk  and  vessels  of  gold; 
and  lastly,  then  the  people  of  all  the  churches  must  needs  be  fools, 
who  went  out  to  meet  those  holy  relics,  and  received  them  with  as 
much  joy,  as  if  they  had  seen  the  prophet  himself,  living  and  present 
among  them,  for  the  procession  was  attended  by  swarms  of  people  from 
Palestine  even  unto  Chalcedon,  singing  with  one  voice  the  praises  of 
Christ,  who  were  yet  adoring  Samuel,  perhaps,  and  not  Christ,  whose 
prophet  and  Levite  Samuel  was.*"t 

Some  readers  may  think  the  reasoning  of  Jerome  not  very  conclu- 
sive on  the  question  of  relics  ;  it  is  nevertheless  certain  that  his  voice 
prevailed  over  that  of  Vigilantius,  and  that  this  superstitious  practice 
not  only  continued,  but  became  more  and  more  prevalent  and  popular. 
When  the  tombs  of  the  Holy  Land  were  exhausted,  other  tombs  and 
countries  supplied  the  increasing  demand.      Saints  and  martyrs  were 

*  Ubi  Supra,  p.  137. 

f  I  subjoin  Mr.  Gibbon's  account  of  this  singular  matter  ; — even  as  a  specimen 
of  the  splendid  magnificence  of  that  writer's  style,  it  deserves  regard. 

"  The  grateful  respect  of  the  Christians  for  the  martyrs  of  the  faith,  was  exalt- 
ed, by  time  and  victory,  into  religious  adoration  ;  and  the  most  illustrious  of  the 
saints  and  prophets  were  deservedly  associated  to  the  honours  of  the  martyrs. 
One  hundred  and  fifty  years  after  the  glorious  deaths  of  St.  Peter  and  St.  Paul, 
the  Vatican  and  the  Ostian  road  were  distinguished  by  the  tombs,  or  rather  by 
the  trophies  of  those  spiritual  heroes.  In  the  age  which  followed  the  conversion 
of  Constantine,  the  emperors,  the  consuls,  and  the  generals  of  armies,  devoutly 
visrted  the  sepulchres  of  a  tent-maker  and  a  fisherman ;  and  their  venerable 
bones  were  deposited  under  the  altars  of  Christ,  on  which  the  bishops  of  the 
royal  city  continually  offered  the  unbloody  sacrifice.  The  new  capital  of  the 
eastern  world,  unable  to  produce  any  ancient  and  domestic  trorKio„,  ,„,8  en- 
riched bv  the  snnik  of  denenrlnnf  ranees.  The  h^:~  ~c  »*•  Andrew,  St. 
Luke,  and  St.  Timothy,  had  reposed,  near  three  Hundred  years,  in  the  obscure 
graves,  from  whence  they  were  transported,  in  solemn  pomp,  to  the  church  of 
the  apostles,  which  the  magnificence  of  Constantine  had  founded  on  the  banks  of 
the  Thraoan  Bosphorus.  About  fifty  years  afterwards,  the  same  banks  were 
honoured  by  the  presence  of  Samuel,  the  judge  and  prophet  of  the  people  of 
Israel.  His  ashes,  deposited  in  a  golden  vase,  and  covered  with  a  silken  veil 
were  delivered  by  the  bishops  into  each  other's  hands.  The  relics  of  Samuel 
were  received  by  the  people,  with  the  same  joy  and  reverence  which  they  would 
have  shown  to  the  living  prophet ;  the  highways,  from  Palestine  to  the  gates  of 
Constantinople,  were  filled  with  an  uninterrupted  procession  ;  and  the  emperor 
Arcadius  himself,  at  the  head  of  the  most  illustrious  members  of  the  clergy  and 
senate,  advanced  to  meet  his  extraordinary  guest,  who  had  always  deserved  and 
claimed  the  homage  of  kings.  The  example  of  Rome  and  Constantinople  con- 
firmed the  faith  and  discipline  of  the  Catholic  world.  The  honours  of  the  saints 
and  martyrs,  after  a  feeble  and  ineffectual  murmur  of  profane  reason,  were  uni- 
versally established ;  and  in  the  age  of  Ambrose  and  Jerome,  something  was  still 
deemed  wanting  to  the  sanctity  of  a  Christian  church,  till  it  had  been  consecrated 
by  some  portion  of  holy  relics,  which  fixed  and  inflamed  the  devotion  of  the 
faithful. 

"In  the  long  period  of  twelve  hundred  years,  which  elapsed  between  the  reign 
of  Constantine  and  the  reformation  of  Luther,  the  worship  of  saints  and  relics 
corrupted  the  pure  and  perfect  simplicity  of  the  Christian  model ;  and  some 
symptoms  of  degeneracy  may  be  observed  even  in  the  first  generations  which 
adopted  and  cherished  this  pernicious  innovation." 


208  History  of  the  Christian  Chitrch. 

invented  for  the  sake  of  their  bones,  and  dreams  and  miracles  were 
employed  in  the  discovery  of  obscure  names  and  of  sacred  graves  till 
then  unknown  to  some.  To  write  the  life  of  a  saint,  to  make  a  pil- 
grimage to  his  tomb,  to  bring  home  fragments  of  his  bones,  of  his  cof- 
fin or  of  his  clothes,  or  to  erect  a  church  to  his  memory,  were  acts  not 
only  honourable  and  meritorious,  but  frequently  extremely  lucrative. 
Scarcely  any  one  deemed  himself  safe,  especially  on  a  journey -or  in 
times  of  danger,  without  some  scrap  of  a  relic  in  his  possession.  It 
was  necessary  to  the  security  of  every  habitation,  and  to  the  comfort 
of  every  family,  and  neither  church  nor  monastery  was  considered  as 
duly  consecrated,  till  it  became  the  repository  of  the  relics  of  some  re- 
puted saint ;  and,  if  his  name  were  renowned,  the  church  was  crowd- 
ed with  supplicants  for  health,  children,  or  prosperity :  his  priests 
were  loaded  with  presents,  and  his  treasury  stored  with  donations  of 
money  and  land. 

Towards  the  close  of  the  sixth  century,  the  Greek  empress  made  a 
pressing  application  to  Pope  Gregory  1.  for  the  body  of  the  apostle 
Paul,  to  be  placed  in  the  church  at  Constantinople  which  had  then  re- 
cently been  erected  in  honour  of  that  apostle.  .  Gregory  wrote  to  her 
in  reply  that  she  had  solicited  what  he  durst  not  grant;  for,  said  he, 
"  the  bodies  of  the  apostles  Paul  and  Peter  are  so  terrible  by  their  mi- 
racles, that  there  is  reason  to  apprehend  danger,  even  in  approaching 
to  pray  to  them.  My  predecessor  wanted  to  make  some  alteration  on 
a  silver  ornament  on  the  body  of  St.  Peter,  at  the  distance  of  fifteen 
feet,  when  an  awful  vision  appeared  to  him,  which  was  followed  by 
his  death.  I  myself  wished  to  repair  somewhat  about  the  body  of  St. 
Paul,  and  with  a  view  to  that  had  occasion  to  dig  a  little  near  his  se- 
pulchre ;  when,  in  digging,  the  superior  of  the  place  raising  some 
bones  apparently  unconnected  with  the  sacred  tomb,  had  a  dismal  vision 
after  it,  and  suddenly  tii^o.  in  tike  manner,  the  workmen  ana  me 
monks,  not  knowing  precisely  the  grave  of  St.  Lawrence,  accidentally 
opened  it ;  and  having  seen  the  body,  though  they  did  not  touch  it, 
died  in  ten  days.  Wherefore,  Madam,  the  Romans  in  granting  relies, 
do  not  touch  the  saints'  bodies  :  they  only  put  a  little  linen  in  a  box, 
which  they  place  near  them  ;  after  some  time  they  withdraw  it,  and 
deposit  the  box  and  linen  solemnly  in  the  church  which  they  mean  to 
dedicate.  This  linen  performs  as  many  miracles,  as  if  they  had  trans- 
ported the  real  body  !  In  the  time  of  pope  Leo,  some  Greeks,  doubt- 
ing the  virtue  of  such  relics,  he  took  a  pair  of  scissars,  as  we  are  as- 
sured, and  cutting  the  linen,  forthwith  the  blood  flowed  from  it.  He, 
however,  tells  the  empress,  that  he  would  endeavour  to  send  her  a  few 
grains  of  the  chain  which  had  been  on  Paul's  neck  and  hands,  and 
which  had  been  found  peculiarly  efficacious,  provided  they  succeeded, 
which  was  not  always  the  case,  in  filing  them  off."* 

This  may  suffice  for  giving  the  reader  some  idea  of  the  deplorable 
state  to  which  the  "  Holy  Catholic  Church"  was  reduced  in  the  fifth 
and  sixth  centuries,  of  the  Christian  a?ra  ;  and  I  therefore  quit  the  sub- 
ject to  pass  on  to  affairs  of  a  different  description. 

*  Fleury's  Eccles.  Hist.  torn.  viii.  p.  91 — 93. 


Arcadius  and  Honorius,  Emperors. 


SECTION  IV. 

GOTHIC  INVASION  OF    THE  ROMAN  EMPIRE THE  CITY  OF  ROME    BESIEGED 

AND  PLUNDERED SETTLEMENT  OF  THE  BARBARIANS  IN  THE  EMPIRE- 
ESTABLISHMENT   OF  THE  DOMINION  OF  THE  POPES. A.  D.  408 606. 

On  the  death  of  the  emperor  Theodosius,  the  government  of  the 
Roman  world  devolved  upon  his  two  sons,  Arcadius  and  Honorius, 
who,  by  the  unanimous  consent  of  th^\T  subjects,  were  saluted  as  the 
lawful  emperors  of  the  East,  and  of  the  West.  Arcadius  was  then 
about  eighteen  years  of  age,  and  took  up  his  residence  at  Constantino- 
ple, from  whence  he  swayed  the  sceptre  over  the  provinces  of  Thrace, 
Asia  Minor,  Syria,  and  Egypt — comprising  what  was  termed  the  East- 
ern Empire.  His  brother  Honorius  assumed,  in  the  eleventh  year  of 
his  age,  the  government  of  Italy,  Africa,  Caul,  Spain,  and  Britain,  un- 
der the  denomination  of  the  Western.  Their  father  died  in  the  month 
of  January,  395,  and  before  the  end  of  the  winter  in  the  same  year, 
the  Gothic  nation  was  in  arms  ;  and,  from  the  forests  of  Scythia,  the 
savage  warriors  "  rolled  their  ponderous  waggons,"  says  one  of  their 
Roman  poets,  "over  the  broad  and  icy  bank  of  the  indignant  river"— 
the  Danube.  But  the  genius  of  Rome  expired  with  Theodosius.  He 
was  the  last  of  the  successors  of  Augustus  and  Constantine,  who  ap- 
peared in  the  field  at  the  head  of  their  armies,  and  whose  authority 
was  universally  acknowledged  throughout  the  whole  extent  of  the  em- 
pire. 

Nothing  could  form  a  more  striking  contrast  than  the  character  of 
those  Gothic  tribes  and  that  of  the  Romans  at  the  period  of  which 
we  speak.  The  Barbarians,  as  tliey  wpre  called,  breathed  nothing  but 
war — their  martial  spirit  was  yet  in  its  vigour — their  eword  was  their 
tight,  and  they  exercised  it  without  remorse  as  the  right  of  nature. 
Simple  and  severe  in  their  manners,  they  were  unacquainted  with  the 
name  of  luxury  ;  any  thing  was  sufficient  for  their  extreme  frugality. 
Inured  to  exercise  and  toil,  their  bodies  seemed  impervious  to  disease 
or  pain  ;  they  sported  with  danger,  and  met  death  with  expressions  of 
joy.  The  Roman  character  was  then  reduced  to  the  reverse  of  all  this. 
Accustomed  to  repose  and  luxury,  they  had  degenerated  into  a  dastard- 
ly and  effeminate  race,  overwhelmed  with  fear  and  folly,  or,  what  was 
still  more  ignominious,  with  treachery.  That  enormous  fabric,  the 
Roman  empire,  had,  for  a  succession  of  ages,  groaned  under  its  own 
unwieldy  bulk,  and  every  method  had  been  resorted  to,  that  human 
wisdom  could  devise,  for  the  purpose  of  preventing  the  superstructure 
from  crumbling  into  ruins.  Theodosius  had  attempted  to  appease  the 
invaders  by  voluntary  contributions  of  money.  Tributes  were  multi- 
plied upon  tributes,  until  the  empire  was  drained  of  its  treasure.  Ano- 
ther expedient  was  then  adopted  ;  large  bodies  of  the  Barbarians  were 
taken  into  pay  and  opposed  to  other  Barbarians.  This  mode  of  de- 
fence answered  for  the  moment ;  but  it  terminated  in  the  subversion  of 
the  empire.  Already  acquainted  with  the  luxuries,  the  wealth,  and  the 
weakness  of  the  Romans,  they  turned  their  arms  against  their  mas-. 
18* 


210  History  of  the  Christian  Church. 

lers,  inviting  their  countrymen  to  come  and  share  with  them  in  the 
spoils  of  a  people  that  were  unworthy  of  so  many  accommodations.' 

Immense  hordes  of  these  savage  tribes  poured  into  every  part  of  the 
empire.  Wherever  they  marched,  their  route  was  marked  with  blood. 
The  most  fertile  and  populous  provinces  were  converted  into  deserts. 
The  wretched  inhabitants  of  those  countries  to  the  south  of  the  Danube, 
submitted  to  the  calamities,  which,  in  the  course  of  twenty  years,  were 
almost,  grown  familiar  to  their  imagination,  and  the  various  troops  of 
Barbarians,  who  gloried  in  the  Gothic  name,  were  irregularly  spread 
from  the  woody  shores  of  Dalmatic,  to  the  walls  of  Constantinople. 
Under  the  bold  and  enterprising  genius  of  Alaric,  their  renowned  leader, 
they  traversed  without  resistance  the  plains  of  Macedonia  and  Thessaly, 
stretching  from  east  to  west,  to  the  edge  of  the  sea  shore.  "  The  fertile 
fields  of  Phocis  and  Bceotia,"  says  Gibbon,  "were  instantly  covered 
by  a  deluge  of  Barbarians,  who  massacred  the  males  of  an  age  to  bear 
arms,  and  drove  away  the  beautiful  females,  with  the  spoil  and  cattle 
to  the  flaming  villages.  Corinth,  Argos,  Sparta,  yielded  without  re- 
sistance to  the  arms  of  the  Goths,  and  the  most  fortunate  of  their  in- 
habitants were  saved,  by  death,  from  beholding  the  slavery  of  their 
families,  and  the  conflagration  of  their  cities.  This  invasion,  instead  of 
vindicating  the  honour,  contributed,  at  least  accidentally,  to  extirpate 
the  last  remains  of  Paganism — and  a  system  which  had  then  subsisted 
eighteen  hundred  years,  did  not  survive  the  calamities  of  Greece."! 

Having  completely  ravaged  the  entire  territory  of  Greece,  Alaric  pro- 
ceeded to  invade  Italy,  and  the  citizens  of  Rome  were  thrown  into  the 
utmost  consternation  at  his  approach.  The  emperor  had  taken  up  his 
residence  in  his  palace  at  Milan,  where  he  thought  himself  secured  by 
the  rivers  of  Italy  which  lay  between  him  and  th©  Gothic  chief.  But 
the  season  happened  to  be  remarkably  dry,  which  enabled  the  Goths 
to  traverse,  without  impediment,  the  wide  and  stony  beds,  whose  centre 
was  faintly  marked  by  the  course  of  a  shallow  stream ;  and  as  Alaric 
approached  the  walls,  or  rather  the  suburbs  of  Milan,  he  enjoyed  the 
satisfaction  of  seeing  the  emperor  of  the  Romans  flying  before  him. 
The  danger  to  which  the  latter  had  been  exposed,  now  urged  him  to 
seek  a  retreat  in  some  inaccessible  fortress  of  Italy,  where  he  might 
securely  remain,  while  the  open  country  was  covered  by  a  deluge  of 
Barbarians;  and  in  the  twentieth  year  of  his  age,  anxious  only  for  his 
personal  safety,  Honorius  retired  to  the  perpetual  confinement  of  the 
walls  and  morasses  of  Ravenna.  His  example  was  imitated  by  his 
feeble  successors,  the  Gothic  kings,  and  afterwards  the  Exarchs,  who 
occupied  the  throne  and  palace  of  the  emperors  ;  and,  till  the  middle  of 
the  eighth  century,  Ravenna  was  considered  as  the  seat  of  government 
and  the  capital  of  Italy. 

During  a  period  of  six  hundred  and  nineteen  years,  the  city  of  Rome, 
the  seat  of  government,  had  never  been  violated  by  the  presence  of  a 
foreign  enemy ;  but  in  the  year  408,  Alaric  commenced  the  blockade 

*  Robertson's  Hist.  Charles  V.  vol.  1.  sect.  1. 
f  Decline  and  Fall,  vol.  v.  ch.  30. 


Borne  besieged  by  the  Goths.  211 

of  this  proud  metropolis.*  By  a  skilful  disposition  of  his  numerous 
forces,  he  encompassed  the  walls,  commanded  the  twelve  principal 
gates,  intercepted  all  communication  with  the  adjacent  country,  and 
vigilantly  guarded  the  navigation  of  the  river  Tyber,  from  which 
the  Romans  derived  the  surest  and  most  plentiful  supply  of  pro- 
visions. The  first  emotions  of  the  nobles,  and  of  the  people,  were 
those  of  surprise  and  indignation,  that  a  vile  Barbarian  should  dare  to 
insult  the  capital  of  the  world ;  but  their  arrogance  was  soon  humbled 
by  misfortune.  The  unfortunate  city  gradually  experienced  the  dis- 
tress of  scarcity,  and  at  length  the  horrid  calamities  of  famine.  The 
daily  allowance  of  three  pounds  of  bread,  was  reduced  to  one  half — to 
one  third — to  nothing  ;  and  the  price  of  corn  still  continued  to  rise  in 
a  rapid  and  extravagant  proportion.  The  poorer  citizens,  unable  to 
procure  the  necessaries  of  life,  solicited  the  precarious  charity  of  the 
rich  ;  but  private  and  occasional  donations  were  insufficient  to  appease 
the  hunger  of  a  numerous  people.  The  food  the  most  repugnant  to 
sense   or  imagination,  the  aliments  the  most  unwholesome  and  per- 

*  We  seem  in  general  to  entertain  a  very  inadequate  idea  in  the  present  day  of 
what  was  the  extent  and  magnificence  of  the  city  of  Rome,  at  the  period  of  which 
we  are  now  treating.  The  subject  is  somewhat  foreign  to  the  object  of  this 
work  :  yet  I  flatter  myself  a  few  hints  may  be  pardoned  by  the  reader,  were  it 
merely  on  the  score  of  exciting  attention  to  a  subject  of  considerable  curiosity. 
When  the  capital  of  the  empire  was  besieged  by  the  Goths,  the  circuit  of  the 
walls  was  accurately  measured  by  Ammonius,  the  mathematician,  who  found  it 
equal  to  twenty-one  miles.  The 'form  of  the  city  was  almost  that  of  a  circle.  It 
probably  covered  a  less  space  of  ground  than  the  metropolis  of  Great  Britain  ;  but 
it  contained  about  one-fifth  more  inhabitants  ;  for  "we  may  fairly  estimate  the 
number  of  inhabitants,"  says  Mr.  Gibbon,  referring  to  this  period,  "at  twelve 
hundred  thousand."  The  total  number  of  houses,  in  the  fourteen  regions  of  the 
city,  amounted  to  forty-eight  thousand,  three  hundred,  and  eighty-two—  a  num- 
ber inferior  to  those  of  the  British  capital ;  but  that  is  accounted  for  from  the 
loftiness  of  die  buildings,  which  were  carried  to  such  an  enormous  elevation,  that 
it  was  repeatedly  enacted,  by  Augustus,  as  well  as  by  Nero,,  in  consequence  of 
the  frequent,  and  fatal  accidents  which  happened  through  the  hastiness  of  their 
erection,  and  the  insufficiency  of  their  materials,  that  the  height  of  private  edifices, 
within  the  walls  of  Rome,  should  not  exceed  the  measure  of  seventy  feet  from 
the  ground  !  House  rent  was  immoderately  dear — the  rich  acquired,  at  an  enor- 
mous expense,  the  ground  which  they  covered  with  palaces  and  gardens  ;  but 
the  bulk  of  the  common  people  was  crowded  into  a  narrow  space,  and  the  dif- 
ferent floors  and  apartments  of  the  same  house  were  divided  among  several 
families.  There  were  seventeen  hundred  and  eight}-  superb  mansions,  the  resi- 
dence of  wealthy  and  honourable  citizens.  No  doubt  the  language  of  one  of  their 
own  poets  (Claudius  Rutilius,)  who  lived  at  the  time  of  the  Gothic  invasion,  is 
to  be  understood  as  indulging- in  poetic  license,  when  it  describes  "each  palace 
as  equal  to  a  city,  since  it  included  v  ithin  its  own  precincts,  every  thing  which 
could  be  subservient  either  to  use  or  luxury ;  markets,  race-courses,  temples, 
fountains,  baths,  porticoes,  shady  groves,  and  artificial  aviaries."  Of  the  riches 
and  luxury  of  these  nobles,  we  may  form  an  estimate  from  this  circumstance  ; 
that  several  examples  are  recorded  in  the  age  of  Honorius,  of  persons  who  cele- 
brated the  year  of  their  praetorship  by  a  festival  which  lasted  seven  days,  and  cost 
above  one  hundred  thousand  pounds  sterling.  Before  the  Dioclesian  persecution, 
which  commenced  A.  D.  303,  the  places  of  Christian  worship  in  Rome  were 
augmented' to  more  than  forty  in  number  ;  and  the  pastors  and  teachers  to  up- 
wards of  an  hundred  and  fifty. — Gibbon's  Rome,  vol.  viii.  ch.  31.  and  Optatus  de 
Sckism.  Donat.  lib.  ii.  p.  40. 


212  History  of  the  Christian  Church. 

nicious  to  the  constitution,  were  eagerly  devoured,  and  fiercely  dispu- 
ted by  the  rage  of  hunger.  A  dark  suspicion  was  entertained  that  some 
wretches  fed  on  the  bodies  of  their  fellow  creatures,  whom  they  had 
secretly  murdered,  and  even  mothers  are  said  to  have  tasted  the  flesh 
of  their  slaughtered  infants !  Many  thousands  of  the  inhabitants  of 
Rome  expired  in  their  own  houses,  or  in  the  streets,  for  want  of  sus- 
tenance ;  and  as  the  public  sepulchres  without  the  walls  were  in  the 
power  of  the  enemy,  the  stench  which  arose  from  so  many  putrid  and 
unburied  carcasses,  infected  the  air;  and  the  miseries  of  famine  were 
succeeded  and  augmented  by  the  contagion  of  a  pestilential  disease,  and 
the  proud  and  insolent  Romans  were  at  length  compelled  to  seek  relief 
in  the  clemency,  or  at  least  in  the  moderation  of  the  king  of  the  Goths. 

The  senate  appointed  two  ambassadors  to  negotiate  with  the  enemy. 
When  introduced  into  his  presence,  they  declared,  perhaps  in  a  more 
lofty  style  than  became  their  abject  condition,  that  the  Romans  were 
resolved  to  maintain  their  dignity  cither  in  peace  or  war ;  and  that 
if  Alaric  refused  them  a  fair  and  honourable  capitulation,  he  might 
sound  his  trumpets  and  prepare  for  battle  with  an  innumerable  people, 
exercised  in  arms  and  animated  by  despair.  "  The  thicker  the  hay, 
the  easier  it  is  mowed,"  was  the  concise  reply  of  the  Barbarian,  ac- 
companied by  a  loud  and  insulting  laugh,  expressive  of  his  contempt 
for  the  threats  of  an  unwarlike  populace,  enervated  by  luxury  before 
they  were  emaciated  by  famine.  He  then  condescended  to  fix  the 
ransom  which  he  would  receive  as  the  price  of  his  retreat  from  the 
walls  of  Rome.  It  was  all  the  gold  and  silver  in  the  city,  whether  it 
were  the  property  of  the  state  or  of  individuals  ;  all  the  rich  and  pre- 
cious movables ;  and  all  the  slaves  that  could  prove  their  title  to  the 
name  of  Barbarians.  "  If  such,  O  king,  are  your  demands,"  said 
they,  "  what  do  you  intend  to  leave  us  ?"  "  Your  lives,"  replied  the 
haughty  conqueror  !  They  trembled  and  retired. 

The  stern  features  of  Alaric,  however,  became  insensibly  relaxed, 
and  he  abated  much  of  the  rigour  of  his  terms  ;  for  he  at  length  con- 
sented to  raise  the  siege  on  the  immediate  payment  of  five  thousand 
pounds  of  gold — of  thirty  thousand  pounds  of  silver — of  four  thousand 
robes  of  silk — of  three  thousand  pieces  of  fine  scarlet  cloth — and  of 
three  thousand  pounds  weight  of  pepper.  But  the  public  treasury  was 
exhausted ;  the  annual  rents  of  the  nobles  were  intercepted  by  the  cala- 
mities of  war,  the  gold  and  gems  had  been  exchanged,  during  the 
famine,  for  the  vilest  sustenance.  Recourse  was,  therefore,  obliged  to 
be  had  to  the  hoards  of  secret  wealth  which  had  been  concealed  by 
the  obstinacy  of  avarice,  and  some  remains  of  consecrated  spoils, 
which  afforded  the  only  means  of  averting  the  impending  ruin  of  the 
city.  As  soon  as  the  Romans  had  satisfied  the  rapacious  demands  of 
Alaric,  they  were  restored,  in  some  measure,  to  the  enjoyment  of  peace 
and  plenty.* 

Before  he  withdrew  his  army  from  the  gates  of  Rome,  Alaric  had 
stipulated  for  the  payment  of  an  annual  subsidy  of  corn  and  money, 
which  the  treacherous  Romans  now   sought  to  evade,  and  in  the  fol- 

*  Gibbon's  Rome,  vol.  v.  ch.  23. 


Rome  a  second  time  besieged.  213 

lowing  year  (409)  the  Gothic  chief,  resolving  to  punish  their  perfidy, 
a  second  time  laid  siege  to  their  city.  On  this  occasion,  however,  in- 
stead of  assaulting  the  capital,  he  directed  his  efforts  against  the  port 
of  Ostia,  one  of  the  boldest  and  most  stupendous  works  of  Roman 
magnificence.  This  port  or  harbour,  which  was  undertaken  by  Julius 
Caesar,  and  finished  in  the  reign  of  Claudian,  where  the  corn  of  Africa 
was  deposited  in  spacious  granaries  for  the  use  of  the  capital,  had,  by 
this  time,  insensibly  swelled  to  the  size  of  an  episcopal  city.  As  soon 
as  Alaric  was  in  possession  of  that  important  place,  he  summoned  the 
city  to  surrender,  declaring  that  a  refusal,  or  even  a  delay,  should  be 
instantly  followed  by  the  destruction  of  the  magazines,  on  which  the 
lives  of  the  Roman  people  depended.  The  clamours  of  the  people, 
and  the  terror  of  famine,  subdued  the  pride  of  the  senate — they  listen- 
ed without  reluctance  to  the  proposal  which  Alaric  made  them,  of 
placing  a  new  emperor  on  the  throne  of  the  Caesars  in  place  of  the 
unworthy  Honorius,  and  the  suffrage  of  the  Gothic  conqueror  bestow- 
ed the  purple  on  Attalus,  praefect  of  the  city. 

Attains,  however,  was  not  long  in  evincing  his  incompetency  for  the 
duties  of  the  high  station  to  which  he  had  been  raised  ;  and  in  the  fol- 
lowing year  Alaric  publicly  despoiled  him  of  the  ensigns  of  royalty, 
and  sent  them  as  the  pledge  of  peace  and  friendship,  to  Honorius  at 
Ravenna.  Some  favourable  occurrence,  however,  happening  to  turn 
up  in  the  fortunes  of  this  latter  prince,  just  at  that  moment,  the  inso- 
lence of  his  ministers  returned  with  it ;  and,  instead  of  accepting  the 
friendly  overture  of  Alaric,  a  body  of  three  hundred  soldiers  were  or- 
dered to  sally  out  of  the  gates  of  Ravenna,  who  surprised  and  cut  in 
pieces  a  considerable  party  of  Goths,  after  which  they  re-entered  the 
city  in  triumph.  The  crime  and  folly  of  the  court  of  Ravenna  was 
expiated  a  third  time  by  the  calamities  of  Rome.  Alaric,  who  now  no 
lo»gor  dissembled  his  appetite  for  plunder  and  revenge,  appeared  in 
arms  under  the  walls  of  the  capital,  and  the  trembling  senate,  without 
any  hopes  of  relief,  prepared  by  a  desperate  resistance,  to  delay  the 
ruin  of  their  country.  But  they  were  unable  to  guard  against  the  se- 
cret conspiracy  of  their  slaves  and  domestics,  who,  either  from  birth 
or  interest,  were  attached  to  the  cause  of  the  enemy.  At  the  hour  of 
midnight,  the  Salarian  gate  was  silently  opened,  and  the  inhabitants 
were  awakened  by  the  tremendous  sound  of  the  Gothic  trumpet.*     In 

*  There  is  a  very  eloquent  passage  referring  to  this  particular  subject,  in  a 
letter  written  by  Pelagius,  the  author  of  the  Pelagian  heresy,  to  a  Roman  lady 
of  the  name  of  Demetrias,  and  it  deserves  insertion  in  this  place,  were  it  only 
to  exhibit  to  the  reader  a  specimen  of  the  superior  talents  which  were  possessed 
by  that  apostate  fronuthe  doctrines  of  grace. 

Pelagius,  whose  original  name  was  Morgan,  was  a  native  of  Wales,  and  by 
profession  a  monk.  He  was  far  advanced  in  life  before  he  began  publicly  to  pro- 
pagate his  heretical  sentiments,  and  until  that  period  it  seems  that  he  sustained  a 
blameless  reputation;  for  Augustine,  who  was  cotemporary  with  him,  and  com- 
bated all  his  errors,  does  him  the  justice  to  own  that  "  he  had  the  esteem  of  be- 
ing a  very  pious  man,  and  a  Christian  of  no  vulgar  rank. "  Pelagius  happened 
to  be  at  Rome  when  that  city  was  besieged  by  the  Goths,  and  was  probably  a 
spectator  of  all  that  passed  during  the  sacking  of  the  metropolis.  Soon  after  it 
was  taken  he  set  sail  for  Africa,  and  from  thence  wrote  to  the  Lady  Demetrias 
the  letter,  of  which  the  following-  is  an  extract,  referring  to  the  Gothic  invasion. 


214  History  of  the  Christian  Church. 

the  year  410,  eleven  hundred  and  sixty-three  years  after  the  founda- 
tion'of  Rome,  the  imperial  city,  which  had  subdued  and  civilized  so 
considerable  a  part  of  mankind,  was  delivered  to  the  licentious  fury  of 
the  tribes  of  Germany  and  Scythia,  who,  during  six  days,  pillaged  the 
city  of  all  its  gold  and  jewels,  stripped  the  palaces  of  their  splendid 
furniture — the  sideboards  of  their  massy  plate,  and  the  wardrobes  of 
their  silk  and  purple,  which  were  loaded  on  waggons  to  follow  the 
march  of  the  Gothic  army — the  most  cruel  slaughter  was  made  of  the 
Romans — the  streets  of  the  city  were  filled  with  dead  bodies — the  fe- 
males were  delivered  up  to  the  brutal  lust  of  the  soldiers — and  many 
of  the  noblest  edifices  of  the  city  destroyed  by  fire. 

I  have  been  induced  to  go  more  into  detail  on  this  subject,  than  I 
should  otherwise  have  done,  for  the  sake  of  giving  the  uninformed 
reader  some  general  notion  of  the  misery  which  resulted  from  the  irrup- 
tion of  these  Barbarian  hordes  into  the  Roman  empire  ;  and,  because 
it  ultimately  proved  the  means  of  its  subversion  ;  but  it  is  incompatible 
with  my  plan  to  pursue  the  matter  further  than  just  to  add,  that  new 
invaders,  from  regions  more  remote  and  barbarous,  drove  out  or  exter- 
minated the  former  colonists,  and  Europe  was  successively  ravaged, 
till  the  countries  which  had  poured  forth  their  myriads,  were  drained  of 
people,  and  the  sword  of -slaughter  weary  of  destroying.  "  If  a  man 
were  called,"  says  Dr.  Robertson,  "to  fix  upon  the  period  in  the 
history  of  the  world,  during  which  the  condition  of  the  human 
race  was  most  calamitous  and  afflicted,  he  would,  without  hesitation, 
name  that  which  elapsed  from  the  death  of  Theodosius  the  Great  (A. 
D.  395)  to  the  establishment  of  the  Lombards  in  Italy,  (A.  D.  571.) 
The  contemporary  authors,  who  beheld  that  scene  of  desolation,  labour, 
and  are  at  a  loss  for  expression,  to  describe  the  horror  of  it.  Tlie 
scourge  of  God,  the  destroyer  of  nations,  are  the  dreadful  epithets 
by  which  they  distinguish  the  most  noted  of  the  barbarous  leaders  : 
and  they  compare  the  ruin  which  they  had  brought  on  the  world,  to 
the  havoc  occasioned  by  earthquakes,  conflagrations,  or  deluges — the 
most  formidable  and  fatal  calamities  which  the  imagination  of  man  can 
conceive."* 

"  This  dismal  calamity  is  but  just  over,  and  you  yourself  are  a  witness  how 
Rome  that  commanded  the  world  was  astonished  at  the  alarm  of  the  Gothic 
trumpet,  when  that  barbarous  and  victorious  nation  stormed  her  walls,  and 
made  her  way  through  the  breach.  Where  were  then  the  privileges  of  birth, 
and  the  distinctions  of  quality  ?  Were  not  all  ranks  and  degrees  levelled  at  that 
time,  and  promiscuously  huddled  together  ?  Every  house  was  then  a  scene  of 
misery,  and  equally  filled  with  grief  and  confusion.  The  slave  and  the  man  of 
quality  were  in  the  same  circumstances,  and  every  where  the  terror  of  death 
and  slaughter  was  the  same,  unless  we  may  say  the  fright  made  the  greater  im- 
pression on  those  who  got  the  most  by  living.  Now,  if  flesh  and  blood  has  such 
power  over  our  fears,  and  mortal  men  can  terrify  us  to  this  degree,  what  will 
become  of  us  when  the  trumpet  sounds  from  the  sky,  and  the  archangel  sum- 
mons us  to  judgment;  when  we  are  not  attacked  by  sword,  or  lance,  or  any 
tiling  so  feeble  as  an  human  enemy:  but  when  all  the  terrors  of  nature,  the 
artillery  of  heaven,  and  the  militia,  if  I  may  so  speak,  of  Almighty  God,  are  let 
loose  upon  us  ? — In  the  Letters  of  Augustine,  No.  142. 

*  History  of  Charles  V.  vol.  sect.  1.  The  intelligent  reader  will  not  need  to 
he  reminded,  how  well  this  account  of  things  corresponds  with  the  striking  fan- 


Settlement  of  the  Barbarians  in  Europe.  215 

The  overwhelming  progress  of  the  Barbarians  soon  diffused  its 
powerful  effects  throughout  every  part  of  Europe.  In  the  course  of 
the  fifth  century,  the  Visigoths  took  possession  of  Spain ;  the  Franks 
of  Gaul ;  the  Saxons  of  England ;  the  Huns  of  Pannonia  ;  the  Ostro- 
goths of  Italy,  and  the  adjacent  provinces.  New  governments,  laws, 
languages ;  new  manners,  customs,  dresses ;  new  names  of  men  and 
countries  prevailed,  and  an  almost  total  change  took  place  in  the  state 
of  Europe.  It  is,  no  doubt,  much  to  be  lamented,  that  this  revolution 
was  the  work  of  nations  so  little  enlightened  by  science,  or  polished 
by  civilization  ;  for  the  Roman  laws,  though  imperfect,  were  in  gene- 
ral the  best  that  human  wisdom  had  then  framed,  and  its  arts  and 
literature  infinitely  surpassed  any  thing  found  among  rude  nations,  or 
which  those  who  despised  them  produced  for  many  ages. 

Many  of  the  Gothic  chiefs  were  men  of  great  talents,  and  some  of 
them  not  wholly  ignorant  of  the  policy  and  literature  of  the  Romans  ; 
but  they  were  afraid  of  the  contagious  influence  of  Roman  example, 
and  they  therefore  studied  to  avoid  every  thing  allied  to  that  name, 
whether  hurtful  or  beneficial.  They  erected  a  cottage  in  the  vicinity 
of  a  palace,  breaking  down  the  stately  building,  and  burying  in  its 
ruins  the  finest  works  of  human  ingenuity.  They  ate  out  of  vessels 
of  wood,  and  made  their  captives  be  served  in  vessels  of  silver.  They 
prohibited  their  children  from  acquiring  a  knowledge  of  literature  and 
of  the  elegant  arts,  because  they  concluded  from  the  dastardly  beha- 
viour of  the  Romans,  that  learning  tends  to  enervate  the  mind,  and  that 
he  who  has  trembled  under  the  rod  of  a  schoolmaster,  will  never  dare 
to  meet  a  sword  with  an  undaunted  eye.  Upon  the  same  principle 
they  rejected  the  Roman  code  of  laws  ;  it  reserved  nothing  to  the  ven- 
geance of  man — they,  therefore  inferred,  that  it  would  rob  him  of  his 
active  powers.  Nor  could  they  conceive  how  the  person  who  receiv- 
ed an  injury  could  rest  satisfied,  but  by  pouring  out  his  fury  upon  the 
author  of  the  injustice.  Hence  arose  all  those  judicial  combats,  and 
private  wars  which,  for  many  ages,  desolated  Europe. 

In  one  particular  only  did  these  barbarian  tribes  condescend  to  con- 
form to  the  institutions  of-  those  different  nations  among  whom  they 
settled,  viz.  in  religion.  The  conquerors  submitted  to  the  religion  of 
the  conquered,  which  at  this  period,  indeed,  in  its  established  form, 
approximated  closely  to  the  superstition  and  idolatry  of  the  ancient 
heathen.  But  whatever  shades  of  difference  there  might  be  found 
among  the  numerous  kingdoms  in  which  the  Roman  Western  Empire 
was  at  this  time  divided,  whether  in  the  forms  of  their  government,  or 
their  civil  and  political  institutions  ;  they  unanimously  agreed  to  sup- 
port the  hierarchy  of  the  church  of  Rome,  and  to  defend  and  maintain 
it  as  the  established  religion  of  their  respective  states.  Nor  is  the  cir- 
cumstance altogether  unworthy  of  notice,  that  when  Alaric  forced  his 
entrance  into  Rome,  he  issued  a  proclamation  which  discovered  some 
regard  for  the  laws  of  humanity  and  religion.  He  encouraged  his 
troops  boldly  to  seize  the  rewards  of  valour,  and  to  enrich  themselves 

guage  of  the  book  of  Revelation  quoted  at  the  beginning  of  the  last  Section, 
See  p.  196. 


216  History  of  the  Christian  Church. 

with  the  spoils  of  the  citizens  ;  but  he  exhorted  them  to  spare  the  lives 
of  the  unresisting,  and  to  respect  the  churches  of  the  apostles  St.  Pe- 
ter and  St.  Paul,  as  holy  and  inviolable  sanctuaries.* 

"  In  ages  of  ignorance  and  credulity,"  says  Dr.  Robertson,  "  the 
ministers  of  religion  are  the  objects  of  superstitious  veneration.  When 
the  Barbarians  who  overran  the  Roman  empire  first  embraced  the 
Christian  faith,  they  found  the  clergy  in  possession  of  considerable 
power ;  and  they  naturally  transferred  to  those  new  guides  the  pro- 
found submission  and  reverence,  which  they  were  accustomed  to  yield 
to  the  priests  of  that  religion  which  they  had  forsaken.  They  deemed 
their  persons  to  be  equally  sacred  with  their  function,  and  would  have 
considered  it  as  impious  to  subject  them  to  the  profane  jurisdiction  of 
the  laity.  The  clergy  were  not  blind  to  these  advantages  which  the 
weakness  of  mankind  afforded  them.  They  established  courts,  in 
which  every  question  relating  to  their  own  character,  their  function, 
and  their  property,  was  tried.  They  pleaded,  and  obtained  an  almost 
total  exemption  from  the  authority  of  civil  judges.  Upon  different 
pretexts,  and  by  a  multiplicity  of  artifices,  they  communicated  the 
privilege  to  so  many  persons,  and  extended  their  jurisdiction  to  such  a 
variety  of  cases,  that  the  greater  part  of  those  affairs  which  gave  rise 
to  contest  and  litigation,  was  drawn  under  the  cognizance  of  the  spi- 
ritual courts."! 

The  claims  to  supremacy,  which,  during  the  preceding  centuries, 
had  been  asserted  by  the  bishops  of  Rome,  were  at  first  faintly  urged, 
and  promoted  by  artful  and  almost  imperceptible  means.  They  now, 
however,  began  to  insist  upon  superiority  as  a  divine  right  attached  to 
their  see,  which,  they  contended,  had  been  founded  by  the  apostle  Pe- 
ter ;  and  this  arrogant  claim,  which  had  appeared  conspicuously  enough 
in  the  conduct  of  the  bishops  of  Rome  of  the  preceding  century,  was 
now  no  longer  concealed,  or  cautiously  promulgated.  But,  however 
violent  their  claims,  or  extensive  their  authority  in  affairs  both  eccle- 
siastical and  civil,  they  still  remained  subject,  first  to  the  jurisdiction 
of  the  Gothic  kings,  and,  upon  the  retaking  of  Rome,  to  the  emperors 

•  This  is  the  circumstance  which  gave  rise  to  that  ponderous  folio  volume  of 
St.  Augustine,  entitled,  "  The  City  of  God."  The  writer's  object  is  to  justify 
the  ways  of  Providence  in  the  destruction  of  the  Roman  greatness;  and  he  cele- 
brates with  peculiar  satisfaction,  this  memorable  occurrence,  while  he  insulting- 
ly challenges  his  adversaries  to  produce  one  similar  example  ^f  a  town  taken  by 
6torm,  in  which  the  fabulous  gods  of  antiquity  had  been  able  to  protect  either 
themselves  or  their  deluded  votaries — appealing  particularly  to  the  examples  of 
Troy,  Syracuse,  and  Tarentum.  Had  the  life  of  this  great  luminary  been  pro- 
longed about  half  a  century  beyond  this  time,  he  might  have  been  instructed,  by 
facts  and  experience,  how  fallacious  his  vaunting  was.  In  the  year  455,  Gense- 
ric,  a  Vandal  warrior,  invaded  Italy,  and  once  more  sacked  the  city  of  Rome. 
*•  The  pillage  lasted  fourteen  days  and  nights,  and  all  that  yet  remained  of  pub- 
lic or  private  wealth,  of  sacred  or  profane  treasure,  was  diligently  transported  to 
the  vessels  of  Genseric."  Among  the  spoils  were  the  holy  instruments  of  the 
Jewish  worship, — the  golden  table,  the  golden  candlesticks  with  seven  branches, 
Etc.  which  four  hundred  years  before  Titus  had  brought  from  Jerusalem,  and 
which  had  been  since  deposited  in  the  Temple  of  Peace.  He  also  stripped  the 
Christian  churches  of  every  article  of  plate  and  grandeur  that  was  movable. 

|  History  of  Charles  V.  vol.  1.  sect.  1. 


Inordinate  ambition  of  the  Popes.  217 

of  Constantinople.  Such,  however,  was  the  extensive  influence  of 
the  papal  intrigues,  that  there  were  few  among  the  princes  of  the  West- 
ern Empire,  that  were  not  virtually  brought  into  a  state  of  subjection 
to  the  authority  of  the  bishops  of  Rome,  before  the  close  of  the  fifth 
century. 

A  station  so  elevated,  which  lay  open  to  the  ambition  of  numbers, 
was  eagerly  contested,  and  often  obtained  by  fraud,  chicanery,  or  the 
practice  of  whatever  was  most  opposite  to  the  spirit  of  the  gospel. 
During  the  sixth  century,  the  peace  of  the  catholic  church  was  thrice 
disturbed  by  the  contests  and  squabbles  of  the  rival  pontiffs.  Symma- 
chus  and  Laurentius,  who  had  been  elevated  to  the  vacant  see  by  dif- 
ferent parties,  continued,  for  several  years,  to  assert  their  discordant 
claims.  After  repeated  struggles,  the  former,  at  length,  prevailed.  In 
this  contest  he  was  materially  assisted  by  the  pen  of  Ennodius,  bishop 
of  Pavia,  who  employed  the  most  abject  flattery  in  behalf  of  Symma- 
chus,  whom  he  blasphemously  styles  "  Judge  in  the  place  of  God, 
and  vicegerent  of  the  Most  High."  The  church  was  again  divided 
by  the  reciprocal  claims  of  Boniface  and  Dioscorus  ;  the  premature 
death  of  the  latter,  however,  terminated  this  clerical  war.  But  the 
century  did  not  close  without  a  scene  alike  disgraceful.  A  prelate  of 
the  name  of  Vigilius,  intrigued  at  court  to  procure  the  deposition  of 
the  reigning  bishop  Silverus.  The  latter  was,  in  consequence,  de- 
prived of  his  dignities  and  banished.  He  appealed  to  the  emperor 
Justinian,  who  interfered  in  his  behalf,  and  encouraged  him  to  return 
to  Rome,  with  the  delusive  expectation  of  regaining  his  rights  ;  but  the 
artifices  of  Vigilius  prevailed — his  antagonist  was  resigned  to  his  pow- 
er, and  immediately  confined  by  him  in  the  islands  of  Pontus  and  Pan- 
datara,  where,  in  penury  and  affliction,  he  terminated  his  wretched  ex- 
istence. 

The  advantages  attendant  upon  the  acquisition  of  such  enormous 
power,  induced  the  bishops  of  Constantinople,  who  were  scarcely  less 
arrogant  and  ambitious  than  their  brethren  at  Rome,  to  refuse  acknow- 
ledging their  pre-eminence,  and  prompted  them  to  lay  claim  to  similar 
authority.  The  arrogant  pretensions  of  these  rival  sees  involved  them 
in  continual  dissensions  ;  which  were  prodigiously  increased  by  the 
conduct  of  John,  the  faster,  a  prelate  distinguished  for  his  authority ; 
who,  in  a  council  held  at  Constantinople  in  the  year  588,  assumed  the 
title  of  Universal  Bishop,  which  was  confirmed  to  him  by  the  coun- 
cil. This  appellation,  which  implied  a  pre-eminence  difficult  to  be 
endured  by  those  who  were  as  ambitious  as  himself,  was  opposed  ve- 
hemently by  Pelagius  II.  then  bishop  of  Rome,  who  called  it  an  exe- 
crable, profane,  and  diabolical  procedure ;  but  his  invectives  were  dis- 
regarded, and  he  died  soon  after.  In  the  year  560,  he  was  succeeded 
by  Gregory  the  Great,  as  he  is  usually  termed ;  a  voluminous  writer, 
and,  though  superstitious  in  the  extreme,  not  altogether  destitute  of  ta- 
lents. His  works  are  still  extant,  and  in  high  reputation  with  the  Ca- 
tholics. The  following  letter  written  by  him  to  the  emperor  Maurice, 
at  Constantinople,  in  consequence  of  John,  the  patriarch  of  that  city, 
assuming  the  name  of  "  Universal  Bishop,"  casts  so  much  light  upon 
19 


218  History  of  the  Christian  Church. 

the  history  of  that  age,  that  it  cannot,  without  injury  to  the  subject,  be 
omitted. 

"  Our  most  religious  lord,  whom  God  hath  placed  over  us,  among 
other  weighty  cares  belonging  to  the  empire,  labours,  according  to  the 
just  rule  of  the  sacred  writings,  to  preserve  peace  and  charity  among 
the  clergy.  He  truly  and  piously  considers,  that  no  man  can  well 
govern  temporal  matters,  unless  he  manages  with  propriety  things  di- 
vine also  ;  and  that  the  peace  and  tranquillity  of  the  commonwealth 
depend  upon  the  quiet  of  the  Universal  church.  For,  most  gracious 
sovereign,  what  human  power  or  strength  would  presume  to  lift  up 
irreligious  hands  against  your  most  Christian  majesty,  if  the  clergy,  be- 
ing at  unity  amongst  themselves,  would  seriously  pray  to  our  Saviour 
Christ  to  preserve  you  who  have  merited  so  highly  from  us?  Or  what 
nation  is  there  so  barbarous  as  to  exercise  such  cruelty  against  the 
faithful,  unless  the  lives  of  us  who  are  called  Priests,  but  in  truth  are 
not  such,  were  most  wicked  and  depraved?  But  whilst  we  leave 
those  things  which  more  immediately  concern  us,  and  embrace  those 
things  for  which  we  are  wholly  unfit,  we  excite  the  Barbarians  against 
us,  and  our  offences  sharpen  the  swords  of  our  enemies,  by  which 
means  the  commonwealth  is  weakened.  For  what  can  we  say  for 
ourselves,  if  the  people  of  God,  over  whom,  however  unworthily,  we 
are  placed,  be  oppressed  through  the  multitude  of  our  offences  ;  if  our 
example  destroys  that  which  our  preaching  should  build  ;  and  our  ac- 
tions, as  it  were,  give  the  lie  to  our  doctrine?  Our  bones  are  worn  with 
fasting,  but  our  minds  are  puffed  up  !  Our  bodies  are  covered  with 
mean  attire,  but  in  our  hearts  we  are  quite  elated !  We  lie  grovelling 
in  the  ashes,  yet  we  aim  at  things  exceedingly  high  !  We  are  teachers 
of  humility,  but  patterns  of  pride,  hiding  the  teeth  of  wolves  under  a 
sheep's  countenance !  The  end  of  all  is,  to  make  a  fair  appearance 
before  men,  but  God  knoweth  the  truth  !  Therefore  our  most  pious  so- 
vereign hath  been  prudently  careful  to  place  the  church  at  unity,  that 
he  might  the  better  compose  the  tumults  of  war  and  join  their  hearts 
together.  This  verily  is  my  wish  also,  and  for  my  own  part  I  yield 
due  obedience  to  your  sovereign  commands.  However,  since  it  is  not 
my  cause,  but  God's,  it  is  not  myself  only  but  the  whole  church  that 
is  troubled,  because  religious  laws,  venerable  synods,  and  the  very  pre- 
cepts of  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ,  are  disobeyed  by  the  invention  of  a 
proud  and  pompous  speech.  My  desire  is,  that  our  most  religious  so- 
vereign would  lance  this  sore,  and  that  he  would  bind  with  the  cords 
of  his  imperial  authority  the  party  affected,  in  case  he  makes  any  re- 
sistance. By  restraining  him  the  commonwealth  will  be  eased  ;  and 
by  the  paring  away  of  such  excrescences  the  empire  is  enlarged.  Eve- 
ry man  that  has  read  the  gospel  knows  that,  even  by  the  very  words 
of  our  Lord,  the  care  of  the  whole  church  is  committed  to  St.  Peter, 
the  apostle — the  prince  of  all  the  apostles.  For  to  him  it  is  said,  "  Pe- 
ter, lovest  thou  me?  Feed  my  sheep."  "  Behold,  Satan  hath  desired 
to  winnow  thee  as  wheat ;  but  I  have  prayed  for  thee,  that  thy  faith 
should  not  fail."  And,  "  thou  being  at  the  last  converted,  confirm  thy. 
brethren."     To  him  it  is  said,  "  Thou  art  Peter,  and  upon  this  rock  I 


Gregory'1 s  letter  to  the  Emperor  Maurice.  219 

will  build  my  church  ;  and  the  gates  of  hell  shall  not  prevail  against  it ; 
and  to  thee  I  will  give  the  keys  of  the  kingdom  of  heaven,  and  what- 
soever thou  bindest  on  earth,  shall  be  bound  also  in  heaven  ;  and  what- 
soever thou  shalt  loose  on  earth,  shall  be  loosed  also  in  heaven."  Be- 
hold !  he  hath  the  keys  of  the  kingdom,  and  the  power  of  binding  and 
loosing  is  committed  to  him.  The  care  and  the  principality  of  the 
whole  church  is  committed  to  him ;  and  yet  he  is  not  called  "  Uni- 
versal Apostle" — though  this  holy  man,  John,  my  fellow  priest,  la- 
bours to  be  called  "  Universal  Bishop !"  I  am  compelled  to  cry  out, 
"O  the  corruption  of  times  and  manners?"  Behold  the  Barbarians  are 
become  lords  of  all  Europe  :  cities  are  destroyed — castles  are  beaten 
down — provinces  depopulated — there  is  no  husbandman  to  till  the 
ground** — Idolaters  rage  and  domineer  over  Christians  ;  and  yet  priests, 
who  ought  to  lie  weeping  upon  the  pavement,  in  sackcloth  and  ashes, 
covet  names  of  vanity,  and  glory  in  new  and  profane  titles.  Do  I, 
most  religious  sovereign,  in  this  plead  my  own  cause?  Do  I  vindicate 
a  wrong  done  to  myself,  and  not  maintain  the  cause  of  Almighty  God, 
and  of  the  church  universal?  Who  is  he  that  presumes  to  usurp  this 
new  name  against  both  the  law  of  the  gospel  and  of  the  canons?  I 
would  to  God  there  might  be  one  called  universal  without  doing  in- 
justice to  others.  We  know,  that  many  priests  of  the  church  of  Con- 
stantinople have  been  not  only  heretics,  but  even  the  chief  leaders  of 
them.  Out  of  that  school  proceeded  Nestorius,  who,  thinking  it  im- 
possible that  God  should  be  made  man,  believed  that  Jesus  Christ,  the 
Mediator  between  God  and  man,  was  two  persons,  and  went  as  far  in 
infidelity  as  the  Jews  themselves.  Thence  came  Macedonius,  who 
denied  the  Holy  Ghost,  consubstantial  to  the  Father  and  the  Son,  to 
be  God.  If,  then,  every  one  in  that  church  assumes  the  name  by  which 
he  makes  himself  the  head  of  all  good  men,  the  catholic  church,  which 
God  forbid  should  ever  be  the  case,  must  needs  be  overthrown  when 
he  falls  who  is  called  Universal.  But,  far  from  Christians  be  this 
blasphemous  name,  by  which  all  honour  is  taken  from  all  other  priests, 
while  it  is  foolishly  arrogated  by  one.  It  was  offered  to  the  bishop  of 
Rome  by  the  reverend  council  of  Chalcedon,  in  honour  of  St.  Peter, 
prince  of  the  apostles  ;  but  none  of  them  either  assumed  or  consented 
to  use  it,  lest,  while  this  privilege  should  be  given  to  one,  all  others 
should  be  deprived  of  that  honour  which  is  due  unto  them.  Why 
should  we  refuse  this  title  when  it  was  offered,  and  another  assume  it 
without  any  offer  at  all?  This  man  (John)  contemning  obedience  to  the 
canons,  should  be  humbled  by  the  commands  of  our  most  pious  sove- 
reign. He  should  be  chastised  who  does  an  injury  to  the  holy  catho- 
lic church  !  whose  heart  is  puffed  up,  who  seeks  to  please  himself  by 
a  name  of  singularity,  by  which  he  would  elevate  himself  above  the 
emperor!  We  are  all  scandalized  at  this.  Let  the  author  of  this  scan- 
dal reform  himself,  and  all  differences  in  the  church  will  cease.  I  am 
the  servant  of  all  priests,  so  long  as  they  live  like  themselves — but  if 
any  shall  vainly  set  up  his  bristles,  contrary  to  God  Almighty,  and  to 

*   Gregory  here  seems  to  refer  to  the  irruption  of  the  Goths  into  the  Roman 
empire,  and  its  total  subversion  by  those  Barbarians. — Author. 


220  History  of  the  Christian  Church, 

the  canons  of  the  Fathers,  1  hope  in  God  that  he  will  never  succeed 
in  bringing  my  neck  under  his  yoke — not  even  by  force  of  arms.  The 
things  that  have  happened  in  this  city,  in  consequence  of  this  new  ti- 
tle, I  have  particularly  declared  to  Sabinianus,  the  deacon,  my  agent. 
Let  therefore  my  religious  sovereigns  think  of  me  their  servant,  whom 
they  have  always  cherished  and  upheld  more  than  others,  as  one  who 
desired  to  yield  them  obedience,  and  yet  am  afraid  to  be  found  guilty 
of  negligence  in  my  duty  at  the  last  awful  day  of  judgment.  Let  our 
most  pious  sovereign  either  vouchsafe  to  determine  the  affair,  accord- 
ing to  the  petition  of  the  aforesaid  Sabinianus,  the  deacon,  or  cause  the 
man,  so  often  mentioned  to  renounce  his  claim.  In  case  he  submits 
to  your  most  just  sentence,  or  your  favourable  admonitions,  we  will 
give  thanks  to  Almighty  God,  and  rejoice  for  the  peace  of  the  church, 
procured  by  your  clemency.  But  if  he  persist  in  this  contention,  we 
shall  hold  the  saying  to  be  most  true,  "  Every  one  that  exalteth  him- 
self shall  be  abased."  And  again  it  is  written,  "  Pride  goeth  before 
destruction,  and  an  haughty  spirit  before  a  fall."  In  obedience  to  my 
sovereign,  I  have  written  to  my  brother  priest  both  gently  and  humbly, 
urging  him  to  desist  from  this  vainglory.  If  he  gives  ear  unto  me,  he 
hath  a  brother  devoted  unto  him,  but  if  he  continue  in  his  pride,  I  fore- 
see what  will  befall  him — he  will  make  himself  His  enemy  of  whom 
it  is  written,  "  God  resisteth  the  proud,  but  giveth  grace  to  the  hum- 
ble."* 

It  is  difficult  to  determine  whether  the  finesse  of  the  politician,  or 
the  envy  of  the  priest,  be  most  prevalent  in  this  artful  letter.  It  does 
not,  however,  appear  to  have  produced  any  good  effect.  John,  indeed, 
was  soon  afterwards  removed  by  death  from  his  archiepiscopal  dignity  ; 
but  Cynacus,  who  succeeded  him  as  bishop  of  Constantinople,  adopt- 
ed the  same  pompous  title  as  his  predecessor.  Having  had  occasion 
to  despatch  some  agents  to  Rome,  in  the  letter  Avhich  he  wrote  to  the 
Roman  Pontiff  Gregory,  he  so  much  displeased  him  by  assuming  the 
appellation  of  "  Universal  Bishop,"  that  the  latter  withheld  from  the 
agents  somewhat  of  the  courtesy  to  which  they  considered  themselves 
entitled,  and,  of  course,  complaint  was  made  to  the  emperor  Maurice 
of  the  neglect  which  had  been  shown  them.  This  circumstance  ex- 
torted a  letter  from  the  emperor  at  Constantinople  to  the  Bishop  of 
Rome,  in  which  he  advises  him  to  treat  them,  in  future,  in  a  more 
friendly  manner,  and  not  to  insist  so  far  on  punctilios  of  style,  as  to 
create  a  scandal  about  a  title,  and  fall  out  about  a  few  syllables.  To 
this  Gregory  replies,  "  that  the  innovation  in  the  style  did  not  consist 
much  in  the  quantity  and  alphabet ;  but  the  bulk  of  the  iniquity  was 
weighty  enough  to  sink  and  destroy  all.  And,  therefore,  I  am  bold  to 
say,"  says  he,  "  that  whoever  adopts,  or  affects  the  title  of  Universal 
Bishop,"  has  the  pride  and  character  of  Antichrist,  and  is  in  some 
manner  his  forerunner  in  this  haughty  quality  of  elevating  himself 
above  the  rest  of  his  order.  And,  indeed,  both  the  one  and  the  other 
seem  to  split  upon  the  same  rock ;  for,  as  pride  makes  Antichrist  strain 

•  Epist.  Greg-.  Mag-.  Ep.  xxxii. 


Gregory  succeeded  by  Boniface.  221 

his  pretensions  up  to  Godhead,  so  whoever  is  ambitious  to  be  called 
the  only  or  Universal  Prelate,  arrogates  to  himself  a  distinguished  su- 
periority, and  rises,  as  it  were,  upon  the  ruins  of  the  rest."* 

But  though  Gregory  artfully  disclaimed  for  himself,  and  refused  to 
his  aspiring  brother  the  title  of  Universal  bishop,  he  exercised  an 
authority,  says  bishop  Hurd,t  that  can  only  belong  to  that  exalted 
character.  Gregory  died  in  the  year  604,  and  was  succeeded  by  Pope 
Boniface  III.  who  had  no  scruples  about  adopting  this  proud  title.  He 
readily  accepted,  or  rather  importunately  begged  it  from  the  emperor 
Phocas,  with  the  privilege  also  of  transmitting  it  to  all  his  successors. 
The  profligate  emperor,  to  gratify  the  inordinate  ambition  of  this  court 
sycophant,  deprived  the  bishop  of  Constantinople  of  the  title  which  he 
had  hitherto  borne,  and  conferred  it  upon  Boniface,  at  the  same  time 
declaring  the  church  of  Rome  to  be  the  head  of  all  other  churches. 

*  Epist.  Greg.  1.  6.  Ep.  30. 

\  Introductory  Sermons  to  the  Study  of  Prophecy.     Vol.  ii,  Serm.  7, 


I!)' 


(     222     ) 


APPENDIX  TO  CHAP.  III.  SECT.  IV. 


A  respectable  writer  in  one  of  our  Monthly  Journals,  and,  as  I  am 
informed,  a  Classical  Tutor  in  one  of  our  Dissenting  Academies,  ap- 
pears to  think  that,  in  animadverting  on  the  characters  of  some  of  the 
luminaries  of  the  Catholic  church,  I  have  not  made  sufficient  allowance 
for  the  darkness  of  the  period  in  which  they  lived.  His  words  are, 
"  We  apprehend,  that  Mr.  Jones  has  not  quite  enough  attended  to  the 
infelicity  of  times,  the  want  of  a  free  communication  of  knowledge,  the 
power  of  educational  prejudices,  and  the  effect  of  usages  venerated  as 
apostolic.  Under  circumstances  so  disadvantageous,  it  is  not,  we 
hope,  unreasonable  to  believe  that  many  who  in  their  hearts  loved  the 
Redeemer,  and  in  their  lives  served  him,  according  to  the  light  they 
had,  were  found  dragged  in  the  train  of  those  who  wandered  after  the 
beast.  Painful  and  humbling  fact !  That  such  men  as  Athanasius  and 
Gregory,  Anselm  and  Bernard,  should  have  defiled  their  garments 
with  the  blood  of  persecution,  and  bowed  their  knees  before  relics  and 
wafers." 

The  Gregory  referred  to  in  this  quotation,  I  understand  to  be 
"  Gregory  the  Great,"  as  he  is  commonly  termed ;  the  first  of  the 
Roman  pontiffs  of  that  name ;  the  man  to  whose  exploits  the  preced- 
ing pages  refer.  He  is  the  only  prelate  of  the  Roman  church,  of  that 
appellation,  who,  so  far  as  I  know,  has  ever  been  considered  by  Pro- 
testants to  have  had  any  pretensions  to  the  character  of  a  Christian ; 
and  his  history,  certainly,  well  assorts  with  that  of  Athanasius  and  Ber- 
nard ;  which  confirms  me  in  the  supposition  that  he  is  the  person  re- 
ferred to.  Now,  granting  the  correctness  of  this  conjecture,  I  beg 
leave,  with  all  becoming  deference  to  my  critical  supervisor,  to  offer  a 
few  remarks  by  way  of  apology. 

I  feel  not  the  smallest  disposition  to  dispute  the  truth  of  this  very 
respectable  writer's  remark,  that  I  have  "  not  sufficiently  studied  that 
humiliating  part  of  the  philosophy  of  man,  his  strange  inconsistencies." 
And  I  am  ready  to  admit  that  I  may  not  have  made  the  proper  allow- 
ances for  the  infelicity  of  times,  &c.  Yea,  further  ;  that  in  the  darkest 
periods  of  the  church,  there  were  individuals  dragged  in  the  train  of  those 
who  wandered  after  the  beast,  who,  nevertheless,  in  their  hearts  loved 
the  Redeemer,  and  in  their  lives  served  him,  according  to  the  light  they 
had,  is  a  sentiment  to  which  I  cheerfully  subscribe,  but  am  not  aware 
that  I  have  said  any  thing  that  militates  against  it  in  this  work.  The 
only  disputable  point  between  us  is,  how  far  the  character  of  Gregory 
entitles  him  to  this  favourable  judgment. 

The  reader  has  already  seen  the  fulsome  and  adulatory  strains  in 
which  this  pontiff  addressed  the  emperor  Maurice,  in  consequence  of 


Appendix  to  Ch.  III.  Sect.  IV.  223 

the  patriarch  of  Constantinople  arrogating  to  himself  the  title  of  "Uni- 
versal Bishop."     He  styles  the  emperor  his  "  most  religious  Lord" — 
his  "  most  gracious  Sovereign" — his  "  most  Christian  Majesty" — his 
"  most  religious  Sovereign,"  against  whom  it  would  be  the  height  of 
impiety  to  lift  a  finger,  &c.     Let  us  now  mark  what  followed.     Gregory 
with  all  his  flattery  was  unable  to  prevail  on  the  emperor  Maurice  to 
second  his  views ;  and  the  former,  as  might  be  expected,  became  not  a 
little  dissatisfied  with  his  "  most  religious  Lord."     Soon  after  this  the 
emperor  was  dethroned  by  one  of  his  centurions,  who  first  murdered 
him,  and  then  usurped  his  crown.     This  wretch,  whose  name  was  Pho- 
cas,  was  one  of  the  vilest  of  the  human  race — a  monster,  stained  with 
those  vices  that  serve  most  to  blacken  human  nature.     Other  tyrants 
have  been  cruel  from  policy  ;  the  cruelties  of  Phocas  are  not  to  be  ac- 
counted for,  but  on  the  hypothesis  of  the  most  diabolical  and  disinter- 
ested malice.     He  caused  five  of  the  children  of  the  emperor  Maurice 
to  be  massacred  before  the  eyes  of  their  unhappy  father,  whom  he  re- 
served to  the  last,  that  he  might  be  a  spectator  of  the  destruction  of  his 
children  before  his  own  death.     There  still  remained,  however,  a  brother 
and  son  of  the  emperor's,  both  of  whom  he  caused  to  be  put  to  death, 
together  with  all  the  patricians  who  adhered  to  the  interest  of  the  un- 
happy monarch.     The  empress  Constantine  and  her  three  daughters 
had  taken  refuge  in  one  of  the  churches  of  the  city,  under  sanction  of 
the  patriarch  of  Constantinople,  who  defended  them  for  a  time  with  great 
spirit  and  resolution,  not  permitting  them  to  be  dragged  by  force  from 
their  asylum.     The  tyrant,  one  of  the  most  vindictive  and  inexorable 
of  mankind,  not  wishing  to  alarm  the  church  at  the  outset  of  his  reign, 
now  had  recourse  to  dissimulation  ;  and  by  means  of  the  most  solemn 
oaths  and  promises  of  safety,  at  length  prevailed  on  the  females  to  quit 
their  asylum.     The  consequence  was,  that  they  instantly  became  the 
helpless  victims  of  his  fury,  and  suffered  on  the  same  spot  on  which 
the  late  emperor  and  five  of  his  sons  had  been  recently  murdered.     So 
much  for  the  character  of  Phocas  :  now  what  should  we  expect  would 
be  the  reception  which  the  account  of  all  this  series  of  horrid  cruelty 
would  meet  with  at  Rome,  from  a  man  so  renowned  for  piety,  equity, 
and  mildness  of  disposition  as  Pope  Gregory  was?     If  we  look  into  his 
letters  of  congratulation,  we  find  them  stuffed  with  the  vilest  and  most 
venal  flattery  ;  insomuch,  that  were  we  to  learn  the  character  of  Phocas 
only  from  this  pontiffs  letters,  we  should  certainly  conclude  him  to 
have  been  rather  an  angel  than  a  man.     He  recites  the  murder  of  "his 
most  religious  Lord"  with  as  much  coolness  as  though  religion  and 
morality  could  be  nowise  affected  by  such  enormities.     Mark  how  the 
sanctity  of  a  Gregory  congratulates  the  blood-thirsty  rebellious  regicide 
and  usurper.     Thus  he  begins — "  Glory  to  God  in  the  highest ;  Avho, 
according  as  it  is  written,  changes  times  and  transfers  kingdoms.     And 
because  he  would  have  that  made  known  to  all  men,  which  he  hath 
vouchsafed  to  speak  by  his  own  prophets,  saying,  that  the  Most  High 
rules  in  the  kingdoms  of  men,  and  to  whom  he  will  he  gives  it."     He 
then  goes  on  to  observe,  that  God  in  his  incomprehensible  providence, 
sometimes  sends  kings  to  afflict  his  people  and  punish  them  for  their 
sins.     This,  says  he,  we  have  known  of  late  to  our  woful  experience. 


224  Appendix  to  Ch.  III.   Sect.  IV. 

Sometimes,  on  the  other  hand,  God,  in  his  mercy,  raises  good  men  to 
the  throne,  for  the  relief  and  exultation  of  his  servants.  Then  applying 
this  remark  to  existing  circumstances,  he  adds:  "In  the  abundance  of 
our  exultation,  on  which  account,  we  think  ourselves  the  more  speedily 
confirmed,  rejoicing  to  find  the  gentleness  of  your  piety  equal  to  your 
imperial  dignity."  Then  breaking  out  into  a  rapture,  no  longer  to  be 
restrained,  he  exclaims,  "  Let  the  heavens  rejoice  and  the  earth  be  glad  ; 
and,  for  your  illustrious  deeds,  let  the  people  of  every  realm,  hitherto 
so  vehemently  afflicted,  now  be  filled  with  gladness.  May  the  necks 
of  your  enemies  be  subjected  to  the  yoke  of  your  supreme  rule  ;  and 
the  hearts  of  your  subjects,  hitherto  broken  and  depressed,  be  relieved 
by  your  clemency."  Proceeding  to  paint  their  former  miseries,  he 
concludes,  with  wishing  that  the  commonwealth  may  long  enjoy  its 
present  happiness.  Thus,  in  language  evidently  borrowed  from  the 
inspired  writers,  and  in  which  they  anticipate  the  joy  and  gladness  that 
should  pervade  universal  nature  at  the  birth  of  the  Messiah,  does  this 
pope  celebrate  the  march  of  the  tyrant  and  usurper  through  seas  of  blood 
to  the  imperial  throne.  "As  a  subject  and  a  Christian,"  says  Gibbon, 
"  it  was  the  duty  of  Gregory  to  acquiesce  in  the  established  government ; 
but  the  joyful  applause  with  which  he  salutes  the  fortune  of  the  assassin, 
has  sullied,  with  indelible  disgrace,  the  character  of  the  saint.  The 
successor  of  the  apostles  might  have  inculcated  with  decent  firmness  the 
guilt  of  blood,  and  the  necessity  of  repentance:  he  is  content  to  cele- 
brate the  deliverance  of  the  people,  and  the  fall  of  the  oppressor ;  to 
rejoice  that  the  piety  and  benignity  of  Phocas  have  been  raised  by  Pro- 
vidence to  the  imperial  throne  ;  to  pray  that  his  hands  may  be  strength- 
ened against  all  his  enemies  ;  and  to  express  a  wish,  that,  after  a  long 
triumphant  reign,  he  may  be  transferred  from  a  temporal  to  an  ever- 
lasting kingdom." — "I  have  traced,"  says  the  same  writer,  "the  steps 
of  a  revolution,  so  pleasing  in  Gregory's  opinion  both  to  heaven  and 
earth,  and  Phocas  does  not  appear  less  hateful  in  the  exercise  than  in 
the  acquisition  of  power.  The  pencil  of  an  impartial  historian  has 
delineated  the  portrait  of  a  monster  ;  his  diminutive  and  deformed  per- 
son, &c.  Ignorant  of  letters,  of  laws,  and  even  of  arms,  he  indulged, 
even  in  the  supreme  rank,  a  more  ample  privilege  of  lust  and  drunken- 
ness ;  and  his  brutal  pleasures  were  either  injurious  to  his  subjects,  or 
disgraceful  to  himself.  Without  assuming  the  office  of  a  prince,  he 
renounced  the  profession  of  a  soldier  ;  and  the  reign  of  Phocas  afflicted 
Europe  with  ignominious  peace,  and  Asia  with  desolating  war.  His 
savage  temper  was  inflamed  by  passion,  hardened  by  fear,  and  exas- 
perated by  resistance  or  reproach.  The  flight  of  Theodosius,  the  only 
surviving  son  of  the  emperor  Maurice,  to  the  Persian  court,  had  been 
intercepted  by  a  rapid  pursuit,  or  a  deceitful  message :  he  was  beheaded 
at  Nice ;  and  the  last  hours  of  the  young  prince  were  soothed  by  the 
comforts  of  religion  and  the  consciousness  of  innocence."*  Now,  if 
there  be  any  thing  of  either  truth  or  justice  in  these  remarks  on  the 
character  of  Phocas,  what  are  we  to  think  of  that  of  Gregory,  who  could 
stoop  to  the  vile  practice  of  panegyrizing  such  a  monster ;  and,  with 

•  Decline  and  Fall,  ch.  xlvi. 


Retrospect  of  the  Donatists.  225 

all  due  deference,  I  humbly  submit  it  to  the  consideration  of  my  discreet 
monitor,  "  What  valuable  end  can  possibly  be  answered,  by  shutting 
our  eyes  against  such  flagrant  enormities,  and  eulogizing  the  men  who 
have  perpetuated  them?"  "To  me,"  says  a  late  candid  writer, 
"Gregory  appears  to  have  been  a  man,  whose  understanding,  though 
rather  above  the  middle  rate,  was  much  warped  by  the  errors  and  preju- 
dices of  the  times  in  which  he  lived.  His  piety  was  deeply  tinctured  with 
superstition,  and  his  morals  with  monkery.  His  zeal  was  not  pure,  in 
regard  to  either  its  nature  or  its  object.  In  the  former  respect,  it  was 
often  intolerant;  and  in  regard  to  the  latter,  he  evinced  an  attachment 
more  to  the  form  than  to  the  power  of  religion,  to  the  name  than  to  the 
tiling.  His  zeal  was  exactly  that  of  the  Pharisees,  who  compassed 
sea  and  land  to  make  a  proselyte,  which,  when  they  had  accomplished, 
they  rendered  him  two-fold  more  a  child  of  hell  than  before.  He  was 
ever  holding  forth  the  prerogatives  of  St.  Peter,  nor  did  he  make  any 
ceremony  of  signifying,  that  this  prime  minister  of  Jesus  Christ,  like 
all  other  prime  ministers,  would  be  most  liberal  of  his  favours  to  those 
who  were  most  assiduous  in  making  court  to  him,  especially  to  them 
who  were  most  liberal  to  his  foundation  at  Rome,  and  that  most  ad- 
vanced its  dignity  and  power.  So  much  for  St.  Gregory,  and  for  the 
nature  and  extent  of  Roman  Papal  virtue."* 


SECTION  V. 


FROM  THE  ESTABLISHMENT  OF  THE  DOMINION  OF  THE  POPES  TO  THE  RISE 
OF  THE  WALDENSES. A.  D.  606 800. 

Retrospect  of  the  Donatists — Introduction  of  the  worship  of  images 
— Rise  of  the  Mahometan  imposture — Ignorance  of  the  Catholic 
clergy — Origin  of  the  sect  of  the  Paulicians. 

Having  hitherto  taken  no  notice  in  this  history  of  the  sect  of  the 
Donatists,  it  seems  almost  necessary,  before  we  proceed  farther  with 
the  affairs  of  the  Christian  church,  to  introduce  a  concise  account  of 
them,  which  I  shall  here  do  from  the  writings  of  Dr.  Lardner,  who  has 
collected  into  a  few  pages  almost  every  thing  that  is  now  interesting, 
relative  to  this  denomination  of  Christians. 

The  Donatists  appear  to  have  resembled  the  followers  of  Novatian 
more  than  any  other  class  of  professors  in  that  period  of  the  church,  of 
whom  we  have  any  authentic  records  ;  but  their  origin  was  at  least  half 
a  century  later,  and  the  churches  in  this  connexion  appear  to  have  been 
almost  entirely  confined  to  Africa.  They  agreed  with  the  Novatians  in 
censuring  the  lax  state  of  discipline  in  the  Catholic  church,  and  though 
they  did  not,  like  the  former,  refuse  to  readmit  penitents  into  their  com- 
munion, nor  like  them  condemn  all  second  marriages,  they  denied  the 

*  Campbell's  Lectures  on  Eccles.  History,  vol.  ii.  p.  79. 


226  History  of  the  Christian  Church. 

validity  of  baptism  as  administered  by  the  church  of  Rome,  and  rebap- 
tized  all  who  left  its  communion  to  unite  with  them.  In  doctrinal  sen- 
timents they  were  agreed  with  both  the  Catholics  and  the  Novatians; 
while  the  regard  they  paid  to  the  purity  of  their  communion,  occasion- 
ed their  being  stigmatized  with  the  title  of  Puritans,  and  uniformly 
treated  as  schismatics  by  Optatus  and  Augustine,  the  two  principal 
writers  against  them,  in  the  Catholic  church. 

The  Donatists  are  said  to  have  derived  their  distinguishing  appella- 
tion from  Donatus,  a  native  of  Numidia,  in  Africa,  who  was  elected 
bishop  of  Carthage  about  the  year  306.  He  was  a  man  of  learning  and 
eloquence,  very  exemplary  in  his  morals,  and,  as  would  appear  from 
several  circumstances,  studiously  set  himself  to  oppose  the  growing  cor- 
ruptions of  the  Catholic  church.  The  Donatists  were  consequently  a 
separate  body  of  Christians  for  nearly  three  centuries,  and  in  almost 
every  city  in  Africa,  there  was  one  bishop  of  this  sect  and  another  of 
the  Catholics.  The  Donatists  were  very  numerous,  for  we  learn  that 
in  the  year  411,  there  was  a  famous  conference  held  at  Carthage,  be- 
tween the  Catholics  and  the  Donatists,  at  which  were  present  286  Ca- 
tholic bishops,  and  of  the  Donatists  279,  which,  when  we  consider  the 
superior  strictness  of  their  discipline,  must  give  us  a  favourable  opinion 
of  their  numbers,  and  especially  as  they  were  frequently  the  subjects  of 
severe  and  sanguinary  persecutions  from  the  dominant  party.  The 
emperor  Constans,  who  reigned  over  Africa,  actuated  by  the  zeal  of  his 
family  for  the  peace  of  the  church,  sent  two  persons  of  rank,  Paul  and 
Macarius,  in  the  year  348,  to  endeavour  to  conciliate  the  Donatists,  and 
if  possible  to  restore  them  to  the  communion  of  the  Catholic  church. 
But  the  Donatists  were  not  to  be  reconciled  to  such  an  impure  commu- 
nion !  to  all  their  overtures  for  peace,  they  replied,  Quid  est  imperatori 
cum  ecclesia?  that  is,  "  What  has  the  Emperor  to  do  with  the  church?" 
an  excellent  saying,  certainly,  and  happy  had  it  been  for  both  the 
church  and  the  world,  could  all  Christians  have  adopted  and  acted  upon 
it.  Optatus  relates  another  maxim  of  theirs,  which  is  worthy  of  being 
recorded.  It  was  usual  with  them  to  say,  "  Quid  Christianis  cum  re- 
gibus,  aut  quid  episcopis  cum  palatio  ?"  What  have  Christians  to  do 
with  kings,  or  ivhat  have  bishops  to  do  at  court?  These  hints  are 
strikingly  illustrative  of  the  principles  and  conduct  of  the  Donatists, 
who  had  among  them  men  of  great  learning  and  talents,  and  who  dis- 
tinguished themselves  greatly  by  their  writings.*  But  I  pass  on  from 
this  brief  mention  of  them  to  notice  the  state  of  things  during  this  pe- 
riod in  the  Catholic  church. 

The  introduction  of  images  into  places  of  Christian  worship,  and  the 
idolatrous  practices  to  which,  in  process  of  time,  it  gave  rise,  is  an 
evil  that  dates  its  origin  soon  after  the  times  of  Constantine  the  Great; 
but,  like  many  other  superstitious  practices,  it  made  its  way  by  slow 
and  imperceptible  degrees.  The  earlier  Christians  reprobated  every 
species  of  image  worship  in  the  strongest  language  ;  and  some  of  them 
employed  the  force  of  ridicule  to  great  advantage,  in  order  to  expose  its 

*  See  Lardner's  Works,  4to.  ed.  Vol.  II.  p.  295 — 301,  and  Long's  History  of 
the  Donatists. 


Rise  of  the  Worship  of  Images.  227 

absurdity.  When  the  empress  Constantia  desired  Eusebius  to  send  her 
the  image  of  Jesus  Christ,  he  expostulated  with  her  on  the  impropriety 
and  absurdity  of  her  requisition  in  the  following  striking  words — 
— "  What  kind  of  image  of  Christ  does  your  imperial  Majesty  wish  to 
have  conveyed  to  you  ?  Is  it  the  image  of  his  real  and  immutable  na- 
ture ;  or  is  it  that  which  he  assumed  for  our  sakes,  when  he  was  veil- 
ed in  the  form  of  a  servant  ?  With  respect  to  the  former,  I  presume 
you  are  not  to  learn,  that  "  no  man  hath  known  the  Son  but  the  Fa- 
ther, neither  hath  any  man  known  the  Father  but  the  Son,  and  he  to 
whomsoever  the  Son  will  reveal  him."  But  you  ask  for  the  image  of 
Christ  when  he  appeared  in  human  form,  clothed  in  a  body  similar  to 
our  own.  Let  me  inform  you,  that  the  body  is  now  blended  with  the 
glory  of  the  Deity,  and  all  that  was  mortal  in  it  is  absorbed  in  life."* 

Paulinus,  who  died  bishop  of  Nola,  in  the  year  431,  caused  the  walls 
of  a  place  of  worship  to  be  painted  with  stories  taken  out  of  the  Old 
Testament,  that  the  people  might  thence  receive  instruction;  the  con- 
sequence of  which  was,  that  the  written  word  was  neglected  for  these 
miserable  substitutes.  But  about  the  commencement  of  the  seventh 
century,  during  the  pontificate  of  the  first  Gregory,  a  circumstance 
turned  up  which  tends  to  throw  additional  light  upon  this  subject. 
Serenus,  bishop  of  Marseilles,  in  France,  observing  some  of  his  congre- 
gation paying  worship  to  the  images  that  had  been  placed  in  the 
churches  of  that  city,  in  his  zeal,  commanded  them  to  be  broken  and 
destroyed,  which  gave  so  much  disgust,  that  many  withdrew  from  his 
communion,  and  complaints  against  him  were  made  to  the  bishop  of 
Rome.  Gregory  wrote  to  him  in  consequence  of  these  complaints ; 
and  the  following  is  an  extract  of  his  letter.  "  I  am  lately  informed," 
says  he,  "  that  upon  your  taking  notice  that  some  people  worshipped 
images,  you  ordered  the  church  pictures  to  be  broken  and  thrown 
away.  Now,  though  I  commend  you  for  your  zeal,  in  preventing  the 
adoration  of  any  thing  made  with  hands,  yet  in  my  opinion,  those  pic- 
tures should  not  have  been  broken  in  pieces.  For  the  design  of  pic- 
tures in  churches  is  to  instruct  the  illiterate,  that  people  may  read  that 
in  the  paint,  which  they  have  not  education  enough  to  do  in  the  book. 
In  my  judgment,  therefore,  brother,  you  are  obliged  to  find  out  a  tem- 
per to  let  the  pictures  stand  in  the  church,  and  likewise  to  forbid  the 
congregation  the  worship  of  them.  That  by  this  provision,  those  who 
are  not  bred  to  letters,  may  be  acquainted  with  the  scripture  history ; 
and  the  people,  on  the  other  hand,  preserved  from  the  criminal  excess 
of  worshipping  images."!  Hence,  it  appears,  that  the  worship  of 
images  was  not  a  very  general  thing  in  Gregory's  time,  and  that  he 
disapproved  of  the  practice. 

But  this  imprudent  concession,  sanctioned  by  the  authority  and  in- 
fluence of  Gregory,  was  productive  of  the  worst  consequences  that  can 
be  imagined,  and  tended  to  accelerate  the  growing  superstition  with 
amazing  velocity  throughout  the  countries  subject  to  his  pontificate. 
For  as  the  knowledge  of  God's  true  character  is  only  to  be  fully  learn- 
ed from  the  revelation  which  is  made  of  it  by  means   of  the  gospel  of 

*  White's  Bampton  Lectures,  Notes,  p.  8.  f  Ep.  Greg.  1. 1.  7.  Epist.  109. 


228  History  of  the  Christian  Church. 

Christ,  in  proportion  as  the  hearts  of  men  become  fortified  against 
that  which  alone  dispels  the  clouds  of  ignorance  and  error  from  the 
human  mind,  their  propensity  to  every  kind  of  superstition  and  idolatry 
naturally  succeeds.  This  evil,  therefore,  made  a  most  rapid  progress, 
during  the  seventh  century,  and  arrived  at  its  zenith  in  the  next.  It 
did  not,  however,  succeed  without  a  struggle ;  and  as  the  conflict  ulti- 
mately issued  in  bringing  about  two  important  events,  viz.  the  schism 
between  the  Greek  and  Roman  churches,  and  the  establishment  of  the 
pope  as  a  temporal  potentate,  I  shall  endeavour,  as  concisely  as  possi- 
ble, to  sketch  the  leading  particulars  of  this  article  of  ecclesiastical 
history. 

About  the  beginning  of  the  eighth  century,  Leo,  the  Greek  emperor, 
who  reigned  at  Constantinople,  began  openly  to  oppose  the  worship  of 
images.  One  Besor,  a  Syrian,  who  appears  to  have  been  an  officer  of 
his  court,  and  in  great  favour  with  the  emperor,  is  said  to  have  con- 
vinced him  by  his  arguments  that  the  adoration  of  images  was  idola- 
trous, and  in  this  he  was  ably  seconded  by  Constantine,  bishop  of  Na- 
colia,  in  Phrygia.  Leo,  anxious  to  propagate  truth  and  preserve  his 
subjects  from  idolatry,  assembled  the  people,  and  with  all  the  frankness 
and  sincerity  which  mark  his  character,  publicly  avowed  his  conviction 
of  the  idolatrous  nature  of  the  prevailing  practice,  and  protested  against 
the  erection  of  images.  Hitherto  no  councils  had  sanctioned  the  evil, 
and  precedents  of  antiquity  were  against  it.  But  the  Scriptures,  which 
ought  to  have  had  infinitely  more  weight  upon  the  minds  of  men  than 
either  councils  or  precedents,  had  expressly  and  pointedly  condemned 
it ;  yet,  such  deep  root  had  the  error  at  this  time  taken,  so  pleasing  was 
it  with  men  to  commute  for  the  indulgence  of  their  crimes  by  a  routine 
of  idolatrous  ceremonies ;  and,  above  all,  so  little  ear  had  they  to  be- 
stow on  what  the  word  of  God  taught,  that  the  subjects  of  Leo  murmur- 
ed against  him  as  a  tyrant  and  a  persecutor.  And  in  this  they  were 
encouraged  by  Germanus,  the  bishop  of  Constantinople,  who,  with 
equal  zeal  and  ignorance,  asserted  that  images  had  always  been  used  in 
the  church,  and  declared  his  determination  to  oppose  the  emperor ; 
which,  the  more  effectually  to  do,  he  wrote  to  Gregory  the  second, 
then  bishop  of  Rome,  respecting  the  subject,  who,  by  similar  reason- 
ings, warmly  supported  the  same  cause. 

Two  original  epistles  from  Gregory  the  second  to  the  emperor  Leo, 
are  still  extant,  and  they  merit  attention  on  account  of  the  portrait  they 
exhibit  of  the  founder  of  the  papal  monarchy.  "  During  ten  pure  and 
fortunate  years,"  says  Gregory  to  the  emperor,  "  we  have  tasted  the 
annual  comfort  of  your  royal  letters,  subscribed  in  purple  ink,  with  your 
own  hand,  the  sacred  pledges  of  your  attachment  to  the  orthodox  creed 
of  our  fathers.  How  deplorable  is  the  change!  How  tremendous  the 
scandal !  You  now  accuse  the  Catholics  of  idolatry;  and  by  the  accu- 
sation, you  betray  your  own  impiety  and  ignorance.  To  this  igno« 
ranee  we  are  compelled  to  adapt  the  grossness  of  our  style  and  argu- 
ments ;  the  first  elements  of  holy  letters  are  sufficient  for  your  confu- 
sion, and  were  you  to  enter  a  grammar-school,  and  avow  yourself  the 
enemy  of  our  worship,  the  simple  and  pious  children  would  be  pro- 
voked to  cast  their  horn-books  at  your  head."     After  this  decent  saluta- 


Letters  of  Pope  Gregory  II.  229 

tion,  the  pope  explains  to  him  the  distinction  between  the  idols  of  anti- 
quity and  the  Christian  images.  The  former  were  the  fanciful  repre- 
sentations of  phantoms  or  daemons,  at  a  time  when  the  true  God  had 
not  manifested  his  person  in  any  visible  likeness — the  latter  are  the  ge- 
nuine forms  of  Christ,  his  mother,  and  his  saints.  To  the  impudent 
and  inhuman  Leo,  more  guilty  than  a  heretic,  he  recommends  peace, 
silence,  and  implicit  obedience  to  his  spiritual  guides  of  Constantinople 
and  Rome.  "  You  assault  us,  O  tyrant,"  thus  he  proceeds,  "with  a 
carnal  and  military  hand;  unarmed  and  naked  we  can  only  implore  the 
Christ,  the  prince  of  the  heavenly  host,  that  he  will  send  unto  you  a 
devil,  for  the  destruction  of  your  body,  and  the  salvation  of  your  soul. 
You  declare,  with  foolish  arrogance,  '  I  will  despatch  my  orders  to  Rome ; 
I  will  break  in  pieces  the  images  of  St.  Peter;  and  Gregory,  like  his 
predecessor  Martin,  shall  be  transported  in  chains  and  in  exile  to  the 
foot  of  the  imperial  throne.'  Would  to  God,  that  I  might  be  permitted 
to  tread  in  the  footsteps  of  the  holy  Martin ;  but  may  the  fate  of  Con- 
stans  serve  as  a  warning  to  the  persecutors  of  the  church.  After  his 
just  condemnation  by  the  bishops  of  Sicily,  the  tyrant  was  cut  off,  in 
the  fulness  of  his  sins,  by  a  domestic  servant;  the  saint  is  still  adored 
by  the' nations  of  Scythia,  among  whom  he  ended  his  banishment  and 
his  life.  But  it  is  our  duty  to  live  for  the  edification  and  support  of  the 
faithful  people,  nor  are  we  reduced  to  risk  our  safety  on  the  event  of  a 
combat.  Incapable  as  you  are  of  defending  your  Roman  subjects,  the 
maritime  situation  of  the  city  may,  perhaps,  expose  it  to  your  depreda- 
tion ;  but  we  can  remove  to  the  distance  of  four  and  twenty  stadia,  to 

the  first  fortress  of  the  Lombards,  and  then you  may  pursue  the 

winds.  Are  you  ignorant  that  the  popes  are  the  bond  of  union  between 
the  East  and  the  West  1  The  eyes  of  the  nations  are  fixed  on  our 
humility ;  and  they  revere  as  a  God  upon  earth,  the  apostle  Saint  Pe- 
ter, whose  image  you  threaten  to  destroy.  The  remote  and  interior 
kingdoms  of  the  West  present  their  homage  to  Christ  and  his  vicege- 
rent, and  we  now  prepare  to  visit  one  of  the  most  powerful  monarchs, 
who  desires  to  receive  from  our  hands  the  sacrament  of  baptism.  The 
Barbarians  have  submitted  to  the  yoke  of  the  gospel,  while  you  alone 
are  deaf  to  the  voice  of  the  shepherd.  These  pious  Barbarians  are 
kindled  into  rage ;  they  thirst  to  avenge  the  persecution  of  the  East. 
Abandon  your  rash  and  fatal  enterprise ;  reflect,  tremble,  and  repent. 
If  you  persist,  we  are  innocent  of  the  blood  that  will  be  spilt  in  the  con- 
test; may  it  fall  on  your  own  head  !"* 

The  character  of  Leo  has  been  so  blackened  by  the  writers  of  the 
Catholic  party,  that  it  is  difficult  to  form  a  just  estimate  of  it ;  but 
when  we  consider  that  he  not  only  condemned  the  worshipping  of 
images,  but  also  rejected  relics,  and  protested  against  the  intercession 
of  saints,  we  cannot  doubt  of  his  possessing  considerable  strength  of 
mind,  while  it  may  help  us  to  account  for  much  of  the  obloquy  that 
was  cast  upon  him. 

In  the  year  730  he  issued  an  edict  against  images,  and  having  in 
vain  laboured  to  bring  over  Germanus,  the  bishop  of  Constantinople, 

*  Acts  of  the  Nicene  Council,  torn.  viii. 
20 


230  History  of  the  Christian  Church. 

to  his  views,  he  deposed  him  from  his  see,  and  put  Anastatius  in  his 
place,  who  look  part  with  the  emperor.  There  was,  in  the  palace  of 
Constantinople,  a  porch  which  contained  an  image  of  the  Saviour  on 
the  cross.  Leo,  perceiving  that  it  was  made  an  instrument  of  idolatry, 
sent  an  officer  to  remove  it.  Some  females,  who  were  then  present, 
entreated  that  it  might  remain,  but  without  effect.  The  officer  mount- 
ed a  ladder,  and  with  an  axe  struck  three  blows  on  the  face  of  the 
figure,  when  the  women  threw  him  down,  by  pulling  away  the  ladder, 
and  murdered  him  on  the  spot.  The  image,  however,  was  removed, 
and  burnt,  and  a  plain  cross  set  up  in  its  room.  The  women  then 
proceeded  to  insult  Anastatius  for  encouraging  the  profanation  of  holy 
things.  An  insurrection  ensued — and  in  order  to  quell  it,  the  emperor 
was  obliged  to  put  several  persons  to  death. 

The  news  of  this  flew  rapidly  to  Rome,  where  the  same  rage  for 
idolatry  prevailed,  and  such  was  the  indignation  excited  by  it,  that  the 
emperor's  statues  were  immediately  pulled  down,  and  trodden  under 
foot.  All  Italy  was  thrown  into  confusion  ;  attempts  were  made  to 
elect  another  emperor,  in  the  room  of  Leo,  and  the  pope  encouraged 
these  attempts.  The  Greek  writers  affirm  that  he  prohibited  the  Ita- 
lians from  paying  tribute  any  longer  to  Leo  ;  but,  in  the  midst  of  these 
broils,  while  defending  idolatry  and  exciting  rebellion  with  all  his 
might,  he  was  stopped  short  in  his  wicked  career.  "  He  was  extreme- 
ly insolent,"  says  an  impartial  writer,  "  though  he  died  with  the  char- 
acter of  a  saint."* 

He  was  succeeded  in  his  office  by  Gregory  the  III.  A.  D.  731,  who 
entered  with  great  spirit  and  energy  into  the  measures  of  his  predeces- 
sor. The  reader  cannot  but  be  amused  with  the  following  letter  which 
he  addressed  to  the  emperor,  immediately  on  his  elevation. 

"  Because  you  are  unlearned  and  ignorant,  we  are  obliged  to  write 
to  you  rude  discourses,  but  full  of  sense  and  the  word  of  God.  We 
conjure  you  to  quit  your  pride,  and  to  hear  us  with  humility.  You 
say  that  we  adore  stones,  walls,  and  boards.  It  is  not  so,  my  lord ; 
but  these  symbols  make  us  recollect  the  persons  whose  names  they 
bear,  and  exalt  our  grovelling  minds.  We  do  not  look  upon  them  as 
gods ;  but,  if  it  be  the  image  of  Jesus,  we  say,  "  Lord  help  us."  If 
it  be  the  image  of  his  mother,  we  say,  "  Pray  to  your  Son  to  save  us." 
If  it  be  of  a  martyr,  we  say,  "  St.  Stephen  pray  for  us."  We  might, 
as  having  the  power  of  St.  Peter,  pronounce  punishments  against  you  ; 
but  as  you  have  pronounced  the  curse  upon  yourself,  let  it  stick  to  you. 
You  write  to  us  to  assemble  a  general  council,  of  which  there  is  no 
need.  Do  you  cease  to  persecute  images,  and  all  will  be  quiet ;  we 
fear  not  your  threats." 

Few  readers  will  think  the  style  of  this  letter  much  calculated  to 
conciliate  the  emperor ;  and  though  it  certainly  does  not  equal  the  ar- 
rogance and  blasphemy  which  are  to  be  found  among  the  pretensions 
of  this  wretched  race  of  mortals  in  the  subsequent  period  of  their  his- 
tory, it  may  strike  some  as  exhibiting  a  tolerable  advance  towards  it. 
It  seems  to  have  shut  the  door  against  all  further  intercourse  between 

*  Walch's  Compend.  Hist,  of  the  Popes,  p.  101. 


Rise  of  the  Pope' s  temporal  power.  231 

the  parties  ;  for  in  732,  Gregory,  in  a  council,  excommunicated  all 
who  should  remove  or  speak  contemptuously  of  images ;  and  Italy, 
being  now  in  a  state  of  rebellion,  Leo  fitted  out  a  fleet  with  the  view 
of  quashing  the  refractory  conduct  of  his  subjects,  but  it  was  wrecked 
in  the  Adriatic,  and  the  object  of  the  expedition  frustrated. 

The  Roman  pontiff  now  acted  in  all  respects  like  a  temporal  prince. 
He  intrigued  with  the  court  of  France,  offering  to  withdraw  his  obedi- 
ence from  the  emperor,  and  give  the  consulship  of  Rome  to  Charles 
Martel,  the  prime  minister  of  that  court  (or  mayor  of  the  palace,  as  he 
is  generally  called)  if  he  would  take  him  under  his  protection.  But  the 
war  in  which  France  had  lately  been  engaged  with  the  Saracens  ren- 
dered it  inconvenient  at  the  moment  to  comply  with  the  request ;  and 
in  the  year  741,  the  emperor,  the  pope,  and  the  French  minister  were 
all  removed  from  the  stage  of  life,  leaving  to  their  successors  the  man- 
agement of  their  respective  views  and  contentions. 

Leo  left  behind  him  a  son,  Constantine  Copronymus,  who  inherited 
all  his  father's  zeal  against  images.  Pope  Gregory  the  III.  was  suc- 
ceeded by  Zachary,  an  aspiring  poHtician,  who,  by  fomenting  discord 
among  the  Lombards,  contrived  to  wrest  from  their  king  Luitbrand  an 
addition  to  the  patrimony  of  the  church.  And  Charles  Martel  was 
succeeded  by  his  son  Pepin,  who  sent  a  case  of  conscience  to  be  re- 
solved by  the  pope,  viz.  whether  it  would  be  just  in  him  to  depose  his 
own  sovereign,  Childeric,  and  to  reign  in  his  stead.  The  pope  an- 
swered in  the  affirmative,  in  consequence  of  which,  Pepin  threw  his 
master  into  a  monastery,  and  assumed  the  title  of  king.  Zachary,  the 
pope,  died  soon  after,  namely,  in  the  year  752,  and  was  succeeded  by 
Stephen  the  HI.  who,  in  his  zeal  for  images  was  not  inferior  to  any 
of  his  predecessors. 

Voltaire  has  remarked,  that  there  prevailed  at  that  time  a  strange 
mixture  of  policy  and  simplicity,  of  awkwardness  and  cunning,  which 
strongly  characterized  the  general  decay  of  the  age.  Stephen,  the  new 
pope,  who  had  quarrelled  with  the  king  of  the  Lombards,  forged  a  let- 
ter, purporting  to  be  the  production  of  the  apostle  Peter,  addressed  to 
Pepin  and  his  sons,  which  is  too  remarkable  to  be  here  omitted. 
"  Peter,  called  an  apostle  by  Jesus  Christ,  Son  of  the  living  God,  &c. 
As  through  me  the  whole  Catholic,  Apostolic,  and  Roman  church,  the 
mother  of  all  other  churches,  is  founded  on  a  rock;  and  to  the  end, 
that  Stephen,  bishop  of  this  beloved  church  of  Rome,  and  that  virtue 
and  power  may  be  granted  by  our  Lord  to  rescue  the  church  of  God 
out  of  the  hands  of  its  persecutors  :  to  your  most  excellent  princes, 
Pepin,  Charles,  and  Carloman,  and  to  all  the  holy  Bishops  and  Abbots, 
Priests  and  Monks,  as  also  to  Dukes,  Counts,  and  people,  I,  Peter,  the 
Apostle,  &c.  ■  I  conjure  you,  and  the  Virgin  Mary,  who  will  be 
obliged  to  you,  gives  you  notice,  and  commands  you,  as  do  also  the 
thrones,  dominations,  &c.  If  you  will  not  fight  for  me,  I  declare  to 
you,  by  the  Holy  Trinity,  and  by  my  apostleship,  that  you  shall  have 
no  share  in  heaven." 

This  letter  had  its  desired  effect :  Pepin  passed  the  Alps  with  an  ar- 
my to  assist  the  pope  against  the  Lombards.  Intimidated  by  the  pre- 
sence of  the  king  of  the  Franks,  Astolphus,  the  Lombard  king,  imme- 


232  History  of  the  Christian  Church. 

diately  relinquished  the  whole  Exarchate  of  Ravenna*  to  the  pope,  in- 
cluding that  and  twenty-one  other  cities,  who,  by  this  means,  became 
proprietor  of  the  Exarchate  and  its  dependencies  ;  and,  by  adding  ra- 
pacity to  his  rebellion,  was  established  as  a  temporal  monarch !  Thus 
was  the  sceptre  added  to  the  keys ;  the  sovereignty  to  the  priesthood ; 
and  thus  were  the  popes  enriched  with  the  spoils  of  the  Lombard 
kings  and  of  the  Roman  emperors  !  He  afterwards  took  a  journey  into 
France,  where  he  anointed  with  oil  the  king  of  the  Franks ;  and,  by 
the  authority  of  St.  Peter,  forbade  the  French  lords,  on  pain  of  ex- 
communication, to  choose  a  king  of  another  race.  Thus  did  these  two 
ambitious  men  support  one  another  in  their  schemes  of  rapacity  and 
injustice.  The  criminality  of  the  pope  was,  indeed,  greatly  aggravated 
by  the  pretence  of  religion.  "  It  is  you,"  says  he,  addressing  Pepin, 
"  whom  God  hath  chosen  from  all  eternity.  For  whom  he  did  pre- 
destinate, them  he  also  called,  and  whom  he  called,  them  he  also  justi- 
fied." 

Yet  the  question  concerning  images  was  far  from  being  put  to  rest 
either  at  Rome  or  Constantinople,  but  continued  to  agitate  the  Catho- 
lic church  for  a  length  of  time,  and  gave  occasion  to  the  assembling  of 
council  after  council,  one  council  annulling  what  the  former  had  de- 
creed. During  the  reign  of  the  emperor  Constantine  Copronymus,  a 
synjod  was  held  at  Constantinople,  to  determine  the  controversy.!  The 
fathers  being  met,  to  the  number  of  three  hundred  and  thirty,  after 
considering  the  doctrine  of  scripture,  and  the  opinions  of  the  fathers, 
decreed,  "  That  every  image,  of  whatsoever  materials  made  and  form- 
ed by  the  artist,  should  be  cast  out  of  the  Christian  church  as  a  strange 
and  abominable  thing,"  adding  an  "anathema  upon  all  who  should 
make  imao-es  or  pictures,  or  representations  of  God,  or  of  Christ,  or  of 
the  Virgin  Mary,  or  of  any  of  the  saints,"  condemning  it  as  "  a  vain 
and  diabolical  invention" — deposing  all  bishops,  and  subjecting  the 
monks  and  laity,  who  should  set  up  any  of  them  in  public  or  private, 
to  all  the  penalties  of  the  imperial  constitution.^  Paul  I.  who  was  at 
that  time  pope  of  Rome,  sent  his  legate  to  Constantinople,  to  admo- 
nish the  emperor  to  restore  the  sacred  images  and  statues  to  the 
churches,  threatening  him  with  excommunication  in  case  of  refusal. 
But  Copronymus  treated  his  message  with  the  contempt  it  deserved. 

On  the  decease  of  Paul  I,  A.  D.  768,  the  papal  chair  was  filled  for 
one  year  by  a  person  of  the  name  of  Constantine,  who  condemned  the 
worship  of  images,  and  was  therefore  tumultuously  deposed  ;  and  Ste- 

*  The  Exarch  was  the  chief  imperial  officer  appointed  by  the  emperor  of 
Constantinople  for  near  two  centuries  past,  to  superintend  as  a  vicar  or  prefect, 
the  affairs  of  Italy.  Ravenna  was  his  residence  and  the  seat  of  government;  and 
Loric,  the  territory  attached  to  him,  was  called  the  Exarchate  of  Ravenna. 

■)-  It  was  at  this  time  the  prevailing  fashion  in  the  Catholic  church  to  dignifV 
the  Virgin  Mary  with  the  title  of  "  Mother  of  God."  The  emperor  one  day  said 
to  the  patriarch  of  Constantinople,  "  What  harm  would  there  be  in  terming  the 
Virgin  Mary  Mother  of  Christ  ?"  "God  preserve  you,"  answered  the  patriarch, 
"  from  entertaining  such  a  thought.  Do  you  not  see  how  Nestorius  is  anathe- 
matized by  the  whole  church  for  using  similar  language  ?" — "I  only  asked  for 
my  own  information,"  said  the  emperor  ;   "  let  it  go  no  further." 

$  Platina's  Lives  of  the  Popes — Life  of  Paul  I. 


Contest  respecting  Image  Worship.  233 

phen  the  IV.  substituted  in  his  room,  who  was  a  furious  defender  of 
them.  He  immediately  assembled  a  council  in  the  Lateran  church, 
where  the  renowned  fathers  abrogated  all  Constantine's  decrees,  de- 
posed all  the  bishops  that  had  been  ordained  by  him,  annulled  all  his 
baptisms  and  chrisms,  and,  as  some  historians  relate,  after  having  beat 
and  used  him  with  great  indignity,  made  a  fire  in  the  church  and  burnt 
him  to  death.  After  this,  they  annulled  all  the  decrees  of  the  synod  of 
Constantinople,  ordered  the  restoration  of  statues  and  images,  and 
anathematized  that  execrable  and  pernicious  synod,  giving  this  curious 
reason  for  the  use  of  images — "  that  if  it  was  lawful  for  emperors,  and 
those  who  had  deserved  well  of  their  country,  to  have  their  images 
erected,  but  not  lawful  to  set  up  those  of  God,  the  condition  of  the  im- 
mortal God  would  be  worse  than  that  of  man."* 

Thus  the  mystery  of  iniquity  continued  to  work,  until  at  length,  un- 
der the  reign  of  Irene,  the  empress  of  Constantinople,  and  her  son 
Constantine,  about  the  close  of  this  century,  was  convened,  what  is 
termed  the  seventh  general  council.  It  was  held  at  Nice,  and  the  num- 
ber of  bishops  present  was  about  three  hundred  and  fifty.  In  this  ve- 
nerable assembly  it  was  decreed,  "  that  holy  images  of  the  cross  should 
be  consecrated,  and  put  on  the  sacred  vessels  and  vestments,  and  upon 
walls  and  boards,  in  private  houses,  and  in  public  ways.  And  espe- 
cially that  there  should  be  erected  images  of  the  Lord  God,  our  Sa- 
viour Jesus  Christ,  of  our  blessed  Lady,  the  mother  of  God,  of  the 
venerable  angels,  and  of  all  the  saints.  And  that  whoever  should 
presume  to  think  or  teach  otherwise,  or  to  throw  away  any  painted 
books,  or  the  figure  of  the  cross,  or  any  image  or  picture,  or  any 
genuine  relics  of  the  martyrs,  they  should,  if  bishops  or  clergymen,  be 
deposed,  or  if  monks  or  laymen  be  excommunicated."  They  then 
pronounced  anathemas  upon  all  who  should  not  receive  images,  or  who 
should  apply  what  the  scriptures  say  against  idols  to  the  holy  images, 
or  who  should  call  them  idols,  or  who  should  wilfully  communicate 
with  those  who  rejected  and  despised  them  ;  adding,  according  to  cus- 
tom, "Long  live  Constantine  and  Irene  his  mother — Damnation  to  all 
heretics — Damnation  on  the  council  that  roared  against  venerable 
images — The  holy  Trinity  hath  deposed  them."t  One  would  think 
the  council  of  Pandemonium  would  have  found  it  difficult  to  carry  im- 
piety and  profaneness  much  beyond  this. 

Irene  and  Constantine  approved  and  ratified  these  decrees — the  result 
of  which  was,  that  idols  and  images  were  erected  in  all  the  churches, 
and  those  who  opposed  them  were  treated  with  great  severity.  And 
thus,  by  the  intrigues  of  the  popes  of  Rome,  iniquity  was  established 
by  a  law,  and  the  worship  of  idols  authorized  and  confirmed  in  the  Ca- 
tholic church,  though  in  express  opposition  to  all  the  principles  of  na- 
tural religion,  and  the  nature  and  design  of  the  Christian  revelation. 

But  it  is  time  for  us  to  return  and  take  some  notice  of  another  impor- 
tant branch  of  ecclesiastical  history,  which  belongs  to  the  period  of  the 

*  Platina — Life  of  Stephen. 

+  Platina — Life  of  Hadrian  I. 

-     20* 


234  History  of  the  Christian  Church. 

seventh  and  eighth  centuries,  viz.  the  rise  of  the  Mahomedan  impos- 
ture.* 

Mahomet  was  born  in  the  year  569  or  570,  at  Mecca,  a  city  in  Ara- 
bia Felix.  He  was  descended  from  the  tribe  of  Koreish,  and  the  fa- 
mily of  Hashem,  the  most  illustrious  of  the  Arabs,  the  princes  of  Mec- 
ca, and  the  hereditary  guardians  of  their  code  of  religious  institutions. 
In  his  early  infancy  he  was  deprived  of  his  father,  his  mother,  and  his 
grandfather  ;  but  his  uncles  were  numerous  and  powerful,  and  in  the 
division  of  the  inheritance,  the  orphan's  share  was  reduced  to  five  ca- 
mels and  an  Ethiopian  female  slave.  At  home  and  abroad,  in  peace 
and  war,  Abu-Taleb,  the  most  respectable  of  his  uncles,  was  the  guide 
and  guardian  of  his  youth.  In  his  twenty-fifth  year,  he  entered  into 
the  service  of  Cadijah,  a  rich  and  noble  widow  of  Mecca,  who  soon 
rewarded  his  fidelity  with  the  gift  of  her  hand  and  fortune.  By  this 
alliance  he  was  raised  from  a  humble  sphere  in  life  to  the  station  of 
his  ancestors  ;  and  the  lady  who  had  thus  elevated  him,  was  content 
with  his  domestic  virtues,  till,  in  the  fortieth  year  of  his  age,  he  assum- 
ed the  title  of  a  prophet,  and  proclaimed  the  religion  of  the  Koran. 

According  to  the  tradition  of  his  companions,  Mahomet  was  distin- 
guished by  the  beauty  of  his  person.  Before  he  spoke,  the  orator  en- 
gaged on  his  side  the  affections  of  his  audience,  who  applauded  his 
commanding  presence,  his  majestic  aspect,  his  piercing  eye,  his  gra- 
cious smile,  his  flowing  beard,  his  countenance  that  painted  every  sen- 
sation of  the  soul,  and  his  gestures  that  enforced  each  expression  of 
the  tongue.  In  the  familiar  offices  of  life,  he  scrupulously  adhered  to 
the  grave  and  ceremonious  politeness  of  his  country  ;  his  respectful  at- 
tention to  the  rich  and  powerful  was  dignified  by  his  condescension 
and  affability  to  the  poorest  citizens  of  Mecca.  His  memory  was  ca- 
pacious and  retentive,  his  wit  easy  and  social,  his  imagination  sublime, 
his  judgment  clear,  rapid,  and  decisive.  With  all  these  advantages, 
Mahomet  was  an  illiterate  barbarian ;  his  youth  had  never  been  in- 
structed in  the  arts  of  reading  and  writing ;  the  common  ignorance  ex- 
empted him  from  shame  or  reproach,  but  he  was  reduced  to  a  narrow 
circle  of  existence,  and  deprived  of  those  faithful  mirrors  which  reflect 
to  our  mind  the  minds  of  sages  and  heroes.  Yet  the  volume  of  nature 
and  of  man  was  open  to  his  view.  When  only  thirteen  years  of  age, 
he  twice  accompanied  his  uncle's  caravan  into  Syria,  to  attend  the  fairs 
of  Bostra  and  Damascus,  but  his  duty  obliged  him  to  return  home  as 
soon  as  he  had  disposed  of  the  merchandize  with  which  he  was  en- 
trusted. From  his  earliest  youth,  Mahomet  was  addicted  to  religious 
contemplation  ;  and  every  year  during  the  month  of  Ramadan,  he 
withdrew  from  the  world  and  from  the  society  of  his  wife,  to  the  cave 
of  Heva,  three  miles  from  Mecca,  where  he  consulted  the  spirit  of 
fraud  or  enthusiasm,   and  where  he  at  length  matured  the  faith  which, 

*  The  story  of  this  extraordinary  man,  the  pretended  Arabian  prophet,  has 
been  written  by  the  author  of  the  "  Decline  and  Fall  of  the  Roman  Empire," 
with  all  that  felicity  of  diction,  for  which  he  stands  unrivalled  ;  but  at  much  too 
great  a  length  to  be  introduced  into  this  sketch.  I  have  endeavoured  to  seize 
the  more  prominent  features  of  the  portrait. 


Principles  of  Mahomet.  235 

under  the  name  of  Islam,  he  at  last  preached  to  his  family  and  nation ; 
a  faith  compounded  of  an  eternal  truth  and  a  necessary  fiction — That 

THERE  IS  ONLY  ONE  GoD,  AND  THAT  MAHOMET  IS  HIS  APOSTLE. 

Such  are  the  first  principles  of  the  religion  of  Mahomet,  which  are 
illustrated,  and  enlarged  upon  with  numerous  additional  articles  in  the 
Koran,  or,  as  it  is  sometimes  termed,  the  Alcoran.  The  prophet  of 
Mecca  rejected  the  worship  of  idols  and  men,  of  stars  and  planets,  on 
the  rational  principle,  that  whatever  rises  must  set ;  that  whatever  is 
born  must  die ;  that  whatever  is  corruptible  must  decay  and  perish. 
According  to  his  own  account,  or  the  tradition  of  his  disciples,  "  the 
substance  of  the  Koran  is  uncreated  and  eternal  ;  subsisting  in  the  es- 
sence of  the  Deity,  and  inscribed  with  a  pen  of  light  on  the  table  of  his 
everlasting  decrees.  A  paper  copy,  in  a  volume  of  silk  and  gems,  was 
brought  down  to  the  lowest  heaven  by  the  angel  Gabriel — who  suc- 
cessively revealed  the  chapters  and  verses  to  the  Arabian  prophet.  In- 
stead of  a  perpetual  and  perfect  measure  of  the  divine  will,  the  frag- 
ments of  the  Koran  were  produced  at  the  discretion  of  Mahomet ;  each 
revelation  is  suited  to  the  emergency  of  his  policy  or  passion,  and  all 
contradiction  is  removed  by  the  saving  maxim,  that  any  text  of  the 
Alcoran  is  abrogated  or  modified  by  any  subsequent  passage. 

In  the  spirit  of  enthusiasm  or  of  vanity,  the  prophet  rests  the  truth 
of  his  mission  on  the  merit  of  his  book ;  audaciously  challenges  both 
men  and  angels  to  imitate  the  beauties  of  a  single  page ;  and  presumes 
to  assert  that  God  alone  could  dictate  this  incomparable  performance. 
Yet  his  loftiest  strains  must  yield  to  the  sublime  simplicity  of  the  book 
of  Job,  composed  in  a  remote  age  in  the  same  country,  and  in  the 
same  language.*  The  contents  of  the  Koran  were  at  first  diligently 
recorded  by  his  disciples  on  palm  leaves  and  the  shoulder  bones  of 
mutton;  and  the  pages,  without  order  or  connection,  were  cast  into  a 
chest  in  the  custody  of  one  of  his  wives.  Two  years  after  the  death 
of  Mahomet,  the  sacred  volume  was  collected  and  published  by  his 
friend  and  successor  Abubeker.  At  the  end  of  two  hundred  years,  the 
Sonna,  or  oral  law  was  fixed  and  consecrated  by  the  labours  of  Al 
Boeheri,  who  distinguished  seven  thousand  two  hundred  and  seventy- 
five  genuine  traditions,  from  a  mass  of  three  hundred  thousand  reports 
of  a  more  doubtful  or  spurious  character  !* 

According  to  the  Koran,  some  rays  of  prophetic  light,  commencing 
with  the  fall  of  Adam,  and  extending  in  one  unbroken  chain  of  inspi- 
ration to  the  days  of  Mahomet,  had  been  imparted  to  one  hundred  and 
twenty-four  thousand  of  the  elect,  discriminated  by  their  respective  mea- 
sure of  virtue  and  grace — three  hundred  and  thirteen  apostles  were  sent 
with  a  special  commission  to  recal  their  country  from  idolatry  and  vice 
— one  hundred  and  four  volumes  had  been  dictated  by  the  Holy  Spirit, 
and  six  legislators  of  transcendant  brightness  have  announced  to  man- 

•  I  am  aware  that  this  subject  has  been  much  disputed  among-  the  learned; 
but  the  reader  who  wishes  to  see  it  critically  examined  will  find  it  done  by  the 
learned  and  judicious  Bishop  Lowth,  in  his  Lectures  on  the  Hebrew  Poetry.  See 
Lect.  32,  33,  34. — See  also  the  Biblical  Cyclopedia,  Article  Job — and 
Clarke's  Succession  of  Sacred  Literature,  vol.  i.  p.  13 — 15.  Also  Du  Pin  on  the 
Canon;  and  the  Notes  of  Michaelis  on  Lowth's  Lectures. 


236  History  of  the  Christian  Church. 

kind  the  six  successive  revelations  of  various  rites,  but  of  one  immu- 
table religion.  The  authority  and  station  of  Adam,  Noah,  Abraham, 
Moses,  Christ,  and  Mahomet,  rise  in  just  gradation  above  each  other  ; 
but  whosoever  hates  or  rejects  any  one  of  the  prophets  is  numbered 
with  the  infidels.  For  the  author  of  Christianity,  the  Mahometans  are 
taught  by  tlie  prophet  to  entertain  a  high  and  mysterious  reverence. 
"  Verily,  Christ  Jesus,  the  Son  of  Mary,  is  the  apostle  of  God,  and 
his  word,  which  he  conveyed  into  Mary,  and  a  spirit  proceeding  from 
him,  honourable  in  this  world,  and  in  the  world  to  come  ;  and  one  of 
those  who  approach  near  to  the  presence  of  God."  Yet,  he  teaches 
that  Jesus  was  a  mere  mortal,  and  that  at  the  day  of  judgment,  his  tes- 
timony will  serve  to  condemn  both  the  Jews,  who  reject  him  as  a  pro- 
phet, and  the  Christians  who  adore  him  as  the  Son  of  God.  The  ma- 
lice of  his  enemies,  we  are  told,  aspersed  his  reputation,  and  conspired 
against  his  life  ;  but  their  intention  only  was  guilty ;  a  phantom,  or  a 
criminal  was  substituted  on  the  cross,  and  the  innocent  saint  was  trans- 
lated to  the  seventh  heaven.  During  six  hundred  years,  the  gospel 
was  the  way  of  truth  and  salvation;  but  the  Christians  insensibly  for- 
got both  the  laws  and  example  of  their  founder,  and  Mahomet  was  in- 
structed to  accuse  the  church  as  well  as  the  synagogue,  of  corrupting 
the  integrity  of  the  sacred  text.  The  piety  of  Moses  and  of  Christ  re- 
joiced in  the  assurance  of  the  future  prophet,  more  illustrious  than 
themselves,  and  the  promise  of  "  the  Comforter"  was  prefigured  in 
the  name,  and  accomplished  in  the  person  of  Mahomet,  the  greatest 
and  last  of  the  apostles  of  God. 

The  mission  of  the  ancient  prophets,  of  Moses  and  of  Christ,  had 
been  confirmed  by  many  splendid  prodigies,  and  Mahomet  was  repeat- 
edly urged  by  the  inhabitants  of  Mecca  and  Medina,  to  produce  a  simi- 
lar evidence  of  his  divine  mission  :  to  call  down  from  heaven  the  angel, 
or  the  volume  of  his  revelation,  to  create  a  garden  in  the  desert,  or  to 
kindle  a  conflagration  in  the  unbelieving  city.  But  as  often  as  he  is 
pressed  upon  this  subject,  he  involves  himself  in  the  obscure  boast  of 
vision  and  prophecy,  appeals  to  the  internal  proofs  of  his  doctrine,  and 
shields  himself  behind  the  providence  of  God,  who  refuses  those  signs 
and  wonders  that  would  depreciate  the  merit  of  faith,  and  aggravate  the 
guilt  of  infidelity.  But  the  very  tone  of  his  apologies  betrays  his 
weakness  and  vexation,  while  the  numerous  passages  of  scandal  are 
more  than  sufficient  to  settle  the  question  respecting  the  integrity  of 
the  Koran.  The  votaries  of  Mahomet  are  more  confident  than  he 
himself  was  of  his  miraculous  gifts,  and  their  credulity  increased  as 
they  were  removed  from  the  time  and  place  of  his  exploits.  They 
believe,  or  affirm,  that  trees  went  forth  to  meet  him;  that  he  was  salu- 
ted by  stones  ;  that  water  gushed  from  his  fingers,  that  he  fed  the 
hungry,  cured  the  sick,  and  raised  the  dead ;  that  a  beam  groaned  to 
him  ;  and  that  a  camel  complained  to  him  ;  that  a  shoulder  of  mutton 
informed  him  of  its  being  poisoned ;  and  that  both  animate  and  inani- 
mate nature  were  alike  subject  to  this  apostle  of  God.  His  dream  of 
a  nocturnal  journey  is  seriously  described  as  a  real  and  corporeal 
transaction — a  mysterious  animal,  the  Borak,  conveyed  him  from  the 
temple  of  Mecca  to  that  of  Jerusalem  ;  with  his  companion  Gabriel, 


Religious  duties  of  a  Mussulman.  237 

he  successively  ascended  to  the  seven  heavens,  where  he  both  received 
and  repaid  the  salutations  of  the  patriarchs,  the  prophets,  and  the  an- 
gels, in  their  respective  mansions.  Beyond  the  seventh  heaven, 
Mahomet  alone  was  permitted  to  proceed;  he  passed  the  Veil  of 
Unity,  approached  within  two  bow-shots  of  the  throne  ;  and  felt  a  cold 
that  pierced  him  to  the  heart,  when  his  shoulder  was  touched  by  the 
hand  of  God.  After  this  familiar  though  important  conversation,  he 
again  descended  to  Jerusalem,  remounted  the  Borak,  returned  to 
Mecca,  and  performed  in  the  tenth  part  of  a  night,  the  journey  of 
many  thousand  years.  Such  are  the  marvellous  tales  with  which  the 
vulgar  are  amused. 

Prayer,  fasting,  and  alms,  are  the  religious  duties  of  a  Mahometan ; 
and  he  is  encouraged  to  hope  that  prayer  will  carry  him  half  way  to 
God — fasting  will  bring  him  to  the  door  of  his  palace — and  alms  will 
gain  him  admittance.  During  the  month  of  Ramadan,  from  the  rising 
to  the  setting  of  the  sun,  the  Mussulman  abstains  from  eating  and  drink- 
ing and  women  and  baths  and  perfumes  ;  from  all  nourishment  that 
can  restore  his  strength ;  from  all  pleasure  that  can  gratify  his  senses. 
In  the  revolution  of  the  lunar  year,  the  month  Ramadan  coincides  by 
turns  with  the  winter  cold  and  with  the  summer  heat ;  but  the  patient 
martyr,  without  assuaging  his  thirst  with  a  drop  of  water,  must  wait 
for  the  close  of  a  tedious  and  sultry  day.  The  interdiction  of  wine  is 
converted  by  Mahomet  into  a  positive  and  general  law  ;  but  these  pain- 
ful restraints  are  often  infringed  by  the  libertine,  and  eluded  by  the 
hypocrite. 

The  Koran  acknowledges  the  doctrine  of  a  resurrection  from  the 
dead  and  the  future  judgment.  At  the  blast  of  the  trumpet,  new  worlds 
will  start  into  being ;  angels,  genii,  and  men,  will  arise  from  the  dead, 
the  human  soul  will  again  be  united  to  the  body  ;  and  this  will  be  suc- 
ceeded by  the  final  judgment  of  mankind.  After  the  greater  part  of 
mankind  has  been  condemned  for  their  opinions,  the  true  believers  only 
will  be  judged  by  their  actions.  The  good  and  evil  of  each  Mussul- 
man will  be  accurately  weighed  in  a  balance,  and  a  singular  mode  of 
compensation  will  be  allowed  for  the  payment  of  injuries ;  the  aggres- 
sor will  refund  an  equivalent  of  his  good  actions,  for  the  benefit  of  the 
person  he  has  wronged,  and  if  he  should  be  destitute  of  any  moral  pro- 
perty, the  weight  of  his  sins  will  be  loaded  with  an  adequate  share  of 
the  demerits  of  the  sufferer.  According  as  the  shares  of  guilt  or  vir- 
tue shall  preponderate,  the  sentence  will  be  pronounced,  and  all,  with- 
out distinction,  will  pass  over  the  sharp  and  perilous  bridge  of  the 
abyss  ;  but  the  innocent,  treading  in  the  footsteps  of  Mahomet,  will 
gloriously  enter  the  gates  of  Paradise,  while  the  guilty  will  fall  into 
the  first  and  mildest  of  the  seven  hells.  The  term  of  expiation  will 
vary  from  nine  hundred  to  seven  thousand  years ;  but  the  prophet  has 
judiciously  promised  that  all  his  disciples,  whatever  may  be  their  sins, 
shall  be  saved,  by  their  own  faith  and  his  intercession  from  eternal 
damnation. 

It  is  natural  enough  that  an  Arabian  prophet  should  dwell  with  rap- 
ture on  the  groves,  the  fountains,  and  the  rivers  of  Paradise ;  but  in- 
stead of  inspiring  the  blessed  inhabitants  with  a  liberal  taste  for  har- 


238  History  of  the  Christian  Church. 

mony  and  science,  conversation  and  friendship,  he  idly  celebrates  the 
pearls  and  diamonds,  the  robes  of  silk,  palaces  of  marble,  dishes  of 
gold,  rich  wines,  artificial  dainties,  numerous  attendants,  and  the  whole 
train  of  sensual  and  costly  luxury,  which  becomes  insipid  to  the  owner, 
even  in  the  short  period  of  this  mortal  life.  Seventy-two  Houris,  or 
black-eyed  damsels,  of  resplendent  beauty,  blooming  youth,  virgin 
purity,  and  exquisite  sensibility,  will  be  created  for  the  use  of  the 
meanest  believer;  a  moment  of  pleasure  will  be  prolonged  to  a  thou- 
sand years,  and  his  faculties  will  be  increased  a  hundred-fold  to  render 
him  worthy  of  his  felicity. 

Such  are  the  outlines  of  the  religion  of  Mahomet,  which  he  began 
to  preach  at  Mecca,  in  the  year  609.  His  first  converts  were  his  wife, 
his  servant,  his  pupil,  and  his  friend.  In  process  of  time,  ten  of  the 
most  respectable  citizens  of  Mecca  were  introduced  to  the  private  les- 
sons of  the  prophet;  they  yielded  to  the  voice  of  enthusiasm  and  re- 
peated the  fundamental  creed. — "  There  is  but  one  God,  and  Mahomet 
is  his  apostle."  Their  faith,  even  in  this  life,  was  rewarded  with 
riches  and  honours,  with  the  command  of  armies  and  the  government 
of  kingdoms  !  Three  years  were  silently  employed  in  the  conversion 
of  fourteen  proselytes,  the  first  fruits  of  his  mission.  But  in  the  fourth 
he  assumed  the  prophetic  office,  and  resolving  to  impart  to  his  family 
the  benefits  of  his  religion,  he  prepared  a  banquet  for  the  entertainment 
of  forty  guests  of  the  race  of  Hashem.  "  Friends  and  kinsmen,"  said 
Mahomet  to  the  assembly,  "  I  offer  you,  and  I  alone  can  offer,  the 
most  precious  of  gifts,  the  treasures  of  this  world  and  of  the  world  to 
come.  God  has  commanded  me  to  call  you  to  his  service.  Who 
among  you  will  support  my  burden  ?  Who  among  you  will  be  my  com- 
panion and  my  vizir  ?"  No  answer  was  returned,  till  the  silence  of 
astonishment,  and  doubt,  and  contempt,  was  at  length  broken  by  the 
impatient  courage  of  Ali,  a  youth  in  the  fourteenth  year  of  his  age. 
"  O  prophet,  I  am  the  man  ;  whosoever  rises  against  thee,  I  will  dash 
out  his  teeth,  tear  out  his  eyes,  break  his  legs,  rip  up  his  belly.  O 
prophet,  I  will  be  thy  vizir  over  them.''  Mahomet  accepted  his  offer 
with  transport.  His  uncle  Abu-Taleb,  advised  the  prophet  to  relin- 
quish his  impracticable  design.  "  Spare  your  remonstrances,"  replied 
the  fanatic,  to  his  uncle  and  benefactor,  "  if  they  should  place  the  sun 
on  my  right  hand  and  the  moon  on  my  left,  they  should  not  divert  me 
from  my  course."  He  persevered  ten  years  in  the  exercise  of  his 
mission,  during  which  time  the  religion  that  has  since  overspread  the 
East  and  the  West  advanced  with  a  slow  and  painful  progress  within 
the  walls  of  Mecca. 

In  his  uncle  Abu-Taleb,  though  no  believer  in  his  mission,  the  im- 
poster  found  a  guardian  of  his  fame  and  person,  during  the  life  of  that 
venerable  chief;  but  at  his  death,  which  took  place  in  the  year  622, 
Mahomet  was  abandoned  to  the  power  of  his  enemies,  and  that  too  at 
the  moment  when  he  was  deprived  of  his  domestic  comforts  by  the  loss 
of  his  faithful  and  generous  wife  Cadijah.  The  tribe  of  the  Koreishites 
and  their  allies  were,  of  all  the  citizens  of  Mecca,  the  most  hostile  to 
his  pretensions.  His  death  was  resolved  upon,  and  it  was  agreed  that 
a  sword  from  each  tribe  should  be  buried  in  his  heart,  to  divide  the 


Mahomet  a  martial  Apostle.  239 

guilt  of  his  blood,  and  to  baffle  the  vengeance  of  his  disciples.  An  an- 
gel or  a  spy  revealed  their  conspiracy,  and  flight  was  the  only  resource 
of  Mahomet.  At  the  dead  of  night,  'accompanied  by  his  friend  Abube- 
ker,  he  silently  escaped  from  his  house — three  days  they  were  con- 
cealed in  the  cave  of  Thor,  three  miles  from  Mecca,  and  in  the  close 
of  each  evening  they  received  from  the  son  and  daughter  of  Abubeker  a 
supply  of  intelligence  and  food.  The  most  diligent  search  was  made 
after  him  ;  every  haunt  in  the  neighbourhood  was  explored ;  his  adver- 
saries even  arrived  at  the  entrance  of  the  cave,  but  the  sight  of  a  spider's 
web,  and  a  pigeon's  nest  are  supposed  to  have  convinced  them  that  the 
place  was  solitary  and  inviolate.  "  We  are  only  two,"  said  the  trembling 
Abubeker.  "There  is  a  third,"  replied  the  prophet,  "it  is  God  him- 
self." No  sooner  was  the  pursuit  abated,  than  the  two  fugitives  issued 
from  the  den,  and  mounted  their  camels  :  on  the  road  to  Medina  they 
were  overtaken  by  the  emissaries  of  the  Koreish ;  but  they  redeemed 
themselves  with  prayers  and  promises  from  their  hands.  In  this  event- 
ful moment  the  lance  of  an  Arab  might  have  changed  the  history  of  the 
world. 

The  religion  of  the  Koran  might  have  perished  in  its  cradle,  had  not 
Medina  embraced  with  faith  and  reverence  the  outcasts  of  Mecca.  But 
some  of  its  noblest  citizens  were  converted  by  the  preaching  of  Ma- 
homet. Seventy-three  men  and  two  women  of  Medina  held  a  solemn 
conference  with  Mahomet,  his  kinsmen  and  his  disciples,  and  pledged 
themselves  to  each  other  by  a  mutual  oath  of  fidelity.  They  promised, 
in  the  name  of  the  city,  that  if  he  should  be  banished,  they  would  re- 
ceive him  as  a  confederate,  obey  him  as  a  leader,  and  defend  him  to  the 
last  extremity.  "But  if  you  are  recalled  by  your  country,"  said  they, 
"will  you  not  abandon  your  new  allies?"  "All  things,"  replied  Ma- 
homet, "  are  now  common  between  us ;  your  blood  is  as  my  blood ;  your 
ruin  as  my  ruin.  We  are  bound  to  each  other  by  the  ties  of  honour 
and  interest.  I  am  your  friend  and  the  enemy  of  your  foes."  "  But 
if  we  are  killed  in  your  service,"  said  they,  "  what  will  be  our  reward?" 
"Paradise,"  replied  the  prophet.  "Stretch  forth  thy  hand."  He 
stretched  it  forth,  and  they  reiterated  the  oath  of  allegiance  and  fidelity. 

From  his  establishment  at  Medina,  Mahomet  assumed  the  exercise 
of  the  regal  and  sacerdotal  office.  On  a  chosen  spot  of  ground  he  built 
a  house  and  a  mosque,  venerable  for  their  rude  simplicity.  When  he 
prayed  and  preached  in  the  weekly  assembly,  he  leaned  against  the 
trunk  of  a  palm-tree  ;  and  it  was  long  before  he  indulged  himself  in  the 
use  of  a  chair  or  pulpit.  After  a  reign  of  six  years,  fifteen  hundred  of 
his  followers,  in  arms,  and  in  the  field,  renewed  their  oath  of  allegiance, 
and  their  chief  repeated  the  assurance  of  his  protection. 

From  this  time  Mahomet  became  a  martial  apostle — he  fought  in  per- 
son at  nine  battles  or  sieges,  and  fifty  enterprises  of  war  were  achieved 
in  ten  years  by  himself  or  his  lieutenants.  He  continued  to  unite  the 
professions  of  merchant  and  a  robber,  and  his  petty  excursions  for  the 
defence  or  the  attack  of  a  caravan  insensibly  prepared  his  troops  for  the 
conquest  of  Arabia.  The  distribution  of  the  spoil  was  regulated  by  the 
law  of  the  prophet ;  the  whole  was  collected  in  one  common  mass  ;  a 
filth  of  the  gold  and  silver,  the  cattle,  prisoners,  &c.  was  reserved  for 


240  History  of  the  Christian  Church. 

pious  and  charitable  uses  ;  the  remainder  was  shared  in  adequate  por- 
tions by  the  soldiers.  From  all  sides  the  roving  Arabs  were  allured  to 
the  standard  of  religion  and  plunder  ;  the  apostle  sanctified  the  license 
of  embracing  the  female  captives  as  their  wives  or  concubines,  and  the 
enjoyment  of  wealth  and  beauty  was  the  type  of  their  promised  para- 
dise. "The  sword,"  says  Mahomet,  "is  the  key  of  heaven  and  hell: 
a  drop  of  blood  shed  in  the  cause  of  God,  a  night  spent  in  arms,  is  of 
more  avail  than  two  months  of  fasting  and  prayer  ;  whoever  falls  in 
battle,  his  sins  are  forgiven ;  at  the  day  of  judgment  his  wounds  shall 
be  resplendent  as  vermilion,  and  odoriferous  as  musk ;  and  the  loss  of 
his  limbs  shall  be  supplied  by  the  wings  of  angels  and  cherubims." 

Till  the  age  of  sixty-three,  the  strength  of  Mahomet  was  equal  to  the 
fatigues  of  his  station.  He  had,  by  that  time  made  an  entire  conquest 
of  Arabia,  and  evinced  a  disposition  to  turn  his  arms  against  the  Ro- 
man empire  ;  but  his  followers  were  discouraged.  They  alleged  the 
want  of  money,  or  horses,  or  provisions  ;  the  season  of  harvest,  and  the 
intolerable  heat  of  the  summer.  "Hell  is  much  hotter,"  said  the  in- 
dignant prophet ;  but  he  disdained  to  compel  their  service.  He  was 
then  at  the  head  of  ten  thousand  horse  and  twenty  thousand  foot,  in  the 
way  that  leads  from  Medina  to  Damascus,  intent  upon  the  conquest  of 
Syria,  when  he  was  stopped  short  in  his  career,  having  been  poison- 
ed, as  he  himself  seriously  believed,  at  Chaibar,  in  revenge  by  a  Jew- 
ish female.  Its  fatal  effect,  however,  was  not  immediate,  for  during 
four  years  the  health  of  Mahomet  declined ;  his  infirmities  increased, 
and  he  was  at  last  carried  off  by  a  fever  of  fourteen  days  continuance, 
which,  at  intervals,  deprived  him  of  the  use  of  his  reason,  and  he  died 
in  the  year  632.  His  death  occasioned  the  utmost  consternation 
among  his  followers.  The  city  of  Medina,  and  especially  the  house 
of  the  prophet,  was  a  scene  of  clamorous  sorrow,  or  of  silent  despair. 
"How  can  he  be  dead?"  exclaimed  his  deluded  votaries,  "our  wit- 
ness, our  intercessor,  our  mediator  with  God.  He  is  not  dead.  Like 
Moses  and  Jesus,  he  is  wrapt  in  a  holy  trance,  and  speedily  will  he 
return  to  his  faithful  people."  The  evidence  of  sense  was  disregarded, 
and  Omar,  unsheathing  his  scimitar,  threatened  to  strike  off  the  heads 
of  the  infidels  who  should  dare  to  affirm  that  the  prophet  was  no  more. 
But  this  tumult  was  appeased^by  the  weight  and  moderation  of  Abube- 
ker.  "Is  it  Mahomet,"  said  he  to  Omar  and  the  multitude,  "or  the 
God  of  Mahomet  whom  you  worship?  The  God  of  Mahomet  liveth 
for  ever,  but  the  apostle  was  a  mortal  like  ourselves,  and,  according  to 
his  own  prediction,  he  has  experienced  the  common  fate  of  mortality." 
He  was  piously  interred  by  the  hands  of  his  nearest  kinsman,  on  the 
same  spot  on  which  he  expired.  Medina  has  been  rendered  famous  by 
the  death  and  burial  of  Mahomet,  and  the  innumerable  pilgrims  of 
Mecca  often  turn  aside  from  the  way  to  bow  in  voluntary  devotion,  be- 
fore the  simple  tomb  of  the  prophet.  Having  thus  briefly  glanced  at 
the  rise  and  progress  of  Mahometanism,  I  quit  the  subject,  to  notice 
the  state  of  the  Catholic  Church. 


Ignorance  of  the  Catholic  clergy.  241 

The  emperors  of  Rome  and  Constantinople,  who  professed  Chris- 
tianity, had  now  been  lavishing  on  the  clergy  riches,  immunities,  and 
privileges,  during  three  succeeding  centuries  ;  and  these  seducing  ad- 
vantages had  contributed  to  a  relaxation  of  discipline,  and  the  introduc- 
tion of  such  a  mass  of  disorders  as  wholly  destroyed  the  spirit  of  the 
Christian  profession.  Under  the  dominion  of  the  Barbarian  kings,  the 
degeneracy  increased,  till  the  pure  principles  of  Christianity  were  lost 
sight  of  in  the  grossness  of  superstition,  in  consequence  of  which,  men 
Avere  led  to  endeavour  to  conciliate  the  favour  of  heaven  by  the  same 
means  that  satisfied  the  justice  of  man,  or  by  those  employed  to  ap- 
pease their  fabulous  deities.  As  the  punishments  due  for  civil  crimes, 
among  the  Barbarian  conquerors,  might  be  bought  off  by  money,  they 
attempted,  in  like  manner,  to  bribe  heaven,  by  benefactions  to  the 
church,  in  order  to  supersede  all  future  inquest.  They  seem  to  have 
believed,  says  the  Abbe  de  Mably,  that  avarice  was  the  first  attribute 
of  the  Deity,  and  that  the  saints  made  a  traffic  of  their  influence  and  pro- 
tection. "  Our  treasury  is  poor,"  said  Chilperic,  king  of  the  Franks. 
"  Our  riches  are  gone  to  the  church  ;  the  bishops  are  the  kings."  And 
true  it  is,  that  the  superior  clergy,  by  the  influx  of  wealth  and  the  ac- 
quisition of  lands,  combined  the  influence  of  worldly  grandeur  with  that 
of  religion,  insomuch  that  they  were  often  the  arbiters  of  kingdoms, 
and  disposed  of  the  crown,  while  they  regulated  the  affairs  of  the  state. 

Historians  have  exhibited  to  us  the  most  melancholy  picture  of  the 
universal  darkness  and  ignorance,  which,  at  the  beginning  of  the  se- 
venth century,  had  overspread  all  ranks  of  men.  Even  the  ecclesias- 
tical orders  scarcely  afforded  an  exception  to  this  general  description. 
Among  the  bishops,  the  grand  instructers  and  defenders  of  the  Chris- 
tian church,  few,  we  are  told,  could  be  found  whose  knowledge  and 
abilities  were  sufficient  to  compose  the  discourses,  however  mean  and 
incoherent,  which  their  office  sometimes  obliged  them  to  deliver  to  the 
people.  The  greater  part  of  those  among  the  monastic  orders,  whom 
the  voice  of  an  illiterate  age  had  dignified  with  the  character  of  learn- 
ing, lavished  their  time  and  talents  in  studying  the  fabulous  legends  of 
pretended  saints  and  martyrs,  or  in  composing  histories  equally  fabti- 
lous,  rather  than  in  the  cultivation  of  true  science,  or  the  diffusion  of 
useful  knowledge.  The  want  even  of  an  acquaintance  with  the  first 
rudiments  of  literature  was  so  general  among  the  higher  ecclesiastics 
of  those  times,  that  it  was  scarcely  deemed  disgraceful  to  acknowledge 
it.  In  the  acts  of  the  councils  of  Ephesus  and  Chalcedon,  many  ex- 
amples occur,  where  subscriptions  are  to  be  found  in  this  form — '•  /, 
such  an  one,  have  subscribed  by  the  hand  of  such  an  one,  because  I 
cannot  icnte."  And,  such  a  bishop  having  said  that  he  could  not 
write,  I,  whose  name  is  underwritten,  have  subscribed  for  him."* 

We  may  take  a  specimen  of  the  divinity  that  was  current  dur- 
ing the  seventh  century,  from  the  description  given  of  a  good  Chris- 
tian by  the  highly  revered  St.  Eloi,  bishop  of  Noyon,  in  one  of  his  fa- 
mous homilies.  We  are  informed  by  the  writer  of  his  life,  that,  "  be- 
sides his  other  miraculous  virtues,  one  was  especially  bestowed  on  him 
of  the  Lord  ;  for  on  his  diligent  search,  and  persevering  with  singular 

*  White's  Bampton  Lectures,  Serm.  ii.  and  Notes,  p.  6. 
21 


242  History  of  the  Christian  Church. 

ardour  of  faith  in  this  investigation,  many  bodies  of  holy  martyrs,  con- 
cealed from  human  knowledge  for  ages,  were  discovered  to  him,  and 
brought  to  light  !"  Let  the  reader  mark  the  divinity  of  this  renown- 
ed bishop. 

"  He  is  the  good  christian,"  says  he,  "  who  comes  often  to  church, 
and  brings  his  oblation  to  be  presented  on  God's  altar ;  who  presumes 
not  to  taste  of  the  fruits  he  hath  gathered,  till  he  hath  first  made  his  of- 
fering of  them  to  God ;  who,  on  the  return  of  the  sacred  solemnities, 
for  many  days  preceding,  observes  a  sacred  continence,  even  from  his 
own  wife,  that  he  may  approach  God's  altar  with  a  safe  conscience  ; 
and  who  can  repeat  from  memory,  the  creed  and  the  Lord's  prayer." 
So  much  for  his  good  Christian  ;  on  which  the  learned  translator  of 
Mosheim  very  properly  remarks,  "  We  see  here  a  large  and  ample  de- 
scription of  the  character  of  a  good  Christian,  in  which  there  is  not  the 
least  mention  of  the  love  of  God,  resignation  to  his  will,  obedience  to 
his  laws,  or  of  justice,  benevolence,  and  charity  to  men,  and  in  which 
the  whole  of  religion  is  made  to  consist  in  coming  often  to  the  church, 
bringing  offerings  to  the  altar,  lighting  candles  in  consecrated  places, 
and  such  like  vain  services." 

But  let  us  hear  this  luminary  of  the  seventh  century  once  more. 
"  Redeem  your  souls,"  says  he,  "  from  the  punishment  due  to  your 
sins,  whilst  you  have  the  remedies  in  your  power.  Offer  your  tithes 
and  oblations  to  the  churches — light  up  candles  in  the  consecrated 
places,  according  to  your  abilities — come  frequently  to  church,  and 
with  all  humility  pray  to  the  saints  for  their  patronage  and  protection ; 
which  things  if  ye  do,  when  at  the  last  day  ye  stand  at  the  tremendous 
bar  of  the  eternal  Judge,  ye  may  say  confidently  to  him,  "  Give  Lord, 
because  I  have  given."*     Da  Domine  quia  dedi. 

In  several  churches  of  France,  a  festival  was  celebrated  in  commem- 
oration of  the  Virgin  Mary's  flight  into  Egypt — it  was  called  the  feast 
of  the  ass.  A  young  girl,  richly  dressed,  with  a  child  in  her  arms, 
was  placed  upon  an  ass  superbly  decorated  with  trappings.  The  ass 
was  led  to  the  altar  in  solemn  procession — high  mass  was  said  with 
great  pomp — the  ass  was  taught  to  kneel  at  proper  places — a  hymn,  no 
less  childish  than  impious,  was  sung  in  his  praise ;  and  when  the  ce- 
remony was  ended,  the  priest,  instead  of  the  usual  words  with  which 
he  dismissed  the  people,  brayed  three  times  like  an  ass ;  and  the  peo- 
ple, instead  of  the  usual  response,  brayed  three  times  in  return. t 

"  Every  thing  sacred  in  religion,"  says  Mons.  Voltaire,  when  treat- 
ing of  this  period,  "  was  disfigured  in  the  West,  by  customs  the  most 
ridiculous  and  extravagant.  The  festivals  of  fools  and  asses  were  es- 
tablished in  most  churches.  On  days  of  solemnity,  they  created  a  bi- 
shop of  fools  ;  and  an  ass  was  led  into  the  body  of  the  church,  dressed 
in  a  cape  and  four  cornered  cap.  Church  dances,  feastings  on  the  al- 
tar, revelry  and  obscene  farces  were  the  ceremonies  observed  on  those 
festivals,  and  in  many  dioceses  these  extravagancies  were  continued 

*  Surely  the  late  Mr.  Milner  must  have  been  very  much  off  his  guard  when, 
writing'  of  this  bishop,  he  tells  his  reader — "  Eloi,  bishop  of  Noyon,  carefully 
visited  his  large  diocese — and  was  very  successful  among  the  people. — But  God 
was  with  him  loth  in  life  and  doctrine."     History  of  the  Church,  vol.  iii.  p.  116. 

f  Robertson's  History  of  Charles  V.  vol.  i. 


Rise  of  the  sect  of  the  Paulicians.  243 

for  seven  centuries.  Were  we  to  consider  only  the  usages  here  relat- 
ed, we  should  imagine  we  were  reading  an  account  of  Hottentots  or 
Negroes  ;  and  it  must  be  confessed  that  in  many  things  we  did  not 
fall  much  short  of  them."* 

But  it  is  disgusting  to  relate  such  mummery,  and  perhaps  I  ought  to 
apologize  to  my  reader  for  laying  it  before  hirn.  He  may  rest  assured, 
however,  that  it  is  only  a  sample  from  a  fruitful  crop  which  it  were 
easy  to  produce.  If  he  be  shocked,  as  he  well  may,  at  contemplating 
such  disgraceful  things  coupled  with  the  name  of  the  pure  and  holy 
religion  of  the  Son  of  God,  he  will  be  glad  to  turn  his  attention  with 
me  to  a  more  pleasing  subject. 

While  the  Christian  world,  as  it  has  been  the  fashion  to  call  it,  was 
thus  sunk  into  an  awful  state  of  superstition — at  a  moment  when 
"  darkness  seemed  to  cover  the  earth,  and  gross  darkness  the  people" 
— it  is  pleasing  to  contemplate  a  ray  of  celestial  light  darting  across  the 
gloom.  About  the  year  660,  a  new  sect  arose  in  the  east,  under  the 
name  of  Paulicians,!  which  is  justly  entitled  to  our  attention. 

In  Mananalis,  an  obscure  town  in  the  vicinity  of  Somosata,  a  person 
of  the  name  of  Constantine  entertained  at  his  house  a  deacon,  who, 
having  been  a  prisoner  among  the  Mahometans,  was  returning  from 
Syria,  whither  he  had  been  carried  away  captive.  From  this  passing 
stranger,  Constantine  received  the  precious  gift  of  the  New  Testament 
in  its  original  language,  which,  even  at  this  early  period,  was  so  con- 
cealed from  the  vulgar,  that  Peter  Siculus,  to  whom  we  owe  most  of 
our  information  on  the  history  of  the  Paulicians,  tells  us,  the  first  scru- 
ples of  a  Catholic,  when  he  was  advised  to  read  the  Bible,  was,  "  it  is 
not  lawful  for  us  profane  persons  to  read  those  sacred  writings,  but  for 
the  priests  only."  Indeed,  the  gross  ignorance  which  pervaded  Eu- 
rope at  that  time,  rendered  the  generality  of  the  people  incapable  of 
reading  that  or  any  other  book;  but  even  those  of  the  laity  who  could 
read,  were  dissuaded  by  their  religious  guides  from  meddling  with  the 
Bible.  Constantine,  however,  made  the  best  use  of  the  deacon's  pre- 
sent— he  studied  his  New  Testament  with  unwearied  assiduity — and 
more  particularly  the  writings  of  the  apostle  Paul,  from  which  he  at 
length  endeavoured  to  deduce  a  system  of  doctrine  and  worship.  "He 
investigated  the  creed  of  primitive  Christianity,"  says  Gibbon,  "  and 
whatever  might  be  the  success,  a  Protestant  reader  will  applaud  the 
spirit  of  the  inquiry.''^  The  knowledge  to  which  Constantine  himself 
was,  under  the  Divine  blessing,  enabled  to  attain,  he  gladly  communi- 
cated to  others  around  him,  and  a  Christian  church  was  collected.  In 
a  little  time  several  individuals  arose  among  them  qualified  for  the  work 
of  the  ministry ;  and  several  other  churches  were  collected  throughout 

*  General  History,  vol.  i.  ch.  xxxv. 

fit  is  much  to  be  regretted  that  of  this  class  of  Christians,  all  our  information 
is  derived  through  the  medium  of  their  enemies.  The  two  original  sources  of 
intelligence  concerning  them  are  Photius,  b.  i.  Contra  Manichaeos  ;  and  Siculus 
Hist.  Manicheor,  and  from  them  Mosheim  and  Gibbon  have  deduced  their  ac- 
count of  the  Paulicians.  The  latter  writer  has  entered  far  more  fully  into  the 
subject  than  the  former,  and,  what  is  singular  enough,  he  has  displayed  more 
candour  !  I  have  collected  from  these  two  modern  authors  the  concise  account 
given  above,  and  have  aimed  at  impartiality. 

+  Decline  and  Fall,  vol.  x.  ch.  liv. 


244  History  of  the  Christian  Church. 

Armenia  and  Cappadocia.  It  appears  from  the  whole  of  their  history 
to  have  been  a  leading  object  with  Constantine  and  his  brethren  to  re- 
store, as  far  as  possible,  the  profession  of  Christianity  to  all  its  primi- 
tive simplicity. 

Their  public  appearance  soon  attracted  the  notice  of  the  Catholic 
party,  who  immediately  branded  them  with  the  opprobrious  appellation 
of  Manichaeans  ;  but  "  they  sincerely  condemned  the  memory  and  opi- 
nions of  the  Manichaean  sect,  and  complained  of  the  injustice  which 
impressed  that  invidious  name  on  them."*  There  is  reason,  therefore, 
to  think,  that  they  voluntarily  adopted  the  name  of  Paulicians,  and  that 
they  derived  it  from  the  name  of  the  great  apostle  of  the  Gentiles. 
Constantine  now  assumed  or  received  the  name  of  Sylvanus,  and  others 
of  his  fellow  labourers  were  called  Titus,  Timothy,  Tichicus,  &c.  and 
as  the  churches  arose  and  were  formed  in  different  places,  they  were 
named  after  those  apostolic  churches  to  which  Paul  originally  addressed 
his  inspired  writings,  without  any  regard  to  the  name  of  the  city  or 
town  in  which  they  assembled  for  worship. 

The  labours  of  Constantine— Sylvanus,  were  crowned  with  much 
success.  Pontus  and  Cappadocia,  regions  once  renowned  for  Chris- 
tian piety,  were  again  blessed  with  a  diffusion  of  the  light  of  divine 
truth.  He  himself  resided  in  the  neighbourhood  of  Colonia,  in  Pontus, 
and  their  congregations,  in  process  of  time,  were  diffused  over  the  pro- 
vinces of  Asia  Minor,  to  the  westward  of  the  Euphrates.  "  The  Pauli- 
cian  teachers,"  says  Gibbon,  "  were  distinguished  only  by  their  scrip- 
tural names,  by  the  modest  title  of  fellow-pilgrims ;  by  the  austerity  of 
their  lives,  their  zeal  and  knowledge,  and  the  credit  of  some  extraordi- 
nary gift  of  the  Holy  Spirit.  But  they  were  incapable  of  desiring,  or 
at  least  of  obtaining  the  wealth  and  honours  of  the  Catholic  prelacy. 
Such  anti-christian  pride  they  strongly  censured." 

Roused  by  the  growing  importance  of  this  sect,  the  Greek  emperors  be- 
gan to  persecute  the  Paulicians  with  the  most  sanguinary  severity ;  and 
the  scenes  of  Galerius  and  Maximin  were  re-acted  under  the  Christian 
forms  and  names.  "  To  their  excellent  deeds,"  says  the  bigoted  Peter 
Siculus,  "the  divine  and  orthodox  emperors  added  this  virtue,  that  they 
ordered  the  Montanists  and  Manichaeans  (by  which  epithets  they  chose 
to  stigmatize  the  Paulicians)  to  be  capitally  punished ;  and  their  books, 
wherever  found,  to  be  committed  to  the  flames;  also  that  if  any  person 
was  found  to  have  secreted  them,  he  was  to  be  put  to  death,  and  his 
goods  confiscated."  A  Greek  officer,  armed  with  legal  and  military 
powers,  appeared  at  Colonia,  to  strike  the  shepherd,  and,  if  possible, 
reclaim  the  lost  sheep  to  the  Catholic  fold.  "  By  a  refinement  of  cru- 
elty, Simeon  (the  officer)  placed  the  unfortunate  Sylvanus  before  a  line 
of  his  disciples,  who  were  commanded,  as  the  price  of  their  own  par- 
don, and  the  proof  of  their  repentance,  to  massacre  their  spiritual  father. 
They  turned  aside  from  the  impious  office ;  the  stones  dropt  from  their 
filial  hands,  and  of  the  whole  number,  only  one  executioner  could  be 
found ;  a  new  David,  as  he  is  styled  by  the  Catholics,  who  boldly 
overthrew  the  giant  of  heresy."!   This  apostate,  whose  name  was  Jus- 

*  Gibbon,  ubi  supra.  f  Gibbon,  ut  supra. 


Persecution  of  the  Paulicians.  245 

tus,  stoned  to  death  the  father  of  the  Paulicians,  who  had  now  laboured 
among  them  twenty-seven  years.  The  treacherous  Justus  betrayed 
many  others,  probably  of  the  pastors  and  teachers,  who  fared  the  fate 
of  their  venerable  leader ;  while  Simeon  himself,  struck  with  the  evi- 
dences of  divine  grace  apparent  in  the  sufferers,  embraced  at  length  the 
faith  which  he  came  to  destroy — renounced  his  station,  resigned  his 
honours  and  fortunes,  became  a  zealous  preacher  among  the  Paulicians, 
and  at  last  sealed  his  testimony  with  his  blood.* 

During  a  period  of  one  hundred  and  fifty  years,  these  Christian 
churches  seem  to  have  been  almost  incessantly  subjected  to  persecution, 
which  they  supported  with  Christian  meekness  and  patience ;  and  if 
the  acts  of  their  martyrdom,  their  preaching  and  their  lives  were  dis- 
tinctly recorded,  I  see  no  reason  to  doubt,  that  we  should  find  in  them 
the  genuine  successors  of  the  Christians  of  the  first  two  centuries.  And 
in  this  as  well  as  former  instances,  the  blood  of  the  martyrs  was  the 
seed  of  the  church.  A  succession  of  teachers  and  churches  arose,  and 
a  person  named  Sergius,  who  had  'aboured  among  them  in  tke  ministry 
of  the  gospel  thirty-seven  years,  is  acknowledged,  even  by  their  vilest 
calumniators,  to  have  been  a  most  exemplary  Christian.  The  perse- 
cution had,  however,  some  intermissions,  until  at  length  Theodora,  the 
Greek  empress,  exerted  herself  against  them,  beyond  all  her  predeces- 
sors. She  sent  inquisitors  throughout  all  Asia  Minor  in  search  of  these 
sectaries,  and  is  computed  to  have  killed  by  the  gibbet,  by  fire,  and  by 
the  sword,  a  hundred  thousand  persons.  Such  was  the  state  of  things 
at  the  commencement  of  the  ninth  century, t 

*  "  Thrice  hail,  ye  faithful  shepherds  of  the  fold, 

"  By  tortures  unsubdued,  unbribed  by  gold  ; 

"  In  your  high  scorn  of  honours,  honoured  most, 

"Ye  chose  the  martyr's,  not  the  prelate's  post ; 

•'Firmly  the  thorny  path  of  suffering  trod, 

"And  counted  death  "  all  gain"  to  live  with  God." 

Hypocrisy,  a  poem  by  the  Rev.  C.  Colton,  pt.  i.  p.  156. 
f  It  has  been  already  stated  that  we  derive  all  our  information  concerning  the 
Paulicians,  through  the  medium  of  their  adversaries,  the  writers  belonging  to  the 
Catholic  church.  It  should  not,  therefore,  surprise  us  to  find  them  imputing  the 
worst  of  principles  and  practices  to  a  class  of  men  whom  they  uniformly  decry  as 
heretics.  Mosheim  says,  that  of  the  two  accounts  of  Photius  and  Peter  Siculus, 
he  gives  the  preference  for  candour  and  fairness  to  that  of  the  latter — and  yet  I 
find  Mr.  Gibbon  acknowledging,  that  "the  six  capital  errors  of  the  Paulicians  are 
defined  by  Peter  Siculus,  with  much  prejudice  and  passion."  (Decline  and  Fall, 
vol.  x.  ch.  54.)  One  of  their  imputed  errors  is,  that  they  rejected  the  whole  of 
the  Old  Testament  writings  ;  a  charge  which  was  also  brought,  by  the  writers  of 
the  Catholic  school,  against  the  Waldenses  and  others,  with  equal  regard  to  truth 
and  justice.  But  this  calumny  is  easily  accounted  for.  The  advocates  of  popery, 
to  support  their  usurpations  and  innovations  in  the  kingdom  of  Christ,  were  driven 
to  the  Old  Testament  for  authority,  adducing  the  kingdom  of  David  for  their  ex- 
ample. And  when  their  adversaries  rebutted  the  argument,  insisting-  that  the 
parallel  did  not  hold,  for  that  the  kingdom  of  Christ,  which  is  not  of  this  world, 
is  a  very  different  state  of  things  from  the  kingdom  of  David,  their  opponents  ac- 
cused them  of  giving  up  the  divine  authority  of  the  Old  Testament.  Upon  similar 
principles,  it  is  not  difficult  to  vindicate  the  Paulicians  from  the  other  charges 
brought  against  them  ;  but  to  do  that  would  require  more  room  than  can  be  here 
allotted  to  the  subject. 

21* 


(     246     ) 


CHAPTER  IV. 

A  VIEW  OF  THE  STATE  OF   THE  CHRISTIAN  PROFESSION    FROM  THE  BEGIN- 
NING OF  THE  NINTH  TO  THE    END  OF  THE    TWELFTH  CENTURY. A.  D. 

800—1200. 


SECTION  I. 


A  CONCISE  DESCRIPTION  OF  THE  VALLEYS  OF  PIEDMONT,  AND  OF  THE  PY- 
RENEES ;  WITH  SOME  ACCOUNT  OF  THE  LIFE  AND  DOCTRINE  OF  CLAUDE, 
BISHOP  OF  TURIN. 

The  principality  of  Piedmont,*  derives  its  name  from  the  circum- 
stance of  its  being  situated  at  the  foot  of  the  Alps — a  prodigious  range 
of  mountains,  the  highest  indeed  in  Europe,  and  which  divide  Italy 
from  France,  Switzerland,  and  Germany.  It  is  bounded  on  the  east 
by  the  duchies  of  Milan  and  Montferrat ;  on  the  south  by  the  county 
of  Nice  and  the  territory  of  Genoa  ;  on  the  west  by  France ;  and  on  the 
north  by  Savoy.  In  former  times  it  constituted  a  part  of  Lombardy, 
but  more  recently  has  been  subject  to  the  king  of  Sardinia,  who  takes 
up  his  residence  at  Turin,  the  capital  of  the  province,  and  one  of  the 
finest  cities  in  Europe.  It  is  an  extensive  tract  of  rich  and  fruitful  val- 
leys, embosomed  in  mountains  which  are  encircled  again  with  mountains 
higher  than  they,  intersected  with  deep  and  rapid  rivers,  and  exhibiting 
in  strong  contrast,  the  beauty  and  plenty  of  Paradise,  in  sight  of  frightful 
precipices,  wide  lakes  of  ice,  and  stupendous  mountains  of  never-wasting 
snow.  The  whole  country  is  an  interchange  of  hill  and  dale ;  mountain 
and  valley — traversed  with  four  principal  rivers,  viz.  the  Po,  the  Tanaro, 
the  Stura,  and  the  Dora,  besides  about  eight  and  twenty  rivulets  great 
and  small,  which,  winding  their  courses  in  different  directions,  con- 
tribute to  the  fertility  of  the  valleys,  and  make  them  resemble  a  watered 
garden. 

The  principal  valleys  are  Aosta  and  Susa  on  the  north — Stura  on  the 
south — and  in  the  interior  of  the  countiy,  Lucerna,  Angrogna,  Raccapi- 
atti,  Pramol,  Perosa,  and  S.  Martino.  The  valley  of  Clusone,  or  Pra- 
gela,  as  it  is  often  called,  was  in  ancient  times  a  part  of  the  province  of 
Dauphiny  in  France,  and  has  been,  from  the  days  of  Hannibal,  the 
ordinary  route  of  the  French  and  other  armies,  when  marching  into  Italy. 
Angrogna,  Pramol,  and  S.  Martino  are  strongly  fortified  by  nature  on 
account  of  their  many  difficult  passes  and  bulwarks  of  rocks  and  moun- 
tains ;  as  if  the  all-wise  Creator,  says  Sir  Samuel  Morland,t  had,  from 

*  The  term  "Piedmont"  is  derived  from  two  Latin  words,  viz.  Pede  montium, 
"at  the  foot  of  the  mountains." 

I  History  of  the  Churches  of  Piedmont,  p.  5. 


Valleys  of  Piedmont  and  the  Pyrenees.  247 

the  beginning,  designed  that  place  as  a  cabinet,  wherein  to  put  some 
inestimable  jewel,  or  in  which  to  reserve  many  thousand  souls,  which 
should  not  bow  the  knee  before  Baal. 

Several  of  these  valleys  are  described  by  our  geographers  as  being 
remarkably  rich  and  fruitful— as  fertile  and  pleasant  as  any  part  of  Italy. 
In  the  mountains  are  mines  of  gold,  silver,  brass,  and  iron ;  the  rivers 
abound  with  a  variety  of  exquisite  fish ;  the  forests  and  the  fields  with 
game ;  while  the  soil  yields  every  thing  necessary  to  the  enjoyment  of 
human  life,— abundance  of  corn,  rice,  wine,  fruits,  hemp,  and  cattle. 
Throughout  the  whole  territory,  except  on  the  tops  of  the  mountains, 
there  is  toabe  found  great  plenty  of  fruits,  especially'of  chestnuts  which 
the  inhabitants  gather  in  immense  quantities,  and  after  drying  them  in 
an  oven  or  upon  a  kiln,  they  manufacture  from  them  an  excellent  kind 
of  biscuit,  which  in  France  they  call  marroons,  and  where  they  are  in 
high  estimation  as  a  species  of  confectionary.  They  first  of  all  string 
them,  as  they  do  their  beads  or  chaplets,  and  then  hang  them  up  in 
some  humid  place  for  their  better  preservation.  As  the  bread  made 
from  the  chestnut  constitutes  a  considerable  part  of  the  food  of  the  in- 
habitants of  Piedmont,  it  is  a  common  practice  among  them,  after  reser- 
ving what  may  be  necessary  for  their  own  sustenance,  to  sell  or  ex- 
change the  surplus  with  the  inhabitants  of  the  plain  for  corn  or  other 
commodities. 

In  the  patriarchal  age  of  the  world,  when  the  people  of  the  east  had 
parcelled  out  the  country  into  many  separate  states,  some  savage  and 
others  civilized,  it  is  said  of  the  Hebrews,  that  they  went  from  one 
nation  to  another ;  from  one  kingdom  to  another  people.  In  the  mid- 
dle ages,  the  same  spirit  prevailed  over  the  west.  Petty  chiefs  assum- 
ed independence,  and  formed  a  vast  number  of  separate  kingdoms. 
Reputed  heretics,  like  the  ancient  Israelites,  emigrated  from  place  to 
place,  taking  up  their  abode  only  where  they  could  enjoy  the  privi- 
leges of  religious  liberty. 

The  Pyrenean  mountains,  which  separate  France  and  Spain,  extend 
from  the  Mediterranean  sea  to  the  Atlantic  ocean,  that  is,  at  least  two 
hundred  miles,  and  in  breadth  at  several  places  more  than  one  hun- 
dred. The  surface  is,  as  may  naturally  be  expected,  wonderfully  di- 
versified. Hills  rise  upon  hills,  and  mountains  over  mountains,  some 
bare  of  verdure,  and  others  crowned  with  forests  of  huge  cork  trees, 
oak,  beech,  chestnuts,  and  ever-greens.  When  travellers  of  taste  pass 
over  them,  they  are  in  raptures,  and  seem  at  a  loss  for  words  to  express 
what  they  behold.  The  landscape,  say  they,  on  every  side  is  divine. 
More  delightful  prospects  never  existed  even  in  the  creative  imagina- 
tion of  Claude  Lorraine.*  In  some  places  are  bleak,  perpendicular 
rocks  and  dangerous  precipices  ;  in  others  beautiful,  fertile,  and  very- 
extensive  valleys,  adorned  with  aloes,  and  wild  pomegranates  ;  enrich- 
ed with  olives,  lemons,  oranges,  apples,  corn,  flax ;  and  perfumed 
with  aromatic  herbs,  and  animated  with  venison  and  wild  fowl  Nu- 
merous flocks  of  sheep  and  goats  enliven  the  hills,  manufacturers  of 
wool  inhabit  the  valleys,  and  corn  and  wine,  flax  and  oil,  hang  on  the 

*  Swinburne's  Travels,  ch.  xliv, 


248  History  of  the  Christian  Church. 

slopes.  Inexhaustible  mines  of  the  finest  iron  in  the  world  abound 
there,  and  the  forests  supply  them  with  plenty  of  timber.  There  are 
whole  towns  of  smiths,  who  carry  on  the  manufacture  of  all  sorts  of 
iron  work,  especially  for  the  use  of  the  military  and  navy,  and  their 
workmanship  is  much  extolled.  This  chain  of  mountains  runs  from 
the  Bay  of  Biscay  to  the  Bay  of  Roses,  and  the  sea-ports  about  each 
of  them  were  accustomed  to  be  crowded  with  inhabitants,  commerce, 
plenty  and  wealth. 

A  spectator,  taking  his  stand  on  the  top  of  the  ridge  of  these  moun- 
tains, will  observe,  that  at  the  foot,  on  the  Spanish  side,  lie  Asturias, 
Old  Castile,  Arragon,  and  Catalonia ;  and  on  the  French  side,  Gui- 
enne  and  Languedoc,  Toulouse,  Beam,  Alby,  Roussillon,  and  Nar- 
bonne,  all  of  which  places  were  remarkable  in  the  darkest  times  for 
harbouring  Christians  who  were  reputed  heretics.*  Indeed,  from  the 
borders  of  Spain,  throughout  the  greatest  part  of  the  south  of  France, 
among  and  below  the  Alps,  along  the  Rhine,  and  even  to  Bohemia, 
thousands  of  the  disciples  of  Christ,  as  will  hereafter  be  shown,  were 
found,  even  in  the  very  worst  of  times,  preserving  the  faith  in  its  pu- 
rity, adhering  to  the  simplicity  of  Christian  worship,  patiently  bearing 
the  cross  after  Christ :  men  distinguished  by  their  fear  of  God  and 
obedience  to  his  will,  and  persecuted  only  for  righteousness'  sake. 

Voltaire  has  so  justly  and  beautifully  described  the  general  state  of 
Italy,  as  it  existed  at  a  period  some  little  time  subsequent  to  that  of 
which  I  am  about  to  treat,  that,  I  shall  here  introduce  his  words.  "In 
the  beautiful  and  trading  cities  of  Italy,"  says  he,  "  the  people  lived  in 
ease  and  affluence.  With  them  alone  the  sweets  of  life  seem  to  have 
taken  up  their  residence,  and  riches  and  liberty  inspired  their  genius 
and  elevated  their  courage.  Notwithstanding  the  dissensions  that  pre- 
vailed every  where,  they  began  to  emerge  from  that  brutality  which 
had  in  a  maimer  overwhelmed  Europe  after  the  decline  of  the  Roman 
empire.  The  necessary  arts  had  never  been  entirely  lost.  The  arti- 
ficers and  merchants,  whose  humble  station  had  protected  them  from 
the  ambitious  fury  of  the  great,  were  like  ants,  who  dug  themselves 
peaceable  and  secure  habitations,  while  the  vultures  and  eagles  of  the 
world  were  tearing  one  another  in  pieces. "t 

This  pleasing  picture,  which,  no  doubt,  is  very  correct,  as  it  re- 
spects the  civil  affairs  of  men,  is  equally  applicable  to  the  inhabitants 
of  Piedmont  and  the  Pyrenees,  as  to  those  states  of  Italy  of  whom 
Voltaire  speaks  ;  but  if  applied  to  the  concerns  of  the  kingdom  of  hea- 
ven, the  felicity  resulting  from  it  will  be  found  to  have  been  almost  ex- 
clusively theirs,  during  several  of  the  succeeding  centuries.  I  shall  not, 
however,  with  the  view  of  justifying  this  remark,  here  anticipate  oc- 
currences which  will  come  more  properly  under  the  reader's  notice  in 
prosecuting  that  branch  of  ecclesiastical  history,  on  which  we  are  about 
to  enter. 

The  former  chapter  affords  an  ample  insight  into  the  gradual  encroach- 
ments and  domineering  influence  of  the  church  of  Rome,  during  the 
sixth,  seventh,  and  eighth  centuries.     But  it  ought  to  be  noticed,  that 

*  Robinson's  Eccles.  Researches,  p.  280.  f  General  History,  ch.  lxix. 


Some  account  of  Paulinus  of  Jlquileia.  249 

neither  the  prevailing  corruptions  of  that  church,  nor  the  arrogant  claims 
of  its  successive  popes,  were  implicitly  allowed  by  all  the  other  bishops 
and  churches,  even  in  Italy  itself.  "la  the  year  590,  the  bishops  of 
Italy  and  the  Grisoas  (Swisserlaad),  to  the  number  of  nine,  rejected  the 
communion  of  the  Pope,  as  of  aa  heretic.  This  schism  had  already 
continued  from  the  year  553,  aad  towards  the  close  of  the  century,  the 
emperor  Maurice,  having  ordered  them  to  be  present  at  the  council  of 
Rome,  they  were  dispensed  with  by  the  same  emperor,  upon  their  pro- 
testing that  they  could  not  communicate  with  Pope  Gregory  I;  so  little 
were  they  persuaded  at  that  time  ol  the  Pope's  infallibility,  that  to  lose 
communion  with  him  was  to  lose  the  communion  of  the  church,  or  that 
they  held  their  ordinations  from  the  haud  of  the  Popes,  and  from  the 
bishops  subjected  to  their  jurisdiction,"* 

lb  the  following  century  a  firm  and  noble  stand  was  made  against 
the  papal  usurpations  by  Paulinus,  bishop  of  the  church  of  Aquileia,  in 
Italy.  This  venerable  man  was  bora  about  the  year  726,  near  Friuli; 
but  of  the  earlier  part  of  his  life,  we  know  little  more  than  that  he  was 
in  great  favour  with  Charles  the  Great,  king  of  France,  and  preached 
the  gospel  to  the  Pagans  of  Carinthia  and  Styria,  and  to  the  Avares, 
a  nation  of  Huns.  In  the  year  776,  he  was  ordained  bishop  of  Aqui- 
leia, in  which  office  he  continued  labouring  till  his  death,  which  took 
place  in  804.  He  seems  to  have  possessed  a  strong  and  an  enlightened 
mind,  for  there  are  few  of  the  abominations  of  his  times  which  he  does 
not  appear  to  have  combated.  In  the  year  787,  he,  and  some  other 
Italian  bishops  agreed  to  condemn  the  decrees  of  the  famous  se- 
cond council  of  Nice,  which  had  established  the  worship  "of  images,! 
declaring  it  to  be  idolatrous,  and  that,  too,  notwithstanding  the  council 
had  received  the  sanction  of  pope  Adrian,  who  was  present  at  its  de- 
liberations, and  exerted  all  his  authority  to  maintain  its  decisions. 
This  shows  that,  at  this  time,  the  despotism  of  Antichrist  was  not  uni- 
versally owned,  even  throughout  Italy  itself.  The  city  of  Rome  and 
its  environs  seem  to  have  been  at  that  period  the  most  corrupt  part  of 
Christendom  in  Europe. 

Amongst  other  corruptions  which  prevailed,  the  doctrine  of  transub- 
stantiation  then  began  to  be  generally  propagated.  Paulinus  undertook 
to  refute  that  absurdity,  in  a  treatise  on  the  eucharist,  which  he  wrote 
at  the  request  of  Charles  the  Great,  and  which  he  dedicated  to  that 
monarch.  He  affirms  that  the  eucharist  was  a  morsel  or  bit  of  bread, 
and  that  it  is  either  death  or  life  to  him  that  partakes  of  it,  according 
as  he  hath  or  hath  not  faith  in  that  which  is  signified  by  it.  He  pours 
the  utmost  contempt  upon  the  sacrifice  of  the  mass,  opens  up  the 
scripture  doctrine  of  Christ's  priestly  office,  as  after  the  order  of  Mel- 
chisedec,  vindicates  his  incarnation  and  crucifixion  as  the  true  propi- 
tiatory sacrifice  for  sin,  and  thunders  out  the  boldest  anathemas  against 
all  human  satisfactions,  maintaining  that  the  blood  of  none  of  those 
who  have  themselves  been  redeemed  is  capable  of  blotting  out  the  least 
sin,  for  that  this  privilege  comes  alone  through  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ. 

*  Dr.  Affix's  Remarks  on  the  Ancient  Churches  of  Piedmont,  ch.  v.  p.  32. 
f  See  page  233. 


250  History  of  the  Christian  Church. 

"The  Son  of  God,"  says  he,  "our  Almighty  Lord,  because  he  re- 
deemed us  by  the  price  of  his  blood,  is  properly  called  the  true  Re- 
deemer by  ail  that  are  redeemed  by  him.  He,  I  say,  was  not  redeem- 
ed, because  he  was  never  captive ;  but  we  are  redeemed,  Avho  were 
captives  sold  under  sin,  and  bound  by  the  hand-writing  that  was  against 
us,  which  he  took  away,  blotting  it  out  with  his  blood,  which  the. blood 
of  no  other  redeemer  could  do,  and  fixed  it  to  his  cross,  openly  tri- 
umphing over  it  in  himself." 

In  opposition  to  the  Arians,  who  attributed  to  Christ  only  an  adopted 
Sonship,  he  thus  illustrates  John  vi.  32 — 58.  "  Is  it  said,  that  he 
who  doth  not  eat  the  flesh  of  the  Son  of  man,  and  drink  his  blood, 
hath  not  eternal  life  ?  '  He  that  eats  my  flesh,'  saith  Christ,  '  and 
drinks  my  blood,  hath  eternal  life,  and  I  will  raise  him  up  at  the  last 
day  ;  my  flesh  is  meat  indeed,  and  my  blood  is  drink  indeed.'  The 
power  of  raising  up  at  the  last  day  belongs  to  none  but  the  true  God ; 
for  the  flesh  and  blood  cannot  be  referred  to  his  divine,  but  to  his  hu- 
man nature,  by  which  he  is  the  Son  of  man.  And  yet  if  that  Son  of 
man,  whose  flesh  and  blood  this  is,  (for  that  one  and  the  same  person 
is  both  the  Son  of  God  and  Son  of  man)  were  not  really  God,  his  flesh 
and  blood  could  not  procure  eternal  life  to  those  that  eat  them.  Hence 
the  evangelist  John  saith,  '  The  blood  of  Jesus  Christ,  his  Son, 
cleanseth  from  all  sin.'  Moreover,  whose  flesh  and  blood  is  it  that 
gives  life  to  those  that  eat  and  drink  them,  but  the  Son  of  Man's,  whom 
God  the  Father  hath  sealed ;  who  is  the  true  and  almighty  Son  of 
God.  For  He,  the  bread  of  life,  came  down  from  heaven  for  us,  and 
gives  his  life  for  the  world,  to  the  end  that  whosoever  eats  thereof, 
shall  live  for  ever."  In  reference  to  Christ's  intercession,  he  says, 
"He  is  called  the  Mediator,  because  he  is  a  middle  person  between 
both  the  disagreeing  parties,  and  reconciles  both  of  them  in  one. 
Paul  is  not  a  mediator,  but  a  faithful  ambassador  of  the  Mediator." 
He  then  quotes  his  words,  "  We  are  ambassadors  for  Christ,  praying 
you  in  Christ's  stead,  be  ye  reconciled  to  God."  "  Our  advocate," 
says  he,  "  is  one  that  intercedes  for  those  that  are  already  reconciled, 
even  as  our  Redeemer  doth,  when  he  shows  his  human  nature  to  God 
the  Father,  in  the  unity  of  his  person,  being  God-man.  John  doth 
not  intercede  for  us,  but  declares  Him  (Jesus)  to  be  the  propitiation  for 
our  sins." 

These  extracts,  which  might  be  enlarged  to  a  great  extent,  are  suf- 
ficient to  give  the  intelligent  reader  some  idea  of  the  doctrinal  principles 
of  Paulinus.  He  denied  the  supremacy  of  Peter  over  the  rest  of  the 
apostles — lays  it  down  as  an  inviolable  maxim  of  Christianity,  that 
God  alone  is  the  object  of  our  faith,  in  opposition  to  what  was  taught 
in  the  church  of  Rome — and,  in  short,  to  quote  the  words  of  a  learned 
writer, — "Whoever  examines  the  opinions  of  this  bishop,  will  easily 
perceive  that  he  denies  what  the  church  of  Rome  affirms  with  relation 
to  many  of  its  leading  tenets,  and  affirms  what  the  church  of  Rome 
denies :  and  whatever  colourable  pretexts  may  be  employed,  it  will  be 
difficult  not  to  perceive  this  opposition  through  them  all."* 

*  Allix's  Remarks,  p.  52. 


Character  of  Claude  of  Turin.  251 

But  the  succession  of  events  now  leads  me  to  call  the  reader's  atten- 
tion to  the  life  and  labours  of  Claude,  Bishop  of  Turin.  This  truly 
great  man,  Avho  has  not  improperly  been  called  the  first  Protestant  re- 
former, was  born  in  Spain.  In  his  early  years  he  was  a  chaplain  in 
the  court  of  the  emperor  Lewis  the  Meek  (Ludovicus  Pius,  king  of 
France  and  emperor  of  the  West)  and  was  even  then  in  high  repute 
for  his  knowledge  of  the  Scriptures,  and  his  first-rate  talents  as  a 
preacher;  in  consequence  of  which,  says  the  Abbe  Fleury,  Lewis  per- 
ceiving the  deplorable  ignorance  of  a  great  part  of  Italy,  in  regard  to 
the  doctrines  of  the  gospel,  and  desirous  of  providing  the  churches  of 
Piedmont  with  one  who  might  stem  the  growing  torrent  of  image  wor- 
ship, promoted  Claude  to  the  see  of  Turin,  about  the  year  817.  In 
this  event,  the  attentive  reader  will  hereafter  perceive  the  hand  of  God 
so  ordering  the  course  of  events  in  his  holy  providence  as,  in  the  very 
worst  of  times,  to  prepare,  "  a  seed  to  serve  him,  and  a  generation  to 
call  him  blessed."  The  expectations  of  the  emperor  were  amply  jus- 
tified in  the  labours  of  Claude  ;  by  his  writings  he  ably  illustrated  the 
sacred  Scriptures,  and  drew  the  attention  of  multitudes  to  their  plain 
and  simple  meaning,  unadulterated  by  the  corrupt  glosses  of  the  Catho- 
lic priesthood.  "In  truth,"  says  Fleury,  himself  a  Catholic  writer, 
"he  began  to  preach  and  instruct  with  great  application."  His  first 
zeal  was  directed  against  images,  relics,  pilgrimages,  and  crosses.  It 
is  not  to  be  supposed  that  efforts  such  as  his,  directed  against  the  pre- 
vailing superstitions  of  the  age,  should  produce  no  ostensible  effect; 
the  monks  were  presently  up  in  arms  against  him,  reviling  him  as  a 
blasphemer  and  a  heretic,  and  his  own  people  became  so  refractory 
that,  in  a  little  time,  he  went  about  in  fear  of  his  life.  Supported, 
however,  by  the  testimony  of  a  good  conscience,  and  a  confidence  in 
the  goodness  of  his  cause,  Claude  persevered,  and  wrote  comments  on 
several  books  of  scripture,  of  which,  unfortunately,  the  only  one  that 
has  been  printed  is  his   Exposition  of  the  Epistle  to  the  Galatians. 

"  He  bore  a  noble  testimony,"  says  Mr.  Robinson  (in  his  Ecclesi- 
astical Researches,  p.  447)  "  against  the  prevailing  errors  of  his  time, 
and  was  undoubtedly  a  most  respectable  character." 

Of  one  whose  reputation  stands  so  high,  it  cannot  be  necessary  to 
enter  upon  any  formal  vindication  against  the  calumnies  of  his  oppo- 
nents, but  it  may  be  satisfactory  to  the  reader  to  have  before  him  a 
summary  of  the  principles  which  he  held,  and  for  which  he  nobly  con- 
tended. Let  it  be  observed  then,  that,  throughout  the  whole  of  his 
writings,  he  maintains  that  "  Jesus  Christ  is  the  alone  head  of  the 
church."  This,  the  reader  will  perceive,  struck  immediately  at  the 
root  of  the  first  principle  of  Popery — the  vicarious  office  of  the  bishop 
of  Rome.  He  utterly  discards  the  doctrine  of  human  worthiness  in 
the  article  of  justification,  in  such  a  manner  as  overthrows  all  the  sub- 
tile distinctions  of  Papists  on  the  subject.  He  pronounces  anathemas 
against  traditions  in  matters  of  religion,  and  thus  drew  the  attention  of 
men  to  the  word  of  God,  and  that  alone,  as  the  ground  of  a  Christian's 
faith.  He  maintained,  that  men  are  justified  by  faith,  without  the 
deeds  of  the  law — the  doctrine  which  Luther,  seven  hundred  years 
afterwards,  so  ably  contended  for,  and  which  so  excessively  provoked 


252  History  of  the  Christian  Church. 

the  advocates  of  the  church  of  Rome.  He  contended  that  the  church 
was  subject  to  error,  and  denied  that  prayers  for  the  dead  can  be  of 
any  use  to  those  that  have  demanded  them  ;  while  he  lashed,  in  the 
severest  manner,  the  superstition  and  idolatry  which  every  where 
abounded  under  the  countenance  and  authority  of  the  see  of  Rome. 

The  writings  of  Claude  were  voluminous  ;  for  he  was  indefatigable 
in  explaining  the  Scriptures,  and  in  opposing  the  torrent  of  supersti- 
tion. He  wrote  three  books  upon  Genesis  in  the  year  815,  and  also  a 
Commentary  on  the  Gospel  by  Matthew,  of  which  there  are  several 
copies  in  England.  He  wrote  a  Commentary  on  Exodus  in  the  year 
821,  and  another  on  Leviticus  in  823,  besides  which,  he  wrote  com- 
ments on  all  the  apostolic  epistles,  which  have  been  since  found,  in 
manuscript  in  two  vols,  in  the  Abbey  of  Fleury,  near  Orleans,  in 
France.  Tbese  latter  were  drawn  up  at  the  express  request  of  the  em- 
peror, Ludovicus  Pius,  to  whom  he  dedicated  his  Commentary  on  the 
Epistle  to  the  Ephesians ;  also  of  Justus,  bishop  of  Charroux,  and  of 
Dructeramnus,  an  abbot  of  celebrity,  to  whom  he  dedicated  his  Com- 
ment on  the  Epistle  to  the  Galatians.  As  a  specimen  of  his  style  and 
sentiments,  the  reader  may  take  the  following  extracts  from  his  illus- 
tration of  the  Lord's  supper. 

"  The  apostles  being  sat  down  at  table,  Jesus  Christ  took  bread, 
blessed  and  brake  it,  and  gave  it  to  his  disciples,  saying  to  them,  Take, 
and  eat — this  is  my  body.  The  ancient  solemnities  of  the  passover, 
which  were  used  in  commemoration  of  the  deliverance  of  the  children 
of  Israel,  being  ended,  he  passeth  on  to  the  new,  because  he  would  have 
the  same  to  be  celebrated  in  his  church,  as  a  memorial  of  the  mystery 
of  her  redemption,  and  to  substitute  the  sacrament  of  his  body,  and  of 
his  blood,  instead  of  the  flesh  and  blood  of  the  paschal  lamb;  and  to 
show  that  it  was  he  himself  to  whom  God  had  sworn,  and  shall  never 
repent,  '  Thou  art  the  eternal  Priest  according  to  the  order  of  Melchi- 
sedec'  Moreover,  he  himself  breaks  the  bread  which  he  gives  the  dis- 
ciples, that  he  might  represent  and  make  it  appear,  that  the  breaking  of 
his  body  would  not  be  contrary  to  his  inclination,  or  without  his  wil- 
lingness to  die;  but  as  he  himself  elsewhere  says,  that  he  had  power 
to  give  his  life,  and  to  deliver  it  up  himself,  as  well  as  to  take  it  again, 
and  raise  himself  from  the  dead.  He  blessed  the  bread  before  he  brake 
it,  to  teach  us  that  he  intended  to  make  a  sacrament  of  it.  When  he 
drew  nigh  to  the  time  of  his  death  and  passion,  it  is  said,  that,  having 
taken  the  bread  and  cup,  he  gave  thanks  to  his  Eternal  Father.  He 
who  had  taken  upon  him  to  expiate  the  iniquities  of  others,  gave 
thanks  to  his  Father,  without  having  done  any  thing  that  was  worthy 
of  death :  He  blesseth  it  with  profound  humility  at  the  very  time  that 
he  saw  himself  laden  with  stripes,  no  doubt  to  teach  us  that  submission 
which  we  ought  to  exercise  [under  the  chastening  hand  of  God.]  If 
he,  who  was  innocent,  endured  with  meekness  and  tranquillity,  the 
stripes  due  to  the  iniquities  of  others,  it  was  to  teach  and  instruct  us 
what  we  ought  to  do  when  corrected  for  our  own  transgressions.  In 
regard  to  his  saying,  "  This  is  my  blood  of  the  New  Testament,"  it 
is  to  teach  us  to  distinguish  between  the  new  covenant  and  the  old — 
the  latter  of  which  was  consecrated  by  the  effusion  of  the  blood  of 


Claude's  sentiments  on  the  Eucharist.  253 

goats  and  oxen,  as  the  [Jewish]  lawgiver  said  at  the  sprinkling  of  it, 
"  This  is  the  blood  of  the  covenant  that  God  hath  commanded  you :" 
For  it  was  necessary  that  the  patterns  of  true  things  should  be  purified 
by  these,  but  that  the  heavenly  places  should  be  purified  with  more 
excellent  sacrifices,  according  to  what  the  apostle  Paul  declares  through- 
out his  whole  epistle  to  the  Hebrews,  where  he  makes  a  distinction 
between  the  law  and  the  gospel.  Jesus  Christ,  .when  about  to  suffer, 
says,  "  I  will  drink  no  more  of  this  fruit  of  the  vine,  until  the  day  that 
I  shall  drink  it  new  with  you  in  the  kingdom  of  my  Father."  As  if  he 
had  plainly  said,  "I  will  no  longer  take  delight  in  the  carnal  ceremo- 
nies of  the  synagogue,  amongst  the  number  of  which,  the  great  festival 
of  the  paschal  lamb  was  one  of  the  chiefest;  for  the  time  of  my  resur- 
rection is  at  hand;  that  day  will  arrive,  when  I  shall  be  lifted  up  to  my 
heavenly  kingdom,  even  to  a  state  of  glorious  immortality,  where  I 
6hall  be  filled  together  with  you,  with  a  new  joy  for  the  salvation  of 
my  people,  which  shall  be  born  again  in  the  spring  of  one  and  the  same 
grace.  The  "  new  wine,"  may  also  import  the  immortality  of  our  re- 
newed bodies;  for  when  he  saith,  "I  will  drink  it  with  yon,"  he  pro- 
mises them  the  resurrection  of  their  bodies,  in  order  to  their  being 
clothed  with  immortality." 

In  the  year  828,  Claude  was  attacked  most  fiercely  by  a  French 
monkish  writer  of  the  name  of  Dungalus,  who  censures  him  for  taking 
upon  himself,  after  a  lapse  of  more  than  eight  hundred  and  twenty 
years,  to  reprove  those  things  that  had  hitherto  been  in  continual  use, 
as  if  there  had  been  none  before  himself  that  had  ever  had  any  zeal  for 
religion.  About  the  same  time  another  writer  of  the  same  school, 
whose  name  was  Theodemirus,  wrote  to  him,  giving  him  to  understand 
that  his  opinions  and  behaviour  every  where  gave  great  offence.  His 
answer  to  these  writers  was  such  as  made  it  quite  unnecessary  for  him 
to  write  another  treatise  on  the  same  or  a  similar  occasion ;  and  in  the 
following  extracts  from  it,  the  reader  may  almost  persuade  himself  that 
he  is  perusing  the  pages  of  the  immortal  Luther. 

"  I  have  received,"  says  he  to  Theodemirus,  "  by  a  special  messen- 
ger, your  letter,  with  the  articles,  wholly  stuffed  with  babbling  and 
fooleries.  You  declare  in  these  articles,  that  you  have  been  troubled 
that  my  fame  was  spread  not  only  throughout  all  Italy,  but  also  in 
Spain  and  elsewhere ;  as  if  I  were  preaching  a  new  doctrine,  or  setting 
myself  up  as  the  founder  of  a  new  sect,  contrary  to  the  rules  of  the 
ancient  Catholic  faith,  which  is  an  absolute  falsehood.  But  it  is  no 
wonder  that  the  members  of  Satan  should  talk  of  me  at  this  rate,  since 
they  called  [Christ]  our  Head  a  deceiver,  and  one  that  had  a  devil,  &c. 
For,  I  teach  no  new  heresy,  but  keep  myself  to  the  pure  truth,  preach- 
ing and  publishing  nothing  but  that.  On  the  contrary,  as  far  as  in  me 
lies,  I  have  repressed,  opposed,  cast  down,  and  destroyed,  and  do  still 
repress,  oppose  and  destroy,  to  the  utmost  of  my  power,  all  sects, 
schisms,  superstitions,  and  heresies,  and  shall  never  cease  so  to  do, 
God  being  my  helper,  as  far  as  in  me  lies. 

"  When  I  came  to  Turin,  I  found  all  the  churches  full  of  abomina- 
tions and  images ;  and  because  I  began  to  destroy  what  every  one 
adored,  every  one  began  to  open  his  mouth  against  me.     These  kind 

22 


254  History  of  the  Christian  Church. 

of  people  against  whom  we  have  undertaken  to  defend  the  church  of 
God,  tell  us,  if  you  write  upon  the  wall,  or  draw  the  images  of  Paul, 
of  Jupiter,  of  Saturn,  or  Mercury,  neither  are  the  one  of  these  gods,  nor 
the  other  apostles,  and  neither  the  one  nor  the  other  of  these  are  men, 
and  therefore  the  name  is  changed.  But,  surely,  if  we  ought  to  wor- 
ship them,  we  ought  rather  to  worship  them  during  their  lifetime,  than 
as  thus  represented  as  .the  portraits  of  beasts,  or  (what  is  yet  more  true) 
of  stone  or  wood,  which  have  neither  life,  feeling,  nor  reason.  For  if 
we  may  neither  worship  nor  serve  the  works  of  God's  hand,  how 
much  less  may  we  worship  the  works  of  men's  hands  and  pay  adora- 
tion to  them  in  honour  of  those  whose  remembrance  we  say  they  are? 
For  if  the  image  you  worship  is  not  God,  wherefore  dost  thou  bow 
down  to  false  images  ;  and  wherefore,  like  a  slave,  dost  thou  bend  thy 
body  to  pitiful  shrines,  and  to  the  work  of  men's  hands  ?  Certainly, 
not  only  he  who  serves  and  honours  visible  images,  but  also  whatsoever 
creature  else,  whether  heavenly  or  earthly,  spiritual  or  corporeal,  serves 
the  same  instead  of  God,  and  from  it  expects  the  salvation  of  his  soul, 
which  he  ought  to  look  for  from  God  alone.  All  such  are  of  the  num- 
ber of  those  concerning  whom  the  apostle  said,  that  "  they  worshipped 
and  served  the  creature  more  than  the  Creator." 

"  But  mark  what  the  followers  of  superstition  and  false  religion  al- 
lege !  They  tell  us  it  is  in  commemoration  and  honour  of  our  Saviour 
that  we  serve,  honour,  and  adore  the  cross — persons  whom  nothing  in 
the  Saviour  pleaseth,  but  that  which  was  pleasing  to  the  ungodly,  viz. 
the  reproach  of  his  sufferings  and  the  token  of  his  death.  Hereby  they 
evince  that  they  perceive  only  of  him  what  the  wicked  saw  and  per- 
ceived of  him,  whether  Jews,  or  heathens,  who  do  not  see  his  resur- 
rection, and  do  not  consider  him  but  as  altogether  swallowed  up  of 
death,  without  regarding  what  the  apostle  says,  "  We  know  Jesus 
Christ  no  longer  according  to  the  flesh." 

"  God  commands  one  thing,  and  these  people  do  quite  the  contrary. 
God  commands  us  to  bear  our  cross,  and  not  to  worship  it;  but  these 
are  all  for  worshipping  it,  whereas  they  do  not  bear  it  at  all — to  serve 
God  after  this  manner  is  to  go  a-whoring  from  him.  For  if  we  ought 
to  adore  the  cross,  because  Christ  was  fastened  to  it,  how  many  other 
things  are  there  which  touched  Jesus  Christ,  and  which  he  made  ac- 
cording to  the  flesh?  Did  he  not  continue  nine  months  in  the  womb 
of  the  virgin  ?  Why  do  they  not  then  on  the  same  score  worship  all 
that  are  virgins,  because  a  virgin  brought  forth  Jesus  Christ  ?  Why  do 
they  not  adore  mangers  and  old  clothes,  because  he  was  laid  in  a  man- 
ger and  wrapped  in  swaddling  clothes  ?  Why  do  they  not  adore  fish- 
ing-boats, because  he  slept  in  one  of  them,  and  [from  it]  preached  to 
the  multitudes,  and  caused  a  net  to  be  cast  out,  wherewith  was  caught 
a  miraculous  quantity  of  fish?  Let  them  adore  asses,  because  lie  en- 
tered into  Jerusalem  upon  the  foal  of  an  ass ;  and  lambs,  because  it  is' 
written  of  him,  "Behold  the  Lamb  of  God  that  taketh  away  the  sin  of 
the  world."  But  these  sorts  of  men  would  rather  eat  live  lambs  than 
worship  their  images  !  Why  do  they  not  worship  lions,  because'  he  is 
called  "the  lion  of  the  tribe  of  Judah  ?"  or  rocks,  since  it  is  said,  "and 
that  rock  was  Christ  ?"  or  thorns,  because  he  was  crowned  with  them  ? 
or  lances,  because  one  of  them  pierced  his  side  ? 


Sentiments  of  Claude  of  Turin.  255 

"  All  these  things  are  ridiculous,  and  rather  to  be  lamented  than  set 
forth  in  writing;  but  we  are  compelled  to  state  them  in  opposition  to 
fools,  and  to  declaim  against  those  hearts  of  stone,  which  the  arrows 
and  sentences  of  the  word  of  God  cannot  pierce.  Come  to  yourselves 
again,  ye  miserable  transgressors ;  why  are  ye  gone  astray  from  the 
truth,  and  why,  having  become  vain,  are  ye  fallen  in  love  with  vanity? 
Why  do  you  crucify  again  the  Son  of  God,  and  expose  him  to  open 
shame,  and  by  these  means  make  souls,  by  troops,  to  become  the  com- 
panions of  devils,  estranging  them  from  their  Creator,  by  the  horrible 
sacrilege  of  your  images  and  likenesses,  and  thus  precipitating  them 
into  everlasting  damnation? 

"  As  for  your  reproaching  me,  that  I  hinder  men  from  running  in  pil- 
grimage to  Rome,  I  demand  of  you  yourself,  whether  thou  thinkest  that 
to  go  to  Rome  is  to  repent,  or  to  do  penance  ?  If  indeed  it  be,  why 
then  hast  thou  for  so  long  a  time  damned  so  many  souls  by  confining 
them  in  thy  monastery,  and  whom  thou  hast  taken  into  it,  that  they 
might  there  do  penance,  if  it  be  so  that  the  way  to  do  penance  is  to  go 
to  Rome,  and  yet  thou  hast  hindered  them  ?  What  hast  thou  to  say 
against  this  sentence,  '  Whosoever  shall  lay  a  stone  of  stumbling  be- 
fore any  of  these  little  ones,  it  were  better  for  him  that  a  millstone  were 
hung  about  his  neck,  and  he  cast  into  the  bottom  of  the  sea  V 

"  We  know  very  well  that  this  passage  of  the  gospel  is  quite  misun- 
derstood— '  Thou  art  Peter,  and  upon  this  rock  I  will  build  my  church ; 
and  I  will  give  unto  thee  the  keys  of  the  kingdom  of  heaven ;'  under 
the  pretence  of  which  words,  the  stupid  and  ignorant  multitude  desti- 
tute of  all  spiritual  knowledge,  betake  themselves  to  Rome,  in  the  hope 
of  acquiring  eternal  life.  But  the  ministry  [of  the  gospel]  belongs  to 
all  the  true  presbyters  and  pastors  of  the  church,  who  discharge  the 
same  as  long  as  they  are  in  this  world,  and  when  they  have  paid  the 
debt  of  death,  others  succeed  in  their  places,  who  possess  the  same 
authority  and  power. 

"  Return,  O  ye  blind,  to  your  light;  return  to  him  who  enlightens 
every  man  that  cometh  into  the  world.  All  of  you,  however  numerous 
ye  may  be,  who  depart  from  this  light,  ye  walk  in  darkness,  and  know 
not  whither  ye  go,  for  the  darkness  has  put  out  your  eyes.  If  we  are 
to  believe  God  when  he  promiseth,  how  much  more  when  he  swears, 
and  saith,  If  Noah,  Daniel,  and  Job,  (that  is,  if  the  saints  whom  you 
call  upon,  were  endowed  with  holiness,  righteousness,  and  merit,  equal 
to  theirs,)  they  shall  neither  deliver  son  nor  daughter;  and  it  is  for  this 
end  he  makes  the  declaration,  that  none  might  place  their  confidence,  in 
either  the  merits  or  the  intercession  of  saints.  Understand  ye  this,  ye 
people  without  understanding?  Ye  fools,  when  will  ye  be  wise  ?  Ye 
who  run  to  Rome,  there  to  seek  for  the  intercession  of  an  apostle. 

"  The  fifth  thing  for  which  you  reproach  me  is — that  you  are  much 
displeased,  because  '  the  apostolic  lord'  (for  so  you  are  pleased  to  nomi- 
nate the  late  Pope  Paschal)  had  honoured  me  with  this  charge.  But 
you  should  remember,  that  he  only  is  apostolic  who  is  the  keeper  and 
guardian  of  the  apostle's  doctrine,  and  not  he  who  boasts  himself  of 
being  seated  in  the  chair  of  the  apostle,  and  in  the  mean  time  neglects 


256  History  of  the  Christian  Church. 

to  acquit  himself  of  the  apostolic  charge ;  for  the  Lord  saith,  that  the 
Scribes  and  Pharisees  sat  in  Moses'  seat."* 

From  these  extracts,  some  estimate  may  be  formed  of  the  principles 
and  character  of  Claude  of  Turin — a  name  less  known  in  the  present 
day,  and  a  character  less  honoured,  than  they  deserve.  By  his  preach- 
ing, and  by  his  valuable  writings,  he  disseminated  the  doctrine  of  the 
kingdom  of  heaven — and,  although  the  seed  were  as  a  grain  of  mustard 
seed  cast  into  the  earth,  the  glorious  effects  ultimately  produced  by  it, 
justify  the  truth  of  our  Lord's  parable,  that  when  it  is  grown  up,  it  pro- 
duced! a  tree,  whose  branches  are  so  ramified  and  extended,  that  the 
birds  of  the  air  come  and  lodge  therein.  His  doctrine  grew  exceed- 
ingly— the  valleys  of  Piedmont  were  in  time  filled  with  his  disciples, 
and  while  midnight  darkness  sat  enthroned  over  almost  every  portion 
of  the  globe,  the  Waldenses,  which  is  only  another  name  for  the  in- 
habitants of  these  valleys,  preserved  the  gospel  among  them  in  its  native 
purity,  and  rejoiced  in  its  glorious  light. 

Claude  continued  his  labours  at  Turin  at  least  twenty  years,  for  he 
was  alive  in  eight  hundred  and  thirty-nine — but  we  have  no  documents 
existing  that  enable  us  to  trace  out  the  operation  of  his  principles  in 
the  formation  of  independent  churches,  in  a  state  of  separation  from  the 
world  ;  and  it  is  very  probable  that  during  the  life  of  this  venerable  man, 
but  few  attempts  of  this  kind  were  made.  The  Catholic  writers,  par- 
ticularly Genebrard  in  his  Chronology,  and  also  Rorenco,  have  explicit- 
ly owned,  that  "  the  valleys  of  Piedmont,  which  belonged  to  the  bi- 
shoprick  of  Turin,  preserved  the  opinions  of  Claude  in  the  ninth  and 
tenth  centuries  ;"  and,  in  the  account  of  the  Paterines,  which  we  shall 
soon  arrive  at,  we  shall  see  how  extensively  they  spread  not  only  in 
Piedmont,  but  throughout  the  neighbouring  country  of  the  Milanese. 
"It  is  admitted,"  says  Mr.  Robinson,  "that  if  the  Waldenses  had 
reasoned  consequentially  on  the  principles  of  their  master,  they  would, 
after  his  death,  have  dissented,  but  there  is  no  evidence  that  they  did 
reason  so."  He,  therefore,  is  of  opinion,  that  some  considerable  time 
elapsed  (probably  half  a  century,)  before  they  broke  off  all  communion 
with  the  established  church. 

It  will,  no  doubt,  appear  a  matter  of  surprise  to  some,  that  an  op- 
poser  so  zealous  and  intrepid  as  Claude  certainly  was,  should  have  es- 
caped the  fury  of  the  church  of  Rome.  But  it  should  be  remembered, 
that  the  despotism  of  that  wicked  court  had  not  yet  arrived  at  its  pleni- 
tude of  power  and  intolerance.  To  which  may  be  added  as  another 
very  probable  reason,  that  some  of  the  European  monarchs  viewed  the 
domineering  influence  of  the  bishops  of  Rome  with  considerable  jealousy, 
and  gladly  extended  their  protection  to  those  whose  labours  had  a  ten- 
dency to  reduce  it;  such  was  at  this  time  the  case  with  the  court  of 
France  in  regard  to  Claude.  It  is,  nevertheless,  sufficiently  manifest, 
that  this  great  man  held  his  life  in  continual  jeopardy.  "In  standing 
up,"  says  he,  "  for  the  confirmation  and  defence  of  the  truth,  I  am  be- 
come a  reproach  to  my  neighbours,  to  that  degree,  that  those  who  see 
us  do  not  only  scoff  at  us,  but  point  at  us  one  to  another.     But  God, 

*  Allix's  Remarks,  ch.  ix.  p.  64 — 77. 


Character  of  Charlemagne.  257 

the  Father  of  mercies,  and  author  of  all  consolation,  hath  comforted  us  in 
all  our  afflictions,  that  we  may  be  able,  in  like  manner,  to  comfort  those 
that  are  cast  down  with  sorrow  and  affliction.  We  rely  upon  the  pro- 
tection of  him  who  hath  armed  and  fortified  us  with  the  armour  of  righ- 
teousness and  of  faith,  the  tried  shield  of  our  salvation."* 


SECTION  II. 


THE  STATE  OF  THE  CATHOLIC  CHURCH  FROM  THE  NINTH  TO  THE  TWELFTH 
CENTURY. A.  D.  800 1200. 

The  ninth  and  tenth  centuries  of  the  Christian  aera,  are  universally 
allowed  to  form  the  lowest  point  of  depression  to  which  the  profession 
of  the  religion  of  Jesus  was  reduced  in  regard  to  darkness  and  supersti- 
tion. It  will  not,  therefore,  be  necessary  to  detain  the  reader  long  from 
subjects  of  a  more  pleasing  nature,  by  dwelling  very  minutely  upon 
the  state  of  things  during  this  period.  The  fact  is  acknowledged  by 
the  papists  themselves ;  by  Caranza,  Genebrard,  Baronius,  and  others, 
who  describe  the  tenth  century  as  a  monstrous  age.  The  language  of 
the  latter  writer  indeed,  is  so  remarkable,  that  it  deserves  to  be  quoted. 
Alluding  to  Psalm  xliv.  23,  he  says,  "  Christ  was  then,  as  it  would  ap- 
pear, in  a  deep  sleep,  and  the  ship  was  covered  with  waves ;  and  what 
seemed  worse,  when  the  Lord  was  thus  asleep,  there  were  no  disciples, 
by  their  cries  to  awaken  him,  being  themselves  all  fast  asleep."  It  may 
not,  however,  be  without  its  use  to  take  a  rapid  glance  at  the  proceed- 
ings of  the  court  of  Rome,  and  mark  the  stages  by  which  the  antichris- 
tian  power  arrived  at  its  zenith. 

On  entering  upon  this  subject,  there  is  one  remarkable  circumstance 
which  merits  the  reader's  notice  as  he  proceeds,  for  the  fact  is  worthy 
of  his  attention.  It  has  fallen  to  our  lot,  through  the  good  providence  of 
God,  to  see  this  monstrous  power,  which  for  a  succession  of  ages  tyran- 
nized over  the  bodies  and  souls  of  men,  virtually  annihilated  by  the 
power  of  France.  What  the  reader  should  particularly  remark  is,  that 
it  was  by  the  aid  of  that  same  power,  in  a  very  especial  manner,  that  the 
"  Man  of  Sin"  was  elevated  to  his  throne.  It  can  scarcely  be  necessary 
to  recal  to  his  recollection  the  intrigues  between  the  popes  and  French 
monarchs,  of  which  I  have  given  a  short  detail  in  a  former  section.* 
The  se  quel  will  appear  to  be  quite  in  character ;  but  we  must  go  back 
a  little  to  trace  the  subject  in  order. 

On  the  death  of  Pepin,  king  of  France,  in  the  year  768,  his  dominions 
were  divided  between  his  two  sons,  Charles  and  Carloman,  the  latter 
of  whom  dying  two  years  afterwards,  Charles  became  sole  monarch  of 
that  country.  In  his  general  character,  he  somewhat  resembled  our 
English  Alfred,  and  is  deservedly  ranked  amongst  the  most  illustrious 

*  Collection  of  his  Works,  torn.  i.  quoted  by  Dr.  Allix,  p.  72. 
f  See  page  231. 

23* 


258  History  of  the  Christian  Church. 

sovereigns  that  have  appeared — a  rare  instance  of  a  monarch,  who  united 
his  own  glory  with  the  happiness  of  his  people.  En  private  life  he  was 
amiable  ;  an  affectionate  father,  a  fond  husband,  and  a  generous  friend. 
Though  engaged  in  many  wars,  he  was  far  from  neglecting  the  arts  of 
peace,  the  Avelfare  of  his  subjects,  or  the  cultivation  of  his  own  mind. 
Government,  morals,  religion,  and  letters,  were  his  constant  pursuits. 
He  frequently  convened  the  national  assemblies,  for  regulating  the  affairs 
both  of  church  and  state.  His  attention  extended  to  the  most  distant 
corner  of  his  empire,  and  to  all  ranks  of  men.  His  house  was  a  model 
of  economy,  and  his  person  of  simplicity  and  true  grandeur.  "  For 
shame,"  he  would  say  to  some  of  his  nobles,  who  were  more  finely 
dressed  than  the  occasion  required,  "learn  to  dress  like  men,  and  let 
the  world  judge  of  your  rank  by  your  merit,  not  your  dress.  Leave 
silks  and  finery  to  women,  or  reserve  them  for  those  days  of  pomp  and 
ceremony  when  robes  are  worn  for  show,  not  use."  He  was  fond  of 
the  company  of  learned  men,  and  assembled  them  from  all  parts  of 
Europe,  forming  in  his  palace  a  kind  of  royal  academy,  of  which  he 
condescended  to  become  a  member,  and  of  which  he  made  Alcuin,  our 
learned  countryman,*  the  head  ;  at  the  same  time  honouring  him  as  his 
companion  and  particular  favourite.  "The  dignity  of  his  person,  the 
length  of  his  reign,  the  prosperity  of  his  arms,  the  vigour  of  his  govern- 
ment, and  the  reverence  of  distant  nations,  distinguish  Charles  from 

*  For  the  honour  of  our  country,  I  here  record  a  few  particulars  concerning 
Alcuin.  He  was  born  in  the  north  of  England,  and  educated  at  York,  under  the 
direction  of  archbishop  Egbert,  whom  in  his  letters  he  frequently  styles  his  be- 
loved master,  and  the  clergy  of  York  the  companions  of  his  youthful  studies. 
Being  sent  on  an  embassy  by  OfTa,  king  of  Mercia,  to  the  emperor  Charlemagne, 
his  talents  and  his  virtues  so  won  upon  the  latter,  that  he  contracted  ahigh  esteem 
for  him,  and  a  mutual  friendship  ensued.  Charles  earnestly  solicited,  and  at 
length  prevailed  upon  him  to  settle  in  his  court  and  become  his  preceptor  in  the 
sciences.  He  accordingly  instructed  that  prince  in  rhetoric,  logic,  mathematics, 
and  divinity,  and  was  treated  with  so  much  kindness  and  familiarity  by  the  em- 
peror, that  by  way  of  eminence,  the  courtiers  called  him  "the  emperor's  de- 

Alcuin,  having  passed  many  years  in  the  most  intimate  familiarity  with  Charle- 
magne, at  length,  with  great  difficulty,  obtained  leave  to  retire  to  his  Abbey  of 
St.  Martins  at  Tours.  Here  he  kept  up  a  constant  correspondence  with  the  em- 
peror, and  their  letters  evince  their  mutual  regard  for  religion  and  learning,  and 
their  anxiety  to  promote  them  in  the  most  munificent  manner.  In  one  of  these 
letters,  which  Dr.  Henry  has  translated,  there  is  a  passage  which  throws  some 
light  on  the  learning  of  the  times.  "  The  employment  of  your  Alcuin,"  says  he 
to  the  emperor,  "  in  his  retreat,  are  suited  to  his  humble  sphei-e,  but  they  are 
neither  inglorious  nor  unprofitable.  I  spend  my  time  in  the  halls  of  St.  Martin, 
in  teaching  some  of  the  noble  youths  under  my  care  the  intricacies  of  grammar, 
and  inspiring  them  with  a  taste  for  the  learning  of  the  ancients  ;  in  describing  to 
others  the  order  and  revolutions  of  those  shining  orbs  which  adorn  the  azure  vault 
of  heaven ;  and  in  explaining  to  others  the  mysteries  of  divine  wisdom,  which  are 
contained  in  the  Holy  Scriptures  ;  suiting  my  instructions  to  the  views  and  capa- 
cities of  my  scholars,  that  I  may  train  up  many  to  be  ornaments  to  the  church  of 
God  and  to  the  court  of  your  imperial  majesty.  In  doing  this,  I  find  a  great  want 
of  several  things,  particularly  of  those  excellent  books  in  all  arts  and  sciences, 
which  I  enjoyed  in  my  native  country,  through  the  expense  and  care  of  my  great 
master  Egbert.  May  it,  therefore,  please  your  majesty,  animated  with  the  most 
ardent  love  of  learning,  to  permit  me  to  send  some  of  your  young  gentlemen  into 


Intolerant  conduct  of  Charlemagne.  259 

the  royal  crowd  :  and  Europe  dates  a  new  aera  from  his  restoration  of  the 
western  empire."* 

But  with  all  these  amiable  traits  in  the  character  of  Charles  the 
Great  (or  Charle-magne,  as  he  is  usually  called)  a  superstitious  at- 
tachment to  the  see  of  Rome,  unhappily  mingled  itself  with  all  his 
policy,  and  led  him  to  engage  in  theological  disputes  and  quibbles  un- 
worthy of  his  character.!  It  would  have  been  well  for  his  memory, 
indeed,  had  he  stopped  there ;  but  a  blind  zeal  for  the  propagation  of 
Christianity,  which  extinguished  his  natural  feelings,  made  him  guilty 

England,  to  procure  for  us  those  books  which  we  want,  and  transplant  the 
flowers  of  Britain  into  France,  that  their  fragrance  may  no  longer  be  confined  to 
York,  but  may  perfume  the  palaces  of  Tours."  Charlemagne  often  solicited 
Alcuin  to  return  to  court,  but  he  excused  himself,  and  remained  at  Tours  until 
his  death,  May  19,  804.  He  understood  the  Latin,  Greek,  and  Hebrew  languages 
extremely  well ;  was  an  excellent  orator,  philosopher,  and  mathematician.  His 
works,  which  consist  of  fifty-three  treatises,  homilies,  commentaries,  letters,  poems, 
8cc.  are  comprised  in  2  vols,  folio. 

*  Gibbon,  vol.  ix.  ch.  xlix. 

f  The  following  short  letter  written  by  Charlemagne,  and  addressed  to  Odil- 
bert,  archbishop  of  Metz,  while  it  exhibits  a  striking  proof  of  this  monarch's 
concern  to  promote  attention  to  the  means  of  instruction  and  learning,  is  not 
less  deserving  regard  on  account  of  the  disclosure  which  it  makes  of  the  state  of 
religion  in  liis  day. 

"We  have  often  wished,"  says  he,  "if  we  could  accomplish  it,  to  converse 
with  you  and  your  colleagues  familiarly  on  the  utility  of  the  holy  church  of  God. 
But  although  we  are  not  ignorant  of  the  real  concern  with  which  you  watch 
over  divine  things,  yet  we  must  not  omit,  while  we  trust  in  the  co-operating  in- 
fluence of  the  Holy  Spirit,  by  our  authority  to  exhort  and  admonish  you  to  la- 
bour in  word  and  doctrine  in  the  church  of  God,  more  and  more  studiously,  and 
with  watchful  perseverance;  so  that  by  your  pious  diligence  the  word  of  God 
may  spread  and  flourish  extensively,  and  the  number  of  the  Christian  people 
may  be  multiplied,  to  the  praise  and  glory  of  our  Saviour.  Wherefore  we  de- 
sire to  know  in  writing,  or  from  your  own  mouth,  in  what  manner  you  and  your 
clergy  teach  and  instruct  both  those  who  are  candidates  for  the  holy  office  of  the 
ministry,  and  the  people  committed  to  you  in  the  sacrament  of  Baptism.  That 
is,  Why  does  a  child  first  become  a  Catechuman  ?  and  what  is  a  Catechuman  ? 
And  so  of  other  things  in  their  order.  Of  examination,  what  is  it  ?  Of  the  creed; 
what  is  the  interpretation,  or  meaning  of  it  among  the  Latins  ?  Of  belief,  in 
what  manner  are  we  to  believe  in  God  the  Father  Almighty,  in  Jesus  Christ  his 
Son,  and  in  the  Holy  Spirit  ?  &c.  Of  renouncing  Satan,  and  his  works  and 
pomp,  what  is  this  renunciation  ?  What  is  the  meaning  of  breathing  on  the  per- 
son, and  exorcising  him  ?  Why  does  the  Catechuman  receive  salt  ?  Why  are  the 
ears  touched  ?  the  breast  anointed  with  oil  ?  the  arms  crossed  ?  and  the  breast 
and  arms  washed  ?  Why  are  white  garments  put  on  ?  Why  is  the  head  anointed 
with  the  holy  chrism  ?  Why  is  it  covered  with  a  mystical  vail  ?  And  why  is  con- 
formation made  with  the  body  and  blood  of  Christ  ?  All  these  things  we  require 
you  by  careful  study  to  examine,  and  to  report  an  accurate  account  of  them  to 
us  in  writing;  and  further,  to  state  whether  you  so  maintain  and  preach  these 
things,  and  govern  your  own  life  by  the  doctrines  which  you  preach."  Ran- 
kin's History  of  France,  vol.  i.  p.  406.  Now  all  this  had  been  well,  if  the  Scrip- 
tures had  said  any  thing  about  these  things;  but  it  was  unfortunate  for  the  zeal 
of  this  monarch,  that  the  things  here  enumerated,  and  about  which  he  was  con- 
cerned, were  almost  entirely  the  corruptions  of  Christianity,  with  which  that 
divine  institution  has  nothing  to  do,  except  to  condemn  them  as  the  doctrines 
and  commandments  of  men.  One  cannot  but  feel  curious  to  know  what  kind  of 
answers  the  archbishop  would  return  to  these  sage  questions, 


260  History  of  the  Christian  Church. 

of  severities  which  shock  humanity.  One  of  the  leading  objects  of 
his  reign,  was  the  conversion  of  the  Saxons,  a  nation  of  Germany,  to 
the  Christian  faith.  He  seems  to  have  considered  a  reception  of  the 
mild  doctrines  of  Christianity  as  the  best  means  of  taming  a  savage 
people,  and  to  accomplish  this  he  sent  his  armies  to  invade  their  coun- 
try. After  a  number  of  battles  gallantly  fought,  and  many  cruelties 
committed  on  both  sides,  the  Saxons  were  totally  subjected  ;  but  as 
they  were  no  less  tenacious  of  their  religious  than  of  their  civil  liberty, 
persecution  marched  in  the  train  of  war,  and  stained  with  blood  the 
fetters  of  slavery.  Four  thousand  five  hundred  of  their  principal  men 
because  they  refused,  on  a  particular  occasion,  to  give  up  their  cele- 
brated general,  Witikind,  were  ordered  to  be  massacred — an  instance 
of  severity  scarcely  to  be  paralleled  in  the  history  of  mankind,  espe- 
cially if  we  consider  that  the  Saxons  were  not  the  natural  subjects  of 
Charles,  but  an  independent  people  struggling  for  freedom.  He  com- 
pelled the  Saxons,  under  pain  of  death,  to  receive  baptism  ;  condemn- 
ed to  the  severest  punishments  the  breakers  of  Lent,  and  every  where 
substituted  force  for  persuasion. 

As  the  little  learning  which,  at  that  period,  remained  among  man- 
kind, was  monopolized  by  the  clergy,  it  cannot  excite  our  surprise 
that  they  obtained  the  most  signal  marks  of  his  favour.  He  establish- 
ed the  payment  of  tithes,  and  admitted  the  clergy  into  the  national  as- 
semblies, associating  them  with  the  secular  nobles  in  the  administration 
of  justice  ;  in  return  for  which,  they  honoured  him  with  the  most 
marked  distinctions,  permitting  him  to  sit  in  councils  purely  ecclesias- 
tical. Accordingly,  in  the  year  794,  we  find  him  seated  on  a  throne 
in  the  council  of  Frankfort,  with  one  of  the  pope's  legates  on  each 
hand,  and  three  hundred  bishops  waiting  his  nod. 

The  object  of  that  council  was  to  investigate  the  sentiments  of  two 
Spanish  bishops,  who,  to  refute  the  accusation  of  Polytheism,  brought 
against  the  Christians  by  the  Jews  and  Mahommedans,  gave  up  the 
proper  divinity  of  Jesus  Christ,  and  maintained  that  he  was  the  Son  of 
God  only  by  adoption.  The  monarch  opened  the  assembly,  and  pro- 
posed the  condemnation  of  this  heresy.  The  council  decided  confor- 
mably to  his  will ;  and  in  a  letter  to  the  churches  of  Spain,  in  conse- 
quence of  that  decision,  Charles  expressed  himself  in  these  remarkable 
words  :  "  You  entreated  me  to  judge  of  myself;  I  have  done  so.  I 
have  assisted  as  an  auditor  and  an  arbiter  in  an  assembly  of  bishops ; 
we  have  examined ;  and  by  the  grace  of  God,  we  have  settled  what  must 
be  believed  !" 

It  was  during  the  reign  of  Charles  the  Great,  that  the  empress  Irene 
convened  the  second  council  of  Nice*  for  the  purpose  of  re-establish- 
ing the  use  of  images,  which  Leo  IV.  and  his  son  Constantine  Copro- 
nymus  had  exerted  themselves  so  much  to  suppress.  That  council 
accordingly  decreed  that  we  ought  to  render  to  images  an  honorary 
worship,  but  not  a  real  adoration,  the  latter  being  due  to  God  alone. 
Whether  designedly  or  not,  but  so  it  was,  that  in  the  translation  of  the 
Acts  of  this  council,  which  pope  Adrian  sent  into  France,  the  meaning 

*  See  page  233. 


Charles  declared  Emperor  of  the  Romans.  261 

of  the  article  which  respected  images  was  entirely  perverted,  for  it  ran 
thus  :  "  I  receive  and  honour  images  according  to  that  adoration  which 
I  pay  to  the  Trinity."  Charles  was  so  shocked  at  this  impiety,  that 
in  the  effervescence  of  his  zeal,  and  with  the  aid  of  the  clergy,  he  drew 
up  a  treatise,  called  the  Caroline  books,  in  which  he  treated  the  Ni- 
cene  council  with  the  utmost  contempt  and  abuse.  He  transmitted 
his  publication  to  Adrian,  desiring  hirn  to  excommunicate  the  empress 
and  her  son.  The  pope  excused  himself  on  the  score  of  images,  rec- 
tifying the  mistake  upon  which  Charles  had  proceeded  ;  but  at  the 
same  time  insinuating,  that  he  would  declare  Irene  and  Constantine 
heretics,  unless  they  restored  some  lands  which  formerly  belonged  to 
the  church.  He  also  took  the  opportunity  of  hinting  at  certain  projects 
which  he  had  formed  for  the  exaltation  of  the  Romish  church,  and  of 
the  French  monarchy.*  "I  cannot,"  said  he,  "  after  what  the  council 
of  Nice  has  done,  declare  Irene  and  her  son  heretics ;  but  I  shall  de- 
clare them  to  be  such,  if  they  do  not  restore  to  me  my  patrimony  in 
Sicily." 

In  the  year  796,  Leo  III.  who  had  succeeded  Adrian  in  the  papacy, 
transmitted  to  Charles  the  Roman  standard,  requesting  him  to  send 
some  person  to  receive  the  oatli  of  fidelity  from  the  Romans,  an  in- 
stance of  submission  with  which  that  monarch  was  highly  flattered. 
Accordingly  in  the  year  800,  we  find  Charles  at  Rome,  where  he 
passed  six  days  in  private  conferences  with  the  pope.  On  Christmas 
day,  as  the  king  assisted  at  mass  in  St.  Peter's  church,  in  the  midst  of 
the  ecclesiastical  ceremonies,  and  while  upon  his  knees  before  the  al- 
tar, the  pope  advanced  and  put  an  imperial  crown  upon  his  head.  As 
soon  as  the  people  perceived  it,  they  exclaimed,  "  Long  life  and  vic- 
tory to  Charles  Augustus,  crowned  by  the  hand  of  God  !  Long  live  the 
great  and  pious  emperor  of  the  Romans."  The  supreme  pontiff  then 
conducted  him  to  a  magnificent  throne,  which  had  been  prepared  for 
the  occasion,  and  as  soon  as  he  was  seated,  paid  him  those  honours 
which  his  predecessors  had  been  accustomed  to  pay  to  the  Roman  em- 
perors. Leo  now  presented  him  with  the  imperial  mantle,  on  being 
invested  with  which,  Charles  returned  to  his  palace  amidst  the  accla- 
mations of  the  multitude. 

Favours  such  as  these  that  were  conferred  by  the  pontiff  on  the 
French  monarch,  imperiously  called  for  an  adequate  return,  and  it  is 
due  to  Charlemagne  to  say  that  he  was  by  no  means  deficient  in  gra- 
titude. His  name,  and  those  of  his  successors,  are  consecrated  as  the 
saviours  and  benefactors  of  the  Roman  church.  The  Greek  emperor 
had  abdicated  or  forfeited  his  right  to  the  exarchate  of  Ravenna,  and 
the  sword  of  Pepin,  the  father  of  Charles,  had  no  sooner  wrested  it 
from  the  grasp  of  Astolphus,  than  he  conferred  it  on  the  Roman  pon- 
tiff, as  a  recompense  "  for  the  remission  of  his  sins  and  the  salvation 
of  his  soul."  The  splendid  donation  was  granted  in  supreme  and  ab- 
solute dominion,  and  the  world  then  beheld,  for  the  first  time,  a  Chris- 
tian bishop  invested  with  the  prerogatives  of  a  temporal  prince  ;  the 
choiceofmagistrat.es,  and  the  exercise  of  justice ;  the  imposition  of 
taxes,  and  the  wealth  of  the  palace  of  Ravenna. 

*   Millot's  Elements  of  General  History,  part  ii. 


262  History  of  the  Christian  Church. 

"Perhaps,"  says  Gibbon,  "the  humility  of  a  Christian  priest 
should  have  rejected  an  earthly  kingdom,  which  it  was  not  easy  for 
him  to  govern  without  renouncing  the  virtues  of  his  profession."  I 
feel  no  disposition  to  controvert  the  justice  of  this  remark  ;  but  humi- 
lity does  not  appear  to  have  been  a  very  prominent  trait  in  the  charac- 
ters of  the  Roman  pontiffs  ;  and  the  profuse  liberality  of  the  French 
kings,  at  this  time,  was  not  much  calculated  to  promote  it  among 
them.  By  their  bounty,  the  ancient  patrimony  of  the  church,  which 
consisted  of  farms  and  houses,  was  converted  into  the  temporal  do- 
minion of  cities  and  provinces.  The  cities  and  islands  which  had 
formerly  been  annexed  to  the  exarchate  of  Ravenna,  were  now  also, 
by  the  gratitude  of  Charles,  yielded  to  the  pope,  to  enlarge  the  circle 
of  the  ecclesiastical  state  ;  and  the  new  emperor  lived  to  behold  in  his 
ecclesiastical  ally,  a  greatness  which,  in  the  cool  moments  of  reflection, 
he  was  unable  to  contemplate  without  jealousy.  But  Charles  died  in 
the  year  814,  at  Aix-la-Chapelle,  his  usual  residence,  in  the  seventy- 
second  year  of  his  age,  and  the  forty-sixth  of  his  reign.  He  had  pre- 
viously associated  his  son  Louis  with  him  in  the  administration  of  go- 
vernment ;  and,  as  if  this  great  man  had  foreseen  the  approaching 
usurpations  of  the  church,  he  placed  the  imperial  crown  upon  the  al- 
tar, and  ordered  the  prince  to  put  it  on  his  own  head,  thereby  inti- 
mating that  he  held  it  only  of  God. 

The  young  prince,  though  very  amiable  in  his  disposition  and  man- 
ners, appears  to  have  been  much  inferior  to  his  father  in  strength  of 
mind.  I  have  already  had  occasion  to  mention  him  in  a  former  sec- 
tion as  the  friend  and  patron  of  Claude  of  Turin.  His  piety  and  pa- 
rental fondness  are  praised  by  historians,  but  his  abilities  were  inade- 
quate to  the  support  of  so  great  a  weight  of  empire-  He  rendered  him- 
self odious  to  the  clergy,  by  attempting  to  reform  certain  abuses  among 
them,  not  foreseeing  that  this  powerful  body  would  not  pay  the  same 
deference  to  his  authority,  which  had  been  yielded  to  the  superior  ca- 
pacity of  his  father.  Three  years  after  his  accession  to  the  throne,  he 
admitted  his  eldest  son,  Lothaire,  to  a  participation  of  the  French  and 
German  territories,  declared  his  son  Pepin,  king  of  Aquitaine,  and 
Louis  king  of  Bavaria.  This  division  gave  offence  to  his  nephew, 
Bernard,  at  that  time  king  of  Italy,  who  revolted,  and  levied  war 
against  his  uncle,  in  contempt  of  his  imperial  authority,  to  which  he 
was  subject — a  rebellious  conduct,  in  which  he  was  encouraged  by  the 
archbishop  of  Milan  and  the  bishop  of  Cremona.  Louis,  on  this  occa- 
sion, acted  with  vigour.  He  raised  a  powerful  army,  and  was  preparing 
to  cross  the  Alps,  when  Bernard  was  abandoned  by  his  troops,  and  the 
unfortunate  prince,  being  made  prisoner,  was  condemned  to  lose  his 
head.  His  uncle  mitigated  the  sentence  to  the  loss  of  his  eyes,  but 
the  unhappy  prince  died  three  days  after  the  punishment  was  inflicted  ; 
and  Louis,  to  prevent  future  troubles,  ordered  three  natural  sons  of 
Charlemagne  to  be  shut  up  in  a  convent. 

In  a  little  time  the  emperor  was  seized  with  keen  remorse  for  his 
conduct.  He  accused  himself  of  the  murder  of  his  nephew,  and  of 
tyrannic  cruelty  to  his  brothers.  In  this  melancholy  humour  he  was 
encouraged  by  the  monks  ;  and  it  at  last  grew  to  such  a  height,  that 


Rebellion  of  the  Emperor's  Sons.  263 

he  impeached  himself  in  an  assembly  of  the  states,  and  requested  the 
bishops  to  enjoin  him  public  penance.  The  clergy,  now  sensible  of 
his  weakness,  set  no  bounds  to  their  usurpations.  The  popes  con- 
cluded that  they  might  do  any  thing  under  so  pious  a  prince.  They 
did  not  wait  for  the  emperor's  confirmation  of  their  election ;  the  bi- 
shops exalted  themselves  above  the  throne,  and  the  whole  fraternity  of 
the  Catholic  clergy  claimed  an  exemption  from  all  civil  jurisdiction. 
Even  the  monks,  while  they  pretended  to  renounce  the  world,  seemed 
to  aspire  to  the  government  of  it. 

In  the  year  822,  the  three  sons  of  Louis  were  associated  in  a  rebel- 
lion against  their  father, — an  unnatural  crime,  in  which  they  were  en- 
couraged by  some  of  the  reigning  ciergy.  The  emperor,  abandoned  by 
his  army,  was  made  prisoner  ;  and  in  all  probability  would  have  lost 
his  crown  had  not  the  nobility  pitied  their  humbled  sovereign,  and  by 
sowing  dissension  among  the  three  brothers,  contrived  to  restore  him 
to  his  dignity.  In  832,  the  three  brothers  formed  a  new  league  against 
their  father,  and  Gregory  IV.  then  pope,  went  to  France  in  the  army 
of  Lothaire,  the  eldest  brother,  under  pretence  of  accommodating  mat- 
ters, but  in  reality  with  an  intention  of  employing  against  the  emperor 
that  power  which  he  derived  from  him,  happy  in  the  opportunity  of 
asserting  the  supremacy  and  independence  of  the  Holy  See.  The 
presence  of  the  pope,  in  those  days  of  superstition,  was  of  itself  suf- 
ficient to  determine  the  fate  of  Louis.  After  a  deceitful  negotiation, 
and  an  interview  with  Gregory  on  the  part  of  Lothaire,  the  unfortu- 
nate emperor  found  himself  at  the  mercy  of  his  rebellious  sons.  He 
was  deposed  in  a  tumultuous  assembly,  and  Lothaire  proclaimed  in 
his  stead  ;  after  which  infamous  transaction  the  pope  returned  to 
Rome. 

To  give  stability  to  this  revolution,  and  at  the  same  time  to  conceal 
the  deformity  of  their  own  conduct,  the  bishops  of  Lothaire's  faction 
had  recourse  to  a  curious  artifice.  "  A  penitent,"  said  they,  "  is  inca- 
pable of  all  civil  offices  ;  a  royal  penitent  must  therefore  be  incapable 
of  reigning ;  let  us  subject  Louis  to  a  perpetual  penance,  and  he  can 
never  reascend  the  throne."  He  was  accordingly  arraigned  in  an  as- 
sembly of  the  states,  by  Ebbo,  archbishop  of  Rheims,  and  condemned 
to  do  penance  for  life. 

Louis  was  then  prisoner  in  a  monastery  at  Soissons,  and  being 
greatly  intimidated,  he  patiently  submitted  to  a  ceremony  no  less  so- 
lemn than  degrading.  He  prostrated  himself  on  a  hair  cloth,  which 
was  spread  before  the  altar,  and  owned  himself  guilty  of  the  charges 
brought  against  him,  in  the  presence  of  many  bishops,  canons,  and 
monks — Lothaire  being  also  present,  that  he  might  enjoy  the  sight  of 
his  father's  humiliation.  Nor  was  this  all ;  the  degraded  emperor  was 
compelled  to  read  aloud  a  written  confession,  in  which  he  was  made 
to  accuse  himself  of  sacrilege  and  murder;  and  to  enumerate  among 
his  crimes,  the  marching  of  troops  in  Lent,  calling  an  assembly  on 
Holy  Thursday,  and  taking  up  arms  to  defend  himself  against  his  re- 
bellious children  !  So  easy  is  it  for  superstition  to  transform  into  crimes 
the  most  innocent,  and  even  the  most  necessary  actions.  After  having 
made  this  humiliating  confession,  Louis,  at  the   command  of  the  arch- 


264  History  of  the  Christian  Church. 

bishop,  laid  aside  his  sword  and  belt,  divested  himself  of  his  royal 
robes,  put  on  the  penitential  sackcloth,  and  retired  to  the  cell  that  was 
assigned  him. 

But  the  feelings  of  nature,  and  the  voice  of  humanity,  at  length  pre- 
vailed over  the  prejudices  of  the  age  and  the  policy  of  the  clergy.  Lo- 
thaire  became  an  object  of  general  abhorrence,  and  his  father  of  com- 
passion. His  two  brothers  united  against  him,  in  behalf  of  that  father 
whom  they  had  contributed  to  humble.  The  nobility  returned  to  their 
obedience,  paying  homage  to  Louis  as  their  lawful  sovereign  ;  and  the 
ambitious  Lothaire  was  obliged  to  crave  mercy  in  the  sight  of  the 
whole  army,  at  the  feet  of  a  parent  and  an  emperor,  whom  he  had 
lately  insulted.  Louis  died  in  the  year  840  near  Mentz,  in  the  sixty- 
fourth  year  of  his  age,  and  the  twenty-seventh  of  his  reign,  leaving  to 
his  unnatural  son  Lothaire  a  crown,  a  sword,  and  a  very  rich  sceptre. 
The  bishop  of  Mentz  observing  that  he  had  left  nothing  to  his  son 
Louis,  reminded  him  that  at  the  least,  forgiveness  was  his  duty;  "  Yes, 
I  forgive  him,"  cried  the  dying  prince,  with  great  emotion  ;  "but  tell 
him  from  me  that  he  ought  to  seek  forgiveness  of  God,  for  bringing  my 
gray  hairs  down  with  sorrow  to  the  grave."* 

Lothaire  succeeded  his  father  in  the  imperial  dignity,  and,  after  a 
reign  of  fifteen  years,  took  the  habit  of  a  monk,  that,  according  to  the 
language  of  those  times,  he  might  atone  for  his  crimes,  and  though  he 
had  lived  a  tyrant,  die  a  saint.  In  this  pious  disguise  he  expired,  be- 
fore he  had  worn  it  a  week. 

His  father  Louis,  by  a  second  marriage,  had  a  son  who  was  after- 
wards known  by  the  name  of  Charles  the  Bald.  At  the  time  of  his 
father's  death  he  was  only  seventeen  years  of  age ;  but  his  father,  in 
bequeathing  the  empire  to  Lothaire,  had  stipulated  for  a  portion  of  ter- 
ritory to  his  youngest  child,  and  the  former  to  fulfil  the  wishes  of  his 
indulgent  father  and  entreaties  of  a  fond  mother,  consented  to  resign  to 
him  a  part  of  his  territories.  But  scarcely  was  Charles  warm  in  his 
seat,  when  he  conspired  with  his  brother  Louis  to  dispossess  Lothaire 
of  the  empire.  Here  fraternal  hatred  appeared  in  all  its  horrors.  A 
battle  was  fought  at  Fontenoy,  in  Burgundy,  than  which,  few  engage- 
ments that  are  upon  record  were  more  bloody,  for  100,000  men  are 
said  to  have  fallen  on  the  spot.t  Lothaire  was  defeated,  and  obliged  to 
abandon  France  to  the  armies  of  his  victorious  brothers.  To  secure 
their  conquest  the  latter  applied  to  the  clergy,  and  with  the  more  confi- 
dence of  success,  as  Lothaire,  in  order  to  raise  his  troops  with  greater 
expedition,  had  promised  the  Saxons  the  liberty  of  renouncing  Chris- 
tianity, the  very  idea  of  which  was  abhorred  by  the  church  of  Rome. 
The  bishops  assembled  at  Aix-la-Chapelle,  and  after  examining  the 
misconduct  of  the  emperor,  inquired  of  the  two  princes,  whether  they 
chose  to  follow  his  example,  or  to  govern  according  to  the  laivs  of 
God — by  which  they  meant,  in  enforcing  Christianity  upon  the  Sax- 
ons. Their  answer  may  be  easily  anticipated.  "  Receive  then  the 
kingdom  by  the  divine  authority,"  added  the  prelates:  "we  exhort 
you,  we  command  you  to  receive  it."     But  Lothaire,  by  means  of  his 

*  VitaLudov.  Pii.  passim.  f  Gibbon's  Rome,  vol.  ix.  ch.  49. 


Assumptions  of  the  Clergy.  265 

indulgence  to  the  Saxons,  and  other  expedients,  was  enabled  to  raise  a 
new  army,  and  to  recover  his  throne.* 

Nothing  is  more  clear,  than  that  the  clergy  now  aspired  to  the  right 
of  disposing  of  crowns,   which  they  founded  on  the  ancient  Jewish 
practice  of  anointing  kings.     They  had  recourse  to  the  most  miserable 
fictions  and  sophisms  to  render  themselves  independent.  They  refused 
to  take  the  oath  of  fidelity,  "because  sacred  hands  could  not,  without 
abomination,  submit  to  hands  impure !"     One  usurpation  led  to  ano- 
ther ;  abuse  constituted  right— a  quibble  appeared  a  divine  law.     Igno- 
rance sanctified  every  thing,  and  the  most  enormous  usurpations  of  the 
clergy  obtained  a  ready  sanction  from,  the  slavish  superstition  of  the 
laity.     One  very  popular  argument  which  the  former  much  insisted  on 
was,  that  the  splendour  of  their  dignity  was  to  the  majesty  of  the  empe- 
rors and  kings  as  the  effulgence  of  the  sun  to  the  borrowed  light  of  the 
moon  ;  and  therefore  they  demanded  and  extorted  from  crowned  heads 
the  most  extravagant  marks  of  respect  and  the  most  debasing  humilia- 
tions.    They  trumped  up  a  collection  of  forged  acts,  known  at  present 
by  the  name  of  "  The  Decretals,"  spurious  writings,  in  which  are 
supposed  the  existence  of  ancient  canons,  ordaining  that  no  provincial 
council  shall  be  held  without  the  permission  of  the  pope  ;   and  that  all 
ecclesiastical  causes  shall  be  under  his  jurisdiction.     The  words  of  the 
immediate  successors  of  the  apostles  are  also  therein  quoted,  and  they 
are  supposed  to  have  left  writings  behind  them.     All  these  being  writ- 
ten in  the  wretched  style   of  the  eighth   century,   and  the  whole  filled 
with  blunders  of  the  grossest  kind,  both   historical  and  geographical, 
the  artifice  was  sufficiently  apparent ;  but  they  had  only  ignorant  per- 
sons to  deceive.     These   false    decretals  imposed  upon  mankind  for 
eight  hundred  years,  and  though  the  fraud  was  at  length  detected,  the 
customs  established  by  them  still  subsist  in  some  countries  :  their  an- 
tiquity supplied  the  place  of  truth  !  The  papal  chair  was  filled  about 
the  middle  of  the  ninth  century  by  Nicholas  I.  one  of  the  most  obsti- 
nate, inflexible,  and  ambitious  prelates  that  ever  disgraced  the  priest- 
hood.    Even  his  own  clergy,  the  bishop  of  Treves  and  Cologne  ac- 
cused him   of  making  himself  emperor  of  the  world,  an   expression 
which,  though  somewhat  strained,  was  not  wholly  without  foundation. 
He  asserted  his  dominion  over  the  French  clergy,  and  received  appeals 
from  all  ecclesiastics,  dissatisfied  with  their  bishops.      Hence  he  taught 
the  people  to  acknowledge  a  supreme  tribunal  at  a  distance  from  their 
own  country,  and  of  course  a  foreign  sway.     He  issued  his  orders  in 
the  most  authoritative  style,  to  regulate  the  disputed  succession   to  the 
kingdom  of  Provence.     "  Let  no  one  prevent  the  emperor,"  says  he, 
"  from  governing  the   kingdoms  which  he  holds  in  virtue  of  a  succes- 
sion confirmed  by  the  holy  see,  and  by  the  crown  which  the  sove- 
reign pontiff  has  set  on  his  head." 

It  is,  however,  pleasing  to  find  that,  deplorable  as  was  the  state  of 
things,  this  domineering  conduct  of  the  popes  did  not  always  go  with- 
out remonstrance,  even  from  some  of  the  clergy  themselves.  Hinc- 
mar,  archbishop  of  Rheims,  for  example,  about  the  year  875,  raised 

*  RussePs  Modern  Europe,  vol.  \.  let  10 
23 


266  -  History  of  the  Christian  Church. 

his  voice  in  the  most  spirited  manner  against  the  arrogant  pretensions 
of  Adrian  II.  the  successor  of  Nicholas.  This  bold  and  independent 
prelate  desired  the  pope  to  call  to  mind  that  respect  and  submission 
which  the  ancient  pontiffs  had  always  paid  to  princes,  and  to  re- 
flect that  his  dignity  gave  him  no  right  over  the  government  of 
kingdoms  ;  that  he  could  not  be  at  the  same  time  pope  and  king  :  that 
the  choice  of  a  sovereign  belongs  to  the  people  ;  that  anathemas  ill  ap- 
plied have  no  effect  upon  the  soul ;  and  that  free  men  are  not  to  be  en- 
slaved by  a  bishop  of  Rome.*  But  the  voice  of  an  individual  is  easily 
drowned  in  the  clamours  of  a  mob.  The  evil  proceeded  in  defiance  of 
the  expostulation  of  Hincmar.  About  the  year  877,  Pope  John  VIII. 
convened  a  council  at  Troyes  hi  France,  one  of  the  canons  of  which 
is  sufficiently  remarkable  to  be  adduced  as  a  specimen  of  the  spirit  of 
the  times.  It  expressly  asserts,  that  "  the  powers  of  the  world  shall 
not  dare  to  seat  themselves  in  the  presence  of  the  bishops,  unless  de- 
sired." 

To  dwell  minutely  upon  this  subject,  and  to  illustrate  the  reign  of 
the  antichristian  power  by  a  copious  detail  of  historical  facts,  though 
an  easy  task,  would  require  more  room  than  can  be  conveniently  al- 
lotted to  such  a  discussion  in  this  sketch.  The  reader  will  probably 
be  satisfied  with  this  concise  detail.  Indeed,  all  our  historians,  civU 
and  ecclesiastical,  agree  in  describing  the  tenth  century  of  the  Chris- 
tian aera  as  the  darkest  epoch  in  the  annals  of  mankind.  "  The  histo- 
ry of  the  Roman  pontiffs  that  lived  in  this  [tenth]  century,"  says  the 
learned  Mosheim,  "  is  a  history  of  so  many  monsters,  and  not  of  men; 
and  exhibits  a  horrible  series  of  the  most  flagitious,  tremendous,  and 
complicated  crimes,  as  all  writers,  even  those  of  the  Romish  commu- 
nion, unanimously  confess."  Nor  was  the  state  of  things  much  better 
in  the  Greek  church  at  this  period  ;  as  a  proof  of  which,  the  same 
learned  writer  instances  the  example  of  Theophylact,  patriarch  of 
Constantinople.  "  This  exemplary  prelate,  who  sold  every  ecclesias- 
tical benefice  as  soon  as  it  became  vacant,  had  in  his  stable  above  two 
thousand  hunting  horses,  which  he  fed  with  pignuts,  pistachios,  dates, 
dried  grapes,  figs  steeped  in  the  most  exquisite  Avines,  to  all  which  he 
added  the  richest  perfumes.  One  holy  Thursday,  as  he  was  cele- 
brating high  mass,  his  groom  brought  him  the  joyful  news  that  one  of 
his  favourite  mares  had  foaled  ;  upon  which  he  threw  down  the  Liturgy, 
left  the  church,  and  ran  in  rapture  to  the  stable,  where  having  express- 
ed his  joy  at  that  grand  event,  he  returned  to  the  altar  to  finish  the  di- 
vine service,  which  he  had  left  interrupted  during  his  absence."! 

To  avoid  the  necessity  of  recurring  to  a  topic  so  replete  with  every 
thing  that  can  excite  disgust  in  the  mind  of  a  humble  Christian,  I  shall 
take  leave  of  it  by  a  short  review  of  the  state  of  things  as  they  existed 
in  the  middle  of  the  eleventh  century. 

In  the  year  1056,  Henry  IV.  surnamed  the  Great,  though  only  five 
years  old,  ascended  the  throne  of  his  father  as  emperor  of  Germany. 
During  the  first  years  of  his  reign,  the  empire  was  harassed  with  civil 
wars,  and  Italy  was  a  prey  to  intestine  disorders.     Nicholas  II.  then 

*  Fleury's  Eccles.  Hist.  -j-  Quoted  from  Fleury's  ficcles.  Hist. 


The  Reign  of  Henry  IV.  267 

filled  the  pontifical  chair ;  and  he  caused  a  council  to  be  convened 
which  consisted  of  a  hundred  and  thirteen  bishops,  who  passed  a  de- 
cree, by  which  it  was  ordained,  that  in  future  the  cardinals  only  should 
elect  the  pope,  and  that  the  election  should  be  confirmed  by  the  rest  of 
the  Roman  clergy  and  people,  "  saving  the  honour,"  it  was  added, 
"  due  to  our  dear  son  Henry,  now  king  ;  and  who,  if  it  please  God, 
shall  one  day  be  emperor,  according  to  the  privilege  which  we  have  al- 
ready conferred  upon  him  ;  and  saving  the  honour  of  his  successoi's, 
on  whom  the  apostolic  see  shall  confer  the  same  high  privilege. 

There  resided  at  this  time  at  Rome,  one  Hildebrand,  a  monk  of  the 
order  of  Cluny,  who  had  recently  been  created  a  cardinal ;  a  man  of  a 
restless,  fiery,  and  enterprising  disposition  ;  but  chiefly  remarkable  for 
his  furious  zeal  for  the  pretensions  of  the  church.  He  was  born  at 
Soana  in  Tuscany,  of  obscure  parents,  brought  up  at  Rome,  and  had 
been  frequently  employed  by  that  court  to  manage  various  political 
concerns  which  required  dexterity  and  resolution,  and  he  had  rendered 
himself  famous  in  all  parts  of  Italy  for  his  zeal  and  intrepidity.  Hil- 
debrand had  interest  enough  to  procure  himself  to  be  elected  to  the 
pontifical  chair,  in  the  year  1073,  by  the  title  of  Gregory  VII.  and  the 
papacy  has  not  produced  a  more  extraordinary  character.  "  All  that 
the  malice  or  flattery  of  a  multitude  of  writers  have  said  of  this  pope, 
is  concentrated  in  a  portrait  of  him  drawn  by  a  Neapolitan  artist,  in 
which  Gregory  is  represented  as  holding  a  crook  in  one  hand,  and  a 
whip  in  the  other,  trampling  sceptres  under  his  feet,  with  St.  Peter's 
net  and  fishes  on  either  side  of  him."*  Gregory  was  installed  by  the 
people  of  Rome,  without  consulting  the  emperor,  as  had  hitherto  been 
customary;  but  though  Henry  had  not  been  consulted  upon  the  occa- 
sion, Gregory  prudently  waited  for  his  confirmation  of  the  choice  be- 
fore he  assumed  the  tiara.  He  obtained  it  by  this  mark  of  submission  : 
the  emperor  confirmed  his  election,  and  the  new  pontiff  was  not  dila- 
tory in  pulling  off  the  mask,  for  in  a  little  time  he  raised  a  storm 
which  fell  with  violence  upon  the  head  of  Henry,  and  shook  all  the 
thrones  in  Christendom.  He  began  his  pontificate  with  excommuni- 
cating every  ecclesiastic  who  should  receive  a  benefice  from  a  layman, 
and  every  layman  by  whom  such  benefice  should  be  conferred.  This 
was  engaging  the  church  in  an  open  war  with  all  the  sovereigns  of 
Europe.  But  the  thunder  of  the  holy  see  was  more  particularly  di- 
rected against  Henry,  who,  sensible  of  his  danger  and  anxious  to  avert 
it,  wrote  a  submissive  letter  to  Gregory,  and  the  latter  pretended  to 
take  him  into  favour,  after  severely  reprimanding  him  for  the  crimes 
of  simony  and  debauchery,  of  which  he  now  confessed  himself  guilty. 
The  pope  at  the  same  time  proposed  a  crusade,  the  object  of  which 
was  to  deliver  the  holy  sepulchre  at  Jerusalem  from  the  hands  of  the 
Turkish  infidels  ;  offering  to  head  the  Christians  in  person,  and  de- 
siring Henry  to  serve  as  a  volunteer  under  his  command  ! 

Gregory  next  formed  the  project  of  making  himself  lord  of  Christen- 
dom, by  at  once  dissolving  the  jurisdiction  which  kings  and  emperors 
had  hitherto  exercised  over  various  orders  of  the  clergy,  and  subjecting 

*  Voltaire's  Universal  History,  vol.  i.  ch.  xxxvi. 


268  History  of  the  Christian  Church. 

to  the  papal  authority  all  temporal  princes,  rendering  their  dominions 
tributary  to  the  see  of  Rome;  and  however  romantic  the  undertaking 
may  appear,  it  was  not  altogether  without  success.  Solomon  king  of 
Hungary,  was  at  that  time  dethroned  by  his  cousin  Geysa,  and  fled  to 
Henry  for  protection,  renewing  his  homage  to  the  latter  as  head  of  the 
empire.  Gregory,  who  favoured  the  cause  of  the  usurper,  exclaimed 
against  this  act  of  submission,  and  said  in  a  letter  to  Solomon,  M  You 
ought  to  know,  that  the  kingdom  of  Hungary  belongs  to  the  Roman 
church;  and  learn,  that  you  will  incur  the  indignation  of  the  holy  see, 
if  you  do  not  acknowledge  that  you  hold  your  dominions  of  the  pope, 
and  not  of  the  emperor."  This  presumptuous  declaration,  and  the 
neglect  with  which  it  was  treated,  brought  the  quarrel  between  the  em- 
pire and  the  church  to  a  crisis  :  it  was  directed  to  Solomon,  but  intend- 
ed for  Henry. 

Hitherto  the  princes  of  Christendom  had  enjoyed  the  right  of  nomi- 
nating bishops  and  abbots,  and  of  giving  them  investiture  by  the  ring 
and  crosier.  The  popes,  on  their  part,  had  been  accustomed  to  send 
legates  to  the  emperors  to  entreat  their  assistance,  to  obtain  their  con- 
firmation, or  to  desire  them  to  come  and  receive  papal  sanction.  Gre- 
gory now  resolving  to  push  the  claim  of  investitures,  sent  two  of  his 
legates  to  summon  Henry  to  appear  before  him  as  a  delinquent,  because 
he  still  continued  to  bestow  investitures,  notwithstanding  the  papal  de- 
cree to  the  contrary :  adding,  that  if  he  failed  to  yield  obedience  to  the 
church,  he  must  expect  to  be  excommunicated  and  dethroned. 

This  arrogant  message,  from  one  whom  he  regarded  as  his  vassal, 
greatly  provoked  Henry,  who  abruptly  dismissed  the  legates,  and  lost 
no  time  in  convoking  an  assembly  of  princes  and  dignified  ecclesiastics 
at  Worms ;  where  after  mature  deliberation,  they  came  to  this  conclu- 
sion, that  Gregory  having  usurped  the  chair  of  St.  Peter,  by  indirect 
means,  infected  the  church  of  God  with  many  novelties  and  abuses,  and 
deviated  from  his  duty  to  his  sovereign  in  several  instances,  the  empe- 
ror, by  the  supreme  authority  derived  from  his  predecessors,  ought  to 
divest  him  of  his  dignity,  and  appoint  a  successor.  Henry,  conse- 
quently, sent  an  ambassador  to  Rome,  with  a  formal  deprivation  of 
Gregory  ;  who,  in  his  turn,  convoked  a  council,  at  which  were  present 
one  hundred  and  ten  bishops,  who,  unanimously  agreed,  that  the  pope 
had  just  cause  to  depose  Henry,  to  annul  the  oath  of  allegiance  which 
the  princes  and  states  had  taken  in  his  favour,  and  to  prohibit  them 
from  holding  any  correspondence  with  him  on  pain  of  excommunica- 
tion. And  this  execrable  sentence  was  immediately  fulminated  against 
the  emperor  and  his  adherents.  "  In  the  name  of  Almighty  God,  and 
by  your  authority,"  said  Gregory,  addressing  the  members  of  the 
council,  "  I  prohibit  Henry  from  governing  the  Teutonic  kingdom  and 
Italy.  I  release  all  Christians  from  their  oath  of  allegiance  to  him ; 
and  I  strictly  forbid  all  persons  to  serve  or  attend  him  as  king." 

This  is  the  first  instance  of  a  pope  presuming  to  deprive  a  sovereign 
of  his  crown  ;  but,  unhappily,  it  was  too  flattering  to  ecclesiastical 
pride  to  be  the  last.  No  preceding  prelate  had  hitherto  dared  to  use 
such  imperious  language  as  Gregory  ;  for,  though  Louis,  the  son  of 
Charles  the  Great,  had  been  deposed  by  his  bishops,  there  was  at  least 


The  arrogance  of  Gregory  VII.  269 

some  colour  for  that  step ;  they  condemned  him  in  appearance  only  to 
do  public  penance. 

The  circular  letters  written  by  Gregory  breathe  the  same  spirit  as  his 
sentence  of  deposition.  In  them  he  repeatedly  asserts,  that  "  bishops 
are  superior  to  kings,  and  made  to  judge  them" — expressions  equally 
artful  and  presumptuous.  His  object  is  said  to  have  been  that  of  en- 
gaging in  the  bonds  of  fidelity  and  allegiance  to  the  pope  as  vicar  of 
Christ,  all  the  potentates  of  the  earth,  and  to  establish  at  Rome  an  an- 
nual assembly  of  bishops,  by  whom  the  contests  which,  from  time  to 
time,  might  arise  between  kingdoms  and  sovereign  states  were  to  be 
decided,  the  rights  and  pretensions  of  princes  to  be  examined,  and  the 
fate  of  nations  and  empires  determined.* 

Gregory  well  knew  what  consequences  would  result  from  the  thun- 
ders of  the  church.  The  bishops  in  Germany  immediately  came  over 
to  his  party,  and  drew  with  them  many  of  the  nobles.  The  Saxons 
took  the  opportunity  of  revolting:  even  the  emperor's  favourite,  Guelf, 
a  nobleman  to  whom  he  had  given  the  duchy  of  Bavaria,  supported  the 
mal-contents  with  that  very  power  which  he  owed  to  his  sovereign's 
bounty;  and  the  princes  and  prelates  who  had  assisted  in  deposing 
Gregory,  gave  up  their  monarch  to  be  tried  by  the  pope,  who  was  re- 
quested to  come  to  Augsburg  for  that  purpose. 

To  avoid  the  odium  of  this  impending  trial,  Henry  took  the  strange 
resolution  of  suddenly  passing  the  Alps,  accompanied  only  by  a  few 
domestics,  and  of  throwing  himself  at  the  feet  of  Gregory,  in  order  to 
implore  his  absolution.  The  pontiff  was  at  that  time  on'a  visit  to  the 
countess  or  duchess  Matilda,  at  Canosa,  a  fortress  on  the  Appenines. 
At  the  gate  of  this  mansion,  the  emperor  presented  himself  as  an  hum- 
ble penitent.  He  alone  was  admitted  within  the  outer  court,  where, 
being  stripped  of  his  robes,  and  wrapped  in  sackcloth,  he  was  compelled 
to  remain  three  days,  in  the  month  of  January  (A.  D.  1077,)  barefoot 
and  fasting,  before  he  was  permitted  to  kiss  the  feet  of  his  holiness ! ! 
The  indulgence  was,  however,  at  length  granted  him — he  was  permit- 
ted to  throw  himself  at  the  feet  of  the  haughty  pontiff,  who  condescend- 
ed to  grant  him  absolution,  after  he  had  sworn  obedience  to  the  pope  in 
all  things,  and  promised  to  submit  to  his  solemn  decision  at  Augs- 
burgh ;  so  that  Henry  reaped  nothing  but  disgrace  and  mortification 
from  his  journey,  while  the  pontiff,  elate  with  triumph,  and  now  con- 
sidering himself  as  the  lord  and  master  of  all  the  crowned  heads  in 
Christendom,  said  in  several  of  his  letters,  that  "  it  was  his  duty  to 
pull  down  the  pride  of  kings." 

Happily  for  Henry,  all  sense  of  propriety  and  of  common  decency 
was  not  banished  from  the  earth.  The  princes  of  Italy  were  disgusted 
with  the  strange  accommodation  that  had  taken  place  between  him  and 
the  pope.  They  never  could  forgive  the  insolence  of  the  former,  nor 
the  abject  humility  of  the  latter.  But  their  indignation  at  Gregory's 
arrogance  over-balanced  their  detestation  of  their  monarch's  meanness- 
He  took  advantage  of  this  t8inper,  and,  by  a  change  of  fortune  hitherto 
unknown  to  the  German  emperors,  found  a  strong  party  in  Italy,  when 

*  Mosheim's  Eccles.  Hist.  vol.  ii.  cent.  xi.  part  ii. 
23* 


270  History  of  the  Christian  Church. 

abandoned  by  his  own  subjects.  All  Lombardy  took  up  arms  against 
the  pope,  while  the  latter  was  raising  all  Germany  against  the  emperor. 
The  former  had  recourse  to  every  art  to  procure  the  election  of  another 
emperor  in  Germany,  while  Henry,  on  his  part,  left  nothing  undone  to 
persuade  the  people  of  Italy  to  choose  another  pope.  The  Germans 
chose  Rodolph,  duke  of  Suabia,  who  was  solemnly  crowned  at  Mentz  ; 
and  this  gave  Gregory  an  opportunity  of  exercising  all  his  finesse  in 
order  to  extort  submission  from  Henry.  He  affected  to  be  displeased 
that  Rodolph  was  consecrated  without  his  order.  He  had  deposed 
Henry,  but  it  was  still  in  his  power  to  pardon  him — he  therefore  de- 
clared that  he  would  acknowledge  as  emperor  and  king  of  Germany 
that  claimant  who  should  be  most  submissive  to  the  holy  see. 

But  Henry  was  not  now  to  be  duped.  He  chose  rather  to  trust  to 
the  valour  of  his  arms  than  to  the  generosity  of  the  pope,  and  there- 
fore marched  his  troops  against  his  rival  Rodolph,  whom  he  defeated 
in  several  engagements.  Gregory,  seeing  no  hopes  of  submission, 
thundered  out  a  second  sentence  of  excommunication,  in  which,  after 
depriving  Henry  of  strength  in  combat,  and  condemning  him  never 
to  be  victorious — he  desires  the  world  to  take  notice  that  it  is  in  the 
pope's  power  to  take  away  empires,  kingdoms,  principalities,  &c.  and 
to  bestow  them  on  whom  he  pleases.  The  whole  concludes  with  the 
following  extraordinary  apostrophe  to  the  apostles,  Peter  and  Paul : 
"  Make  all  men  sensible  that,  as  you  can  bind  and  loose  every 
thing  in  heaven,  you  can  also  upon  earth,  take  from  or  give  to,  every 
one  according  to  his  deserts,  empires,  kingdoms,  principalities.  Let 
the  kings  and  princes  of  the  age  instantly  feel  your  power,  that  they 
may  not  dare  to  despise  the  orders  of  your  church  ;  and  let  your  jus- 
tice be  so  speedily  executed  upon  Henry,  that  nobody  may  doubt  of 
his  falling  by  your  means  and  not  by  chance."* 

But  the  apostles  were  either  deaf  to  the  prayer  of  their  pretended 
successor,  or  declined  their  co-operation  with  it.  Henry  triumphed 
over  his  enemies.  Rodolph  had  his  hand  cut  off  in  a  battle  which 
was  fought  with  great  fury  near  Mersburg,  in  Saxony,  and,  discouraged 
by  the  misfortune  of  their  chief,  his  followers  gave  way.  Rodolph, 
perceiving  his  end  approaching,  ordered  the  amputated  member  to  be 
brought  him,  and  thus  addressed  his  officers.  "  Behold  the  hand  with 
which  I  took  the  oath  of  allegiance  to  Henry — an  oath  which,  at  the 
instigation  of  Rome,  I  have  violated,  in  perfidiously  aspiring  to  an 
honour  that  was  not  due  to  me." 

The  affairs  of  Henry  now  revived  apace.  A  new  pope  was  elected, 
who  took  the  title  of  Clement  III.  and  the  emperor,  thus  delivered 
from  his  formidable  antagonist,  soon  dispersed  the  rest  of  his  enemies 
in  Germany,  and  proceeded  to  Italy,  to  settle  the  new  pontiff  in  the 
papal  chair.  The  gates  of  Rome  being  shut  against  him,  he  was  com- 
pelled to  attack  the  city  in  form.  After  a  siege  of  two  years,  it  was 
taken  by  assault,  and  with  difficulty  saved  from  pillage,  but  Gregory 
retired  into  the  castle  of  St.  Angelo,  from  whence  he  hurled  defiance, 
and  fulminated  his  thunder  against  the   conqueror.     The  siege  of  St, 

*  Fleury's  Eccles.  History. 


Henry'' s  Sons  rebel  against  him.  271 

Angelo  was  now  prosecuted  with  vigour,  but  in  the  absence  of  Henry, 
Gregory  found  means  to  escape,  and  died  soon  after  at  Salerno,  A. 
D.  1085.  His  last  words  were,  "I  have  loved  justice  and  hated  ini- 
quity ;  therefore  I  die  in  exile."* 

But  the  troubles  of  Henry  did  not  terminate  with  the  life  of  Gregory. 
The  pontiffs  who  succeeded  proved  as  inimical  to  his  peace  and  tran- 
quillity as  their  predecessor  had  been.  Urban  II.  contrived,  in  con- 
junction with  the  countess  Matilda,  to  seduce  the  emperor's  son  into  a 
rebellion  against  his  father.  This  young  prince,  whose  name  was 
Conrad,  assumed  the  title  of  king  of  Italy,  and  succeeded  so  well  in 
his  usurpation,  that  the  greater  part  of  the  cities  of  Italy  and  their 
nobles  acknowledged  him  as  their  sovereign.  The  emperor,  despair- 
ing of  being  able  to  reduce  him  to  obedience  by  arms,  assembled  the 
German  princes,  who  put  the  delinquent  to  the  ban  of  the  empire,! 
and  declared  his  brother  Henry  king  of  the  Romans.  Two  years  after- 
wards both  Conrad  and  the  pope  died — the  latter  being  succeeded  in 
the  papal  chair  by  Pascal  II.  (another  Gregory)  and  the  former  by  his 
younger  brother  Henry  as  king  of  Italy. 

The  new  pope  was  scarcely  invested  with  office  ere  he  contrived  to 
excite  young  Henry  to  rebel  against  his  father.  He  called  a  council, 
to  which  he  summoned  the  aged  monarch  ;  and  as  the  latter  did  not 
obey  the  citation,  he  excommunicated  him  for  the  schisms  which  he 
had  introduced  into  the  church  ;  stimulating  his  son  to  rebellion,  by 
alleging  that  he  was  bound  to  take  upon  himself  the  reins  of  govern- 
ment, as  he  could  not  acknowledge  an  excommunicated  king  or  father. 
In  vain  did  the  emperor  use  every  paternal  remonstrance  to  dissuade 
his  son  from  proceeding  to  extremities ;  the  breach  became  wider,  and 
each  prepared  for  the  decision  of  the  sword.  But  the  son,  dreading 
his  father's  superiority,  and  confiding  in  his  tenderness,  had  recourse 
to  a  stratagem  as  base  as  it  was  effectual.  He  threw  himself  unex- 
pectedly at  the  emperor's  feet,  and  implored  pardon  for  his  undutiful 
behaviour,  which  he  attributed  to  the  influence  of  evil  counsellors.  In 
consequence  of  this  submission,  he  was  taken  into  favour  by  his  indul- 
gent parent,  who  instantly  dismissed  his  army.  The  ungrateful  youth 
now  revealed  the  perfidy  that  was  in  his  heart ;  he  ordered  his  father 
to  be  confined — assembled  a  diet  of  his  own  confederates,  at  which 
the  pope's  legate  presided,  and  repeated  the  sentence  of  excommunica- 
tion against  the  emperor,  whose  dignity  was  instantly  transferred  to 
his  rebellious  son. 

The  archbishops  of  Mentz  and  Cologne  were  sent  as  deputies  to  the 
old  emperor,  to  intimate  his  deposition  and  demand  his  regalia. 
Henry  received  this  deputation  with  equal  surprise  and  concern ;  and 
finding  that  the  chief  accusation  against  him  was  "  the  scandalous 
manner  in  which  he  had  set  bishopricks  to  sale,"  he  thus  addressed 
the  audacious  ecclesiastics  :  "  If  I  have  prostituted  the  benefices  of  the 

*  Life  of  Gregory  VII.  by  Dithmar. 

f  The  word  ban  originally  signified  banner,  afterwards  edict,  and  lastly,  a 
declaration  of  outlawry,  which  was  thus  intimated:  "We  declare  thy  wife  a 
widow,  thy  children  orphans,  and  send  thee,  in  the  name  of  the  devil,  to  the 
four  corners  of  the  earth." 


272  History  of  the  Christian  Church. 

church  for  hire,  you,  yourselves,  are  the  most  proper  persons  to  con- 
vict me  of  that  simony.  Say  then,  I  conjure  you  in  the  name  of  the 
eternal  God  !  what  have  1  exacted,  or  what  have  I  received,  for  hav- 
ing promoted  you  to  the  dignities  that  you  now  enjoy  ?"  They  ac- 
knowledged that  he  was  innocent,  so  far  as  regarded  their  preferments. 
"  And  yet,"  continued  he,  "  the  archbishops  of  Mentz  and  Cologne, 
being  two  of  the  best  in  my  gift,  I  might  have  filled  my  coffers  by 
exposing  them  to  sale.  I  bestowed  them,  however,  upon  you,  out 
of  free  grace  and  favour,  and  a  worthy  return  you  make  to  my  benevo- 
lence !  Do  not,  I  beseech  you,  become  abettors  of  those  who  have 
lifted  up  their  hands  against  their  lord  and  master  in  defiance  of  faith, 
gratitude,  and  allegiance." 

As  the  unfeeling  prelates,  deaf  to  this  pathetic  address,  insisted  on  his 
compliance  with  the  object  of  their  mission,  Henry  retired,  and  put  on 
his  regal  ornaments  ;  then  returning  to  the  apartment  he  had  left,  and 
seating  himself  on  a  chair  of  state,  he  renewed  his  remonstrance  in 
these  words :  "  Here  are  the  marks  of  that  royalty  with  which  I  was 
invested  by  God,  and  the  princes  of  the  empire  ;  if  you  disregard  the 
wrath  of  heaven,  and  the  eternal  reproach  of  mankind,  so  much  as  to 
lay  violent  hands  on  your  sovereign,  you  may  strip  me  of  them,  I  am 
not  in  a  condition  to  defend  myself." 

Regardless  of  these  expostulations,  the  two  archbishops  snatched  the 
crown  from  his  head,  and  dragging  him  from  his  chair,  forcibly  pulled 
off  his  robes.  While  thus  employed,  Henry  exclaimed,  "  Great  God  ! 
(the  tears  flowing  down  his  venerable  cheeks)  thou  art  the  God  of  ven- 
geance, and  wilt  repay  this  outrage.  I  have  sinned,  I  own,  and  merited 
such  shame  by  the  follies  of  my  youth  ;  but  thou  wilt  not  fail  to  punish 
those  traitors  for  their  violence,  ingratitude,  and  perjury." 

To  such  a  degree  of  wretchedness  was  this  prince  afterwards  reduced 
by  the  barbarity  of  his  son,  that,  destitute  of  the  common  necessaries 
of  life,  he  entreated  the  bishop  of  Spire,  whom  he  had  promoted  to  that 
see,  to  grant  him  a  canonry  for  his  subsistence,  representing  that  he  was 
capable  of  performing  the  office  of  "  chanter  or  reader."  Disappointed 
in  that  humble  request,  he  shed  a  flood  of  tears,  and  turning  to  those 
who  were  present,  said,  with  a  deep  sigh,  "  My  dear  friends,  at  least 
have  pity  upon  my  condition,  for  I  am  touched  by  the  hand  of  the 
Lord." 

Yet  in  the  midst  of  these  distresses,  when  every  one  thought  his 
courage  was  utterly  extinguished,  and  his  soul  overwhelmed  by  despon- 
dence, Henry  found  means  to  escape  from  custody  and  reached  Cologne, 
where  he  was  recognized  as  lawful  emperor.  Repairing  next  to  the 
Netherlands,  he  found  friends  who  raised  a  considerable  body  of  men 
to  assert  his  claims,  and  facilitate  his  restoration ;  he  also  issued  circular 
letters,  calling  upon  the  princes  of  Christendom  to  interest  themselves 
in  his  cause.  He  even  wrote  to  the  pope,  intimating  that  he  was  in- 
clined to  an  accommodation,  provided  it  could  be  settled  without  pre- 
judice to  his  cause.  But  before  any  thing  material  could  be  executed 
in  his  favour,  Henry  died  at  Liege  (Aug.  7,  1106)  in  the  fifty-sixth 
year  of  his  age,  and  the  forty -ninth  of  his  reign.  He  was  a  prince  of 
great  courage  and  excellent  endowments  both  of  body  and  mind.     In 


Character  of  the  Waldemes.  273 

his  appearance  there  was  an  air  of  dignity  which  spoke  the  greatness 
of  his  soul.  He  possessed  a  natural  fund  of  eloquence  and  vivacity,  his 
temper  was  placid  and  merciful,  his  kindness  and  benevolence  exten- 
sive, and  his  life  exhibited  an  admirable  pattern  of  fortitude  and  resig- 
nation.* 


SECTION  III. 


SKETCH  OF  THE  STATE  OF  THE  CHRISTIAN  PROFESSION  FROM  THE  DEATH  OF 
CLAUDE  OF  TURIN  TO  THE  TIMES  OF  PETER  WALDO. A.  D.  843 1 1 60. 

During  the  dark  ages  which  succeeded  the  invasion  of  Europe  by 
the  barbarous  nations,  when  feudal  anarchy  distracted  the  civil  govern- 
ments, and  a  flood  of  superstition  hud  deluged  the  church,  Christianity, 
banished  from  the  seats  of  empire,  ^nd  loathing  the  monkish  abodes  of 
indolence  and  vice,  meekly  retired  into  the  sequestered  valleys  of  Pied- 
mont. Finding  there  a  race  of  men  unarrayed  in  hostile  armour,  un- 
contaminated  by  the  doctrines  and  commandments  of  an  apostate  church, 
nnambitious  in  their  temper,  and  simple  in  their  manners,  she  preferred 
their  society,  and  among  them  took  up  her  abode.  The  turbulence  of 
the  times,  which  drave  many  from  the  more  fertile  plains  of  France  and 
Italy,  in  search  of  freedom  and  tranquillity,  greatly  augmented  the  popu- 
lation of  this  remote  district ;  and  in  the  ninth  century,  the  doctrine  of 
the  kingdom  of  heaven  had  been  held  forth  among  them  with  consider- 
able clearness  and  ability  by  Claude,  bishop  of  Turin.t 

Remote  from  the  influence  of  noisy  parties,  and  little  conversant  with 
literature,  we  can  scarcely  expect  any  notice  of  them,  until  their  increase 
and  prosperity  excited  the  attention  of  ambition  and  avarice,  and  occa- 
sioned it  to  be  rumoured  in  the  neighbouring  ecclesiastical  states,  that 
a  numerous  people  occupied  the  southern  valleys  of  the  Alps,  whose 
faith  and  practice  differed  from  those  of  the  Romish  church;  who  paid 
no  tithes,  offered  no  mass,  worshipped  no  saints,  nor  had  recourse  to 
any  of  the  prescribed  means  for  redeeming  their  souls  from  purgatory. 

The  archbishops  of  Turin,  Milan,  and  other  cities,  heard  this  report 
with  anxiety,  and  the  necessary  measures  were  accordingly  adopted  for 
ascertaining  its  truth  or  falsehood  ;  the  former  turning  out  to  be  the 
result,  and  finding  that  these  people  were  not  to  be  controlled  by  the 
authority  and  denunciations  of  the  church  of  Rome,  the  aid  of  the  civil 
power  was  demanded.  The  princes  and  nobles  of  the  adjacent  coun- 
tries at  first  refused  to  disturb  them  ;  they  had  beheld  with  pleasure 
their  simple  manners,  their  uprightness  and  integrity,  their  readiness  to 
oblige,  and  their  fidelity  in  the  discharge  of  all  the  duties  of  civil  and 

*  Russell's  Modern  Europe,  vol.  i.  part  i.  letter  23.  and  the  authors  there 
quoted  on  this  subject. 

f  See  chap.iv.  sect.  i.  p  251 — 256.  and  L'Hist.  Generale  des  Eglises  Vaud. 
par.  Giles  Juan  Leger,  ch.  20,  21,  22,  21.     Rankin's  Hist.  France,  vol.iii. 


274  History  of  the  Christian  Church. 

social  life.  The  clamour  of  the  Romish  clergy,  however,  ultimately 
prevailed,  and  the  civil  power  was  armed  against  the  peaceable  and  in- 
offensive inhabitants  of  the  valleys.  Scaffolds  were  erected  and  fires 
kindled  at  Turin  and  other  cities  around  them.  The  fortitude  and  con- 
fidence of  the  martyrs,  however,  increased  a?  their  faith  and  constancy 
were  tried.  "Favour  me,"  said  Catalan  Girard,  who  was  one  of  their 
number,  as  he  sat  upon  the  funeral  pile  at  Reuel — "  favour  me  with 
those  two  flint  stones,"  which  he  saw  near  him.  Being  handed  to  him, 
he  added,  as  he  threw  them  to  the  ground,  "Sooner  shall  I  eat  these 
stones,  than  you  shall  be  able  by  persecution  to  destroy  the  religion 
for  which  I  die."* 

Multitudes,  however,  fled  like  innocent  and  defenceless  sheep  from 
these  devouring  wolves.  They  crossed  the  Alps  ;  and  travelled  in  every 
direction  as  Providence  and  the  prospect  of  safety  conducted  them,  into 
Germany,  England,  France,  Italy,  and  other  countries.  There  they  trim- 
med their  lamps  and  shone  with  new  lustre.  Their  worth  every  where 
drew  attention,  and  their  doctrine  formed  increasing  circles  around  them. 
The  storm  which  threatened  their  destruction,  only  scattered  them  as 
the  precious  seeds  of  the  future  glorious  reformation  of  the  Christian 
church.f  In  the  present  section,  we  shall  endeavour  to  mark  their 
dispersions  into  different  countries,  and  the  treatment  they  met  with 
during  the  eleventh  and  twelfth  centuries,  prior  to  the  appearance  of 
Peter  Waldo  of  Lyons.  Our  materials  of  information  are  scanty,  and 
even  those  we  must  be  content  to  receive  chiefly  from  their  implacable 
enemies  ;  but  by  a  little  patient  research,  and  the  aid  of  a  discriminating 
judgment  in  selecting  the  probable  from  the  fictitious,  we  shall  be  fur- 
nished with  some  interesting  information  relative  to  this  obscure  por- 
tion of  their  history. 

But  before  we  proceed,  it  may  be  proper  to  remark,  that  about  the 
middle  of  the  eleventh  century,  and  during  the  pontificate  of  Pope  Leo 
IX.  (A.  D.  1050)  rose  up  Berengarius,  a  person  of  great  learning  and 
talents,  who  denied  the  doctrine  of  the  real  presence,  as  it  was  then 
commonly  termed ;  and  by  writing  against  it,  called  forth  all  the 
learned  of  the  church  of  Rome  to  defend  the  doctrine  of  transubstan- 
tiation.  Berengarius  was  a  native  of  France,  educated  under  Fulbert, 
bishop  of  Chartras,  a  very  learned  man;  and  taking  orders  in  the 
church,  became  deacon  of  St.  Maurice,  and  ultimately  archbishop  of 
Angers,  in  the  province  of  Anjou.  He  was  also  principal  of  the  aca- 
demy of  Tours.  The  prevalent  sentiment  of  his  day  relative  to  the 
eucharist  was,  that  the  bread  was  the  identical  body,  and  the  wine  the 
very  blood  of  Christ — not  only  figuratively,  but  substantially  and  pro- 
perly. Berengaruis,  on  the  contrary,  insisted  that  the  body  of  Christ 
is  only  in  the  heavens  ;  and  that  the  elements  of  bread  and  wine  are 
merely  the  symbols  of  his  body  and  blood.  Several  of  the  bishops 
wrote  against  him,  most  bitterly  complaining  of  his  heresy  ;  but  not 
feeling  the  force  of  their  arguments,  Berengarius  remained  unmoved, 
and  defended  his  opinions  with   the  utmost  pertinacity.     He. wrote  a 

*   Perrin's  History  of  the  Vaudois,  part  ii.  b.  ii.  ch.  4. 
f  Dr.  Rankin's  History  of  France,  vol.  iii.p.  193 — 198. 


Heresy  of  Berengarius.  275 

letter  on  the  subject  to  Lanfrank,  who  was  at  that  time  at  the  head  of 
the  convent  of  St.  Stephens,  at  Caen,  in  Normandy,  and  called  from 
thence  by  William  the  Conqueror  to  be  archbishop  of  Canterbury, 
which  being  opened  while  the  latter  was  from  home,  was  officiously 
transmitted  by  the  convent  to  Pope  Leo.  The  pontiff,  shocked  at  its 
heretical  contents,  summoned  a  council  at  Vercelli,  at  which  Beren- 
garius was  commanded  to  be  present.  His  friends,  however,  advised 
him  against  going,  and  he  consequently  sent  two  persons  to  attend  the 
council,  and  answer  in  his  behalf.  Lanfrank  also  was  present  and 
pleaded  for  Berengarius,  but  the  latter  was  condemned,  the  two  per- 
sons who  appeared  for  him  imprisoned,  and  Lanfrank  commanded  by 
the  pope  to  draw  up  a  refutation  of  the  heresy  of  Berengarius  on  pain 
of  being  himself  reputed  a  heretic  ;  with  which  injunction  he  thought 
it  prudent  to  comply.  This  example  was  followed  also  by  the  coun- 
cil of  Paris,  summoned  the  very  same  year  by  Henry  I.  in  which 
Berengarius  and  his  numerous  adherents,  were  threatened  with  all 
sorts  of  evils  both  spiritual  and  temporal — evils  which  were  in  part 
executed  against  the  heretical  prelate,  for  the  monarch  deprived  him  of 
all  his  revenues.  But  neither  threatenings  nor  fines,  nor  the  decrees 
of  Synods,  could  shake  the  firmness  of  his  mind,  or  oblige  him  to  re- 
tract his  sentiments.  In  the  mean  while,  the  opinions  of  Berengarius 
were  every  where  spreading  rapidly,  insomuch  that  if  we  may  credit 
cotemporary  writers,  "  his  doctrine  had  corrupted  all  the  English, 
Italian,  and  French  nations."  Thuanus  adds,  that  "in  Germany  were 
many  of  the  same  doctrine,  and  that  Bruno,  bishop  of  Treves,  banish- 
ed them  all  out  of  his  diocese,  sparing  only  their  blood."  During  the 
remainder  of  the  life  of  Leo  IX.  Berengarius  and  his  friends  enjoyed 
a  temporary  respite,  but  no  sooner  had  Victor  II.  succeeded  to  the  pon- 
tifical chair,  than  the  flame  of  religious  discord  was  rekindled,  and  a 
council  was  assembled  at  Tours,  in  1055,  to  examine  anew  the  doc- 
trine of  Berengarius.  At  this  council  the  famous  Hildebrand,  who 
was  afterwards  created  Pope  Gregory  VII.  appeared  in  the  character 
of  legate,  and  opposed  the  new  doctrine  with  the  utmost  vehemence. 
Berengarius  was  also  present  at  this  assembly,  and  overawed,  by 
threats  rather  than  convinced  by  argument,  he  professed  to  abandon 
his  opinions,  solemnly  abjured  them  in  the  presence  of  the  council, 
and  made  his  peace  with  the  church.  In  this,  however,  he  appears 
to  have  been  insincere,  for  soon  after  this  period  he  taught  anew, 
though  with  more  circumspection,  the  opinions  he  had  formerly  pro- 
fessed. The  account  of  his  perfidy  reaching  Rome,  he  was  sum 
moned  to  attend  a  council  which  was  convened  there  in  1059,  and  on 
this  occasion,  so  terrified  was  Berengarius,  that  he  declared  his  readi- 
ness to  embrace  and  adhere  to  the  doctrines  which  that  venerable  as- 
sembly should  think  proper  to  impose  upon  him.  A  confession  of 
faith  was  accordingly  drawn  up,  which  he  publicly  signed  and  ratified 
by  an  oath.  In  that  confession  the  following  declaration  was  con- 
tained,— that  the  bread  and  wine  after  consecration  were  not  only  a 
sacrament,  but  also  the  real  body  and  blood  of  Jesus  Christ ;  and  that 
this  body  and  blood  were  handled  by  the  priests,  and  consumed  by  the 
faithful,  not  sacramentally,  but  in  reality   and  truth,  as   other   sensible 


276  History  of  the  Christian  Church. 

objects  are.  This  doctrine  was  so  monstrously  absurd  ;  it  was  such  an 
impudent  insult  upon  common  sense  and  the  very  first  principles  of 
reason,  that  it  is  impossible  it  should  impose  upon  the  acute  mind  of 
Berengarius  for  a  moment,  nor  could  it  possibly  become  the  object  of 
his  serious  belief ;  and  his  conduct,  almost  immediately  after,  proved 
that  his  profession  of  it  was  an  odious  act  of  dissimulation  ;  for  no 
sooner  was  he  returned  into  France,  than  he  expressed  the  utmost 
detestation  and  abhorrence  of  the  doctrines  he  had  been  obliged  to  pro- 
fess at  Rome,  solemnly  abjured  them  in  his  discourse  and  writings ; 
and  returned  zealously  to  the  profession  and  defence  of  his  former  real 
opinion. 

The  controversy,  however,  was  still  prolonged  during  many  years, 
and  a  multitude  of  writings  on  both  sides  of  the  question,  were  conti- 
nually issuing,  and  the  followers  of  Berengarius  every  where  increas- 
ing. His  adversaries  now  had  recourse  to  the  seducing  influence  of 
soft  and  friendly  expostulation,  to  engage  him  to  dissemble  anew  ;  or, 
in  other  words,  to  return  from  his  pretended  apostasy  ;  but  these  prov- 
ed ineffectual.  At  length,  Gregory  VII.  was  raised  to  the  papal  chair, 
a  man  whose  enterprising  spirit  no  difficulties  or  opposition  could  dis- 
courage. This  prelate,  resolving  to  put  an  end  to  this  wide-spread- 
ing controversy,  sent  an  order  to  Berengarius  to  repair  to  Rome  in  the 
year  1078.  Gregory  had  a  high  esteem  for  the  latter,  and  though  to 
silence  the  clamours  of  the  multitude  he  found  it  necessary  to  oppose 
him,  he  did  it  with  all  possible  mildness.  He  permitted  Berengarius 
to  draw  up  a  new  confession  of  his  faith,  and  to  renounce  that  which 
he  had  formerly  sworn  to  abide  by. 

This  new  confession  not  proving  satisfactory  to  his  enraged  adver- 
saries, though  Gregory  himself  approved  it,  a  second  was  drawn  up, 
which  indeed  was  less  vague  and  equivocal,  but  then  it  contained  all  the 
quintessence  of  absurdity  which  characterized  the  original  one  ;  for  he 
now  professed  to  believe,  that  "  the  bread  and  wine  were,  by  the  mys- 
terious influences  of  the  holy  prayer,  and  the  words  of  Christ,  sub- 
stantially changed  into  the  true,  proper,  and  vivifying  body  and  blood 
of  Christ."  No  sooner  had  he  made  this  strange  declaration  than  the 
pope  loaded  him  with  caresses  and  sent  him  back  10  France,  graced 
with  the  most  honourable  testimonies  of  his  liberality  and  friendship. 
Solemn,  however,  as  the  declaration  had  been  at  Rome,  Berengarius 
had  no  sooner  returned  to  his  residence  than  he  began  to  compose  an 
elaborate  refutation  of  his  last  confession,  which  excited  afresh  the 
flames  of  theological  controversy.  Berengarius,  however,  amidst  the 
clamours  of  his  enraged  adversaries,  from  this  time  observed  a  pro- 
found silence.  Disgusted  with  a  controversy  in  which  the  first  prin- 
ciples of  reason  were  so  impudently  insulted,  and  exhausted  by  an  op- 
position which  he  was  unable  to  overcome,  he  abandoned  all  his 
worldly  concerns  and  retired  into  solitude,  to  pass  the  remainder  of  his 
days  in  fasting,  prayer,  and  the  exercise  of  piety.  "  In  the  year  1088 
death  put  a  period  to  the  affliction  which  he  suffered  in  his  retirement, 
occasioned  by  a  bitter  reflection  upon  the  dissimulation  he  had  been 
guilty  of  at  Rome ;  leaving  behind  him,  in  the  minds  of  the  people,  a 


Principles  of  the  Cathari.  277 

deep  impression  of  his  extraordinary  sanctity,  and  his  followers  were 
as  numerous  as  his  fame  was  illustrious."* 

This  controversy  was  too  remarkable  to  be  wholly  passed  over  in 
this  place,  but  having  said  thus  much  of  it,  I  now  pass  on  to  a  more 
pleasing  and  profitable  subject. 

A  little  before  the  year  1140,  Evervinus,  of  Stainfield,  in  the  diocese 
of  Cblogne,  in  Germany,  addressed  a  letter  to  the  celebrated  Saint  Ber- 
nard, concerning  certain  heretics  in  his  neighbourhood.  This  letter 
has  been  preserved  by  Mabillon,  and  the  learned  Dr.  Allix  has  fur- 
nished us  with  a  translation  of  it  in  his  Remarks  on  the  Ancient 
Churches  of  Piedmont,  p.  140.  A  few  extracts  from  it  will  enable  us 
to  form  some  judgment  concerning  this  class  of  men.  Evervinus  was 
much  perplexed  in  his  mind  about  them  ;  and  to  obtain  a  solution  of 
his  doubts,  he  wrote  as  follows,  to  the  renov/ned  Bernard,  whose  word, 
at  that  time,  was  as  law  throughout  Christendom. 

"  There  have  lately  been  some  heretics  discovered  among  us  near 
Cologne,  of  whom  some  have  with  satisfaction  returned  again  to  the 
church.  One  that  was  a  bishop  among  them  and  his  companions, 
openly  opposed  us  in  the  assembly  of  the  clergy  and  laity,  the  lord 
archbishop  himself  being  present,  with  many  of  the  nobility,  main- 
taining their  heresy  from  the  words  of  Christ  and  his  apostles.  But 
finding  that  they  made  no  impression,  they  desired  that  a  day  might 
be  fixed,  upon  which  they  might  bring  along  with  them  men  skilful  in 
their  faith,  promising  to  return  to  the  church,  provided  their  teachers 
were  unable  to  answer  their  opponents  ;  but  that  otherwise  they  would 
rather  die  than  depart  from  their  judgment.  Upon  this  declaration, 
having  been  admonished  to  repent  for  three  days,  they  ivere  seized  by 
the  people  in  their  excess  of  zeal,  and  burnt  to  death  ;  and,  what  is 
most  astonishing,  they  came  to  the  stake,  and  endured  the  torment  of 
the  flames,  not  only  with  patience,  but  even  with  joy.  In  this  case, 
O  holy  father,  were  I  present  with  you,  I  should  be  glad  to  ask  you, 
how  these  members  of  satan  could  persist  in  their  heresy  with  such 
constancy  and  courage  as  is  rarely  to  be  found  among  the  most  reli- 
gious in  the  faith  of  Christ. 

"  Their  heresy  is  this  : — They  say  that  the  church  is  only  among 
themselves,  because  they  alone  follow  the  ways  of  Christ,  and  imitate 
the  apostles,  not  seeking  secular  gains,  possessing  no  property,  fol- 
lowing the  pattern  of  Christ,  who  was  himself  perfectly  poor,  nor  per- 
mitted his  disciples  to  possess  any  thing.t  Whereas  ye,  say  they  to 
us,  join  house  to  house,  and  field  to  field,  seeking  the  things  of  this 
world, — yea,  even  your  monks  and  regular  canons  possess  all  these 
things — describing  themselves  as  the  poor  of  Christ's  flock,  who  have 
no  certain  abode,  fleeing  from  one  city  to  another,  like  sheep  in  the 
midst  of  wolves — enduring  persecution  with  the  apostles  and  martyrs  ; 
though  strict  in  their  manner  of  life,  abstemious,  laborious,  devout  and 
holy,  and  seeking  only  what  is  needful  for  bodily  sustenance,  living  as 

*  Mosheim,  vol.  ii.  Cent.  xi.  part  2. 

j-  We  shall  see  reason  hereafter  to  believe  that,  in  this  particular,  Evervinus 
misrepresented  them. 

24 


278  History  of  the  Christian  Church. 

men  who  are  not  of  the  world.  But  you,  say  they,  lovers  of  the 
world,  have  peace  with  the  world  because  ye  are  of  it.  False  apostles, 
who  adulterate  the  word  of  God,  seeking  their  own  things,  have  mis- 
led you  and  your  ancestors.  Whereas  we  and  our  fathers  having  been 
born  and  brought  up  in  the  apostolic  doctrine,  have  continued  in  the 
grace  of  Christ,  and  shall  continue  so  to  the  end.  '  By  their  fruits 
ye  shall  know  them,'  saith  Christ ;  and  our  fruits  are  the  footsteps  of 
Christ.  The  apostolic  dignity,  say  they,  is  corrupted  by  engaging  it- 
self in  secular  affairs,  while  it  sits  in  the  chair  of  Peter.  They  do  not 
hold  the  baptism  of  infants,  alleging  that  passage  of  the  gospel,  '*  He 
that  believeth  and  is  baptized  shall  be  saved."  They  place  no  confi- 
dence in  the  intercession  of  saints ;  and  all  things  observed  in  the 
church  which  have  not  been  established  by  Christ  himself  or  his  apos- 
tles, they  call  superstitious.  They  do  not  admit  of  any  purgatory  fire 
after  death,  contending  that  the  souls  as  soon  as  they  depart  out  of  the 
bodies,  do  enter  into  rest,  or  punishment,  proving  it  from  that  passage 
of  Solomon,  '  Which  way  soever  the  tree  falls,  whether  to  the  south 
or  to  the  north,  there  it  lies,'  by  which  means  they  make  void  all  the 
prayers  and  oblations  of  believers  for  the  deceased. 

"  We,  therefore,  beseech  you,  holy  father,  to  employ  your  care  and 
watchfulness  against  these  manifold  mischiefs  ;  and  that  you  would 
be  pleased  to  direct  your  pen  against  these  wild  beasts  of  the  reeds, 
not  thinking  it  sufficient  to  answer  us  that  the  tower  of  David,  to 
which  we  may  betake  ourselves  for  refuge,  is  sufficiently  fortified  with 
bulwarks,  that  a  thousand  bucklers  hang  on  the  walls  of  it,  all  shields 
of  mighty  men.  For  we  desire  father,  for  the  sake  of  us  simple  ones, 
and  that  are  slow  of  understanding,  you  would  be  pleased  by  your 
study,  to  gather  all  these  arms  into  one  place,  that  they  may  be  the 
more  readily  found,  and  more  powerful  to  resist  these  monsters.  I 
must  inform  you  also,  that  those  of  them  who  have  returned  to  our 
church,  tell  us,  that  they  had  great  numbers  of  their  persuasion  scat- 
tered almost  every  where,  and  that  amongst  them  were  many  of  our 
clergy  and  monks.  And  as  for  those  who  were  burnt,  they,  in  the 
defence  they  made  for  themselves,  told  us,  that  this  heresy  had  been 
concealed  from  the  time  of  the  martyrs — and  that  it  had  existed  in 
Greece  and  other  countries." 

The  letter  of  Evervinus  had  all  the  effect  upon  Bernard  that  he 
could  desire.  The  mighty  champion  immediately  prepared  himself 
for  the  combat.  He  was  then  publishing  a  set  of  sermons  on  the 
Canticles,  and  in  the  65th  and  66th  of  them  he  enters  the  lists  most 
vehemently  with  these  heretics.  He  is  extremely  offended  with  them 
for  deriding  the  Catholics  because  they  baptized  infants,  and  prayed 
for  the  dead,  and  asserted  purgatory — condemns  their  scrupulous  re- 
fusal to  swear  at  all,  which,  according  to  him,  was  one  of  their  pe- 
culiarities— upbraids  them  with  their  secrecy  in  the  observance  of 
their  religious  rites,  not  considering  the  necessity  which  persecution 
imposed  upon  them — finds  fault  with  a  practice  among  them  of.  dwell- 
ing with  vomen  in  the  same  house  without  being  married  to  them,  by 
which  we  a,e  no  doubt  to  understand,  that  they  did  not  think  it  ne- 
cessary to  solemnize  their  marriages  according  to  the  ceremonies  of 


Testimony  of  Bernard  to  their  character.  279 

the  church  of  Rome,  though  he  expresses  himself  as  knowing  very 
little  of  the  manners  of  the  sect ;  and  from  the  numberless  rumours 
propagated  against  them,  he  suspects  them  of  hypocrisy.  Yet  his  tes- 
timony in  favour  of  their  general  conduct  seems  to  overbalance  all  his 
invectives.  "If,"  says  he,  "you  ask  them  of  their  faith,  nothing 
can  be  more  Christian ;  if  you  observe  their  conversation,  nothing  can 
be  more  blameless,  and  what  they  speak,  they  prove  by  deeds.  You 
may  see  a  man,  for  the  testimony  of  his  faith,  frequent  the  church, 
honour  the  elders,  offer  his  gift,  make  his  confession,  receive  the  sa- 
crament. What  more  like  a  Christian?  As  to  life  and  manners,  he 
circumvents  no  man,  over-reaches  no  man,  and  does  violence  to  no 
man.  He  fasts  much,  and  eats  not  the  bread  of  idleness,  but  works 
with  his  hands  for  support.  The  whole  body,  indeed,  are  rustic  and 
illiterate,  and  all  whom  I  have  known  of  this  sect  are  very  ignorant." 
Such  was  the  testimony  of  the  great  Saint  Bernard  in  their  behalf.* 

We  have  some  additional  information  concerning  these  people,  given 
us  by  Egbert,  a  monk,  and  afterwards  abbot  of  Schonauge,  who  tells  us 
that  he  had  often  disputed  with  these  heretics,  and  that  he  had  learned 
still  more  of  their  opinions  from  those  who  had,  through  the  force  of 
torments  and  the  threat  of  being  burned,  renounced  their  communion. 

*  Dr.  Haweis  loses  all  patience  with  his  brother  Milner,  for  attempting-  to  in- 
troduce the  gTeat  Bernard  into  the  calendar  of  saints.  "I  am  astonished,"  says 
he,  "at  his  attempt  to  enrol  Bernard  in  his  catalogue  of  evangelical  religion. 
Saint  added  to  such  a  name  would  be  impious.  However  orthodox  some  of  his 
sentiments  may  be,  can  false  mLatlcs,  tying;  prophecies,  bloody  persecutions  of 
the  faithful,  and  servitude  to  the  papacy  and  her  dominion,  constitute  a  saint  of 
the  first  water  ?  A  protestant  divine  disgraces  his  page  by  these  commendations, 
and  renders  even  the  truths  which  he  supports,  and  contends  for  as  evangelical, 
suspicious."  Impartial  Hist.  vol.  ii.  p.  230.  In  all  this  I  fully  agree  with  Dr. 
Haweis;  but  then  it  furnishes  me  with  a  powerful  plea  against  his  own  consis- 
tency, who  has  no  scruple  to  enrol  in  his  catalogue  the  names  of  Athanasius  and 
Augustine — men  equally  renowned  for  their  lust  of  power,  their  persecuting 
principles,  their  false  miracles,  their  lying  prophecies,  and  abject  servitude  to 
the  prevailing  corruption  of  their  respective  times. 

To  the  character  of  Bernard,  however,  let  us  not  be  unjust.  He  was  not  a 
blind  and  slavish  supporter  of  the  court  of  Rome,  even  in  those  days.  On  the 
contrary,  he  used  the  greatest  freedom  of  speech  in  lashing  the  vices  of  the 
clergy  of  his  time,  and  made  himself  extremely  obnoxious  to  them  by  his  free 
remonstrances.  "Who  at  the  outset,"  says  he,  "when  the  order  of  monks 
began,  would  ever  have  imagined  that  monks  would  become  so  wicked  as  they 
since  have  ?  Oh,  how  unlike  are  we  to  those  in  the  days  of  Anthony  ?  Did 
Macarius  live  in  such  a  manner  ?  Did  Basil  teach  so  ?  Did  Anthony  ordain  so  ? 
Did  the  fathers  in  Egypt  carry  themselves  so  ?  How  is  the  light  of  the  world 
become  darkness  ?  How  is  the  salt  of  the  earth  become  unsavoury  ?  I  am  a  liar," 
says  he,  "if  I  have  not  seen  an  abbot  having  above  sixty  horses  in  his  train! 
When  ye  saw  them  riding,  ye  might  say,  «  These  are  not  fathers  of  monasteries, 
but  lords  of  castles — not  shepherds  of  souls,  but  princes  of  provinces!' — Oh, 
vanity  of  vanities!  the  walls  of  churches  are  glorious,  while  the  poor  are  starv- 
ing." Even  the  popes  themselves  were  not  spared  by  Bernard.  He  wrote  to 
Eugenius  and  to  Innocent  the  Second,  imputing  to  them  the  blame  of  all  the 
wickedness  in  the  church, — though  he  approved  of  its  constitution,  and  defend- 
ed all  its  rites  and  ceremonies.  This  inconsistent  conduct  gave  rise  to  a  saying 
which  passed  into  a  proverb,  and  was  common  for  centuries  after,  Yiz.Bernardus 
non  vidit  omnia — Bernard  does  not  see  every  thing. 


280  History  of  the  Christian  Church. 

He  says,  "  they  are  commonly  called  Cathari,  [Puritans]  a  sort  of 
people  very  pernicious  to  the  catholic  faithT  which,  like  moths,  they 
corrupt  and  destroy."  He  adds,  that  they  were  divided  into  several 
sects,  and  maintained  their  opinions  by  the  authority  of  Scripture. 
He  takes  particular  notice  of  their  denying  the  utility  of  baptism  to  in- 
fants, which,  say  they,  through  their  incapacity,  avails  nothing  to  their 
salvation ;  insisting  that  baptism  ought  to  be  deferred  till  they  come  to 
years  of  discretion,  and  that  even  then  those  only  should  be  baptized 
"who  make  a  personal  profession  of  faith,  and  desire  it.*  They  are  arm- 
ed," says  he,  "with  the  words  of  the  holy  scripture  which  in  anyway 
seem  to  favour  their  sentiments,  and  with  those  they  know  how  to  de- 
fend their  errors,  and  to  oppose  the  catholic  truth ;  though  in  reality 
they  are  wholly  ignorant  of  the  true  meaning  couched  in  those  words, 
and  which  cannot  be  discovered  without  great  judgment.  They  are  in- 
creased to  great  multitudes  throughout  all  countries,  to  the  great  danger 
of  the  church — for  their  words  eat  like  a  canker,  and,  like  a  flying  le- 
prosy, runs  every  way,  infecting  the  precious  members  of  Christ. 
These,  in  our  Germany  we  call  Cathari;  in  Flanders  they  call  them 
Piphles  ;  in  French,  Tisserands,  from  the  art  of  weaving,  because  num- 
bers of  them  are  of  that  occupation."! 

Thus  by  comparing  together  these  several  fragments  of  information,, 
we  may  acquire  some  distinct  notion  of  these  Cathari.  They  were  a 
plain,  unassuming,  harmless,  and  industrious  race  of  Christians,  patient- 
ly bearing  the  cross  after  Christ,  and  both  in  their  doctrine  and  man- 
ners condemning  the  whole  system  of  idolatry  and  superstition  which 
reigned  in  the  church  of  Rome,  placing  true  religion  in  the  faith,  hope, 
and  obedience  of  the  gospel,  maintaining  a  supreme  regard  to  the  au- 
thority of  God,  in  his  word,  and  regulating  their  sentiments  and  prac- 
tices by  that  divine  standard.  Even  in  the  twelfth  century  their  num- 
bers abounded  in  the  neighbourhood  of  Cologne,  in  Flanders,  the  south 
of  France,  Savoy,  and  Milan.  "  They  were  increased,"  says  Egbert, 
"  to  great  multitudes,  throughout  all  countries,"  and  although 
they  seem  not  to  have  attracted  attention  in  any  remarkable  degree  pre- 
vious to  this  period,  yet,  as  it  is  obvious  they  could  not  have  sprung 
.  up  in  a  day,  it  is  not  an  unfair  inference  that  they  must  have  long  ex- 
isted as  a  people  wholly  distinct  from  the  catholic  church,  though, 
amidst  the  political  squabbles  of  the  clergy,  it  was  their  good  fortune  to 
be  almost  entirely  overlooked. 

The  same  Egbert,  speaking  of  them,  says,  "  Concerning  the  souls  of 
the  dead,  they  hold  this  opinion,  that  at  the  very  instant  of  their  depar- 
ture out  of  the  body,  they  go  to  eternal  bliss  or  endless  misery,  for  they 
do  not  admit  the  belief  of  the  universal  church,  that  there  are  some  pur- 
gatory punishments,  with  which  the  souls  of  some  of  the  elect  are  tried 
for  a  time,  on  account  of  those  sins  from  which  they  have  not  been 
purified  by  a  plenary  satisfaction  in  this  life.  On  which  account  they 
think  it  superfluous  and  vain  to  give  alms  for  the  dead  and  celebrate 

*  See  his  Sermon  against  the  Cathari  in  Bib.  Pat.  torn.  ii.  p.  99,  106.  D'An- 
ver's  Hist.  Bapt.  p.  249. 

|  Dr.  Allix's  Remarks,  p.  150. 


Persecution  of  the  TFaldenses  in  England.  281 

masses;  and  they  scoff  at  our  ringing  of  belle,  which,  nevertheless,  for 
pious  reasons,  are  used  in  our  churches,  to  give  others  warning  that  they 
may  pray  for  the  dead,  and  to  put  them  in  mind  of  their  own  death. 
As  "for  masses,  they  altogether  despise  them,  regarding  them  as  of  no 
value,  for  they  maintain  that  the  sacerdotal  Order  has  entirely  ceased  in 
the  church  of  Rome  and  all  other  catholic  churches,  and  that  true 
priests  are  only  to  be  found  in  their  sect."* 

Throughout  the  whole  of  the  twelfth  century,  these  people  were  ex- 
posed to  severe  persecution.  The  zeal  of  Galdinus,  archbishop  of  Mi- 
lan, was  roused  against  them  to  such  a  pitch,  that  after  making  them 
the  objects  of  unrelenting  persecution,  during  a  period  of  eight  or  nine 
years,  he,  at  length,  fell  a  martyr  to  his  own  zeal,  dying  in  the  year 
1173,  in  consequence  of  an  illness  contracted  through  the  excess  of  his 
vehemence  in  preaching  against  them. 

Towards  the  middle  of  the  twelfth  century,  a  small  society  of  these 
Puritans,  as  they  were  called  by  some,  or  Waldenses,  as  they  are  termed 
by  others,  or  PauUcians,  as  they  are  denominated  by  our  old  monkish 
historian,  William  of  Neuburg,  made  their  appearance  in  England. 
This  latter  writer  speaking  of  them,  says,  "  they  came  originally  from 
Gascoyne,  where,  being  as  numerous  as  the  sand  of  the  sea,  they 
sorely  infested  both  France,  Italy,  Spain,  and  England."  The  follow- 
ing is  the  account  given  by  Dr.  Henry,  in  his  History  of  Great  Britain, 
vol.  viii.  p.  338.  Oct.  ed.  of  this  emigrating  party,  which,  in  substance, 
corresponds  with  what  is  said  of  them  by  Rapin,  Collier,  Lyttleton, 
and  other  of  our  writers. 

"A  company,  consisting  of  about  thirty  men  and  women,  who  spoke 
the  German  language,  appeared  in  England  at  this  time  (1159),  and 
soon  attracted  the  attention  of  government  by  the  singularity  of  their 
religious  practices  and  opinions.  It  is  indeed  very  difficult  to  discover 
with  certainty  what  their  opinions  were,  because  they  are  recorded  only 
by  our  monkish  historians,  who  speak  of  them  with  much  asperity. 
They  were  apprehended  and  brought  before  a  council  of  the  clergy  at 
Oxford.  Being  interrogated  about  their  religion,  their  teacher,  named 
Gerard,  a  man  of  learning,  answered  in  their  name,  that  they  were 
Christians,  and  believed  the  doctrines  of  the  apostles.  Upon  a  more 
particular  inquiry,  it  was  found  that  they  denied  several  of  the  received 
doctrines  of  the  church,  such  as  purgatory,  prayers  for  the  dead,  and 
the  invocation  of  saints  ;  and  refusing  to  abandon  these  damnable  here- 
sies, as  they  were  called,  they  were  condemned  as  incorrigible  heretics, 
and  delivered  to  the  secular  arm  to  be  punished.  The  king,  (Henry 
II.)  at  the  instigation  of  the  clergy,  commanded  them  to  be  branded  with 
a  red  hot  iron  on  the  forehead,  to  be  whipped  through  the  streets  of 
Oxford,  and,  having  their  clothes  cut  short  by  their  girdles,  to  be  turn- 
ed into  the  open  fields,  all  persons  being  forbidden  to  afford  them  any 
shelter  or  relief  under  the  severest  penalties.  This  cruel  sentence  was 
executed  in  its  utmost  rigour  ;  and  it  being  the  depth  of  winter,  all  these 
unhappy  persons  perished  with  cold  and  hunger.  These  seem  to  have 
been  the  first  who  suffered  death  in  Britain,  for  the  vague  and  variable 

*  Serin.  I.  p.  889,  in  Bib.  pp.  Colon,  ed.  quoted  by  Dr.  Allix,  p.  152. 
24* 


282  History  of  the  Christian  Church. 

crime  of  heresy,  and  it  would  have  been  much  to  the  honour  of  the 
country  if  they  had  been  the  last." 

There  is  an  account  of  the  punishing  of  these  Waldenses,  in  the 
Arch^eologia,  vol.  ix.  p.  292 — 305,  written  by  the  Rev.  Mr.  Denne, 
of  Wilmington  ;  from  which  I  shall  here  give  a  short  extract  by  way 
of  supplement  to  the  preceding  narrative.  "These  persons,"  says  he, 
"  having  been  believers  of  the  essential  doctrines  of  Christianity,  (as  is 
admitted  by  the  bishops)  and,  as  it  may  be  inferred  from  the  silence  of 
the  historian,  that  these  sectaries  were  in  their  manners  inoffensive, 
nothing  but  the  evil  spirit  of  persecution  could  have  prompted  their 
judges  to  deliver  them  up  to  the  civil  magistrate.  It  was  the  more 
culpable  in  the  prelates,  because  there  was  so  little  ground  for  an  alarm 
of  their  propagating  with  success  their  peculiar  tenets.  For  though  they 
seem  to  have  resided  for  some  time  in  England,  they  only  converted  one 
woman  of  an  inferior  rank,  and  she  was  so  slightly  attached  to  them, 
that  she  was  soon  prevailed  on  to  recant  and  forsake  their  society.  And 
as  they  were  not  disturbers  of  the  public  peace,  it  is  somewhat  strange 
that  the  king,  whose  disposition  was  humane,  should  think  those  people 
merited  branding  and  exile.  But  it  was  during  the  contest  between 
Henry  and  Becket,  in  support  of  the  just  rights  of  the  crown,  that  this 
occurrence  happened ;  and  his  hard  usage  of  these  foreigners  has  been 
attributed  to  an  unwillingness  of  affording  a  pretext  to  the  pope  and  his 
adherents  to  charge  them  with  profaneness,  or  an  inattention  to  the  cause 
of  religion.  By  the  council  of  Tours,  held  in  1163,  princes  were  ex- 
horted and  directed  to  imprison  all  heretics  within  their  dominions,  and 
to  confiscate  their  effects.  Of  this  injunction  Henry  could  not  be  igno- 
rant, and  he  might  be  actuated  by  it  to  treat  the  delinquents  with  more 
rigour  than  he  otherwise  would  have  done."  Mr.  Denne  has  fixed  the 
sitting  of  the  council  at  Oxford  in  the  year  1166. 

But  the  Cathari,  or  Puritans,  were  not  the  only  sect  which,  during 
the  twelfth  century,  appeared  in  opposition  to  the  superstition  of  the 
church  of  Rome.  About  the  year  1110,  in  the  South  of  France,  in  the 
provinces  ofLanguedoc  and  Provence,  appeared  Peter  de  Bruys,  preach- 
ing the  gospel  of  the  kingdom  of  heaven,  and  exerting  the  most  lauda- 
ble efforts  to  reform  the  abuses  and  remove  the  superstitions  which 
disfigured  the  beautiful  simplicity  of  the  gospel  worship.  His  labours 
were  crowned  with  abundant  success.  He  converted  a  great  number 
of  persons  to  the  faith  of  Christ,  and  after  a  most  indefatigable  ministry 
of  twenty  years  continuance,  he  was  burnt  at  St.  Giles's,  a  city  ofLan- 
guedoc in  France,  in  the  year  1130,  by  an  enraged  populace,  instigated 
by  the  clergy,  who  apprehended  their  traffic  to  be  in  danger  from  this 
new  and  intrepid  reformer.  His  followers  were  called  Petrobrusians ; 
but  of  his  doctrinal  sentiments  the  following  are  those  alone  which  we 
can  be  sure  of  at  this  remote  period — That  the  ordinance  of  baptism 
was  to  be  administered  only  to  adults — that  it  was  a  piece  of  idle  super- 
stition to  build  and  dedicate  churches  to  the  service  of  God,  who  in 
worship  has  a  peculiar  respect  to  the  state  of  the  heart,  and  who  cannot 
be  worshipped  with  temples  made  by  hands — that  crucifixes  were  ob- 
jects of  superstition,  and  ought  to  be  destroyed — that  in  the  Lord's  sup- 
per the  real  body  and  blood  of  Christ  were  not  exhibited,  but  only 


Account  of  Arnold  of  Brescia.  283 

represented  in  the  way  of  symbol  or  figure — and  lastly,  that  the  ob- 
lations, prayers,  and  good  works  of  the  living,  could  in  no  respect  be 
beneficial  to  the  dead.* 

A  few  years  after  the  death  of  Peter  Brays,  rose  up  an  Italian  by  birth, 
of  the  name  of  Henry,  said  to  have  been  his  disciple,  and  who  was  the 
founder  of  a  new  sect  called  the  Henricians.  He  had  been  both  a  monk 
and  a  hermit ;  but  having  received  the  knowledge  of  the  truth  he  labour- 
ed to  reform  the  superstitions  of  the  times.  Quitting  Lausanne,  a  city 
of  Switzerland,  he  travelled  to  Mans,  and  being  banished  from  thence, 
removed  successively  to  Poictiers,  Bourdeaux,  and  other  cities  in  France  ; 
and  at  length,  in  the  year  1147,  to  Toulouse,  preaching  the  gospel  in 
all  those  places  with  the  greatest  acceptance,  and  declaiming  with  ve- 
hemence and  fervour  against  the  vices  of  the  clergy,  and  the  supersti- 
tions introduced  by  them  into  the  Christian  church.  At  Toulouse  he 
was  warmly  opposed  by  the  great  St.  Bernard,  that  luminary  of  the 
Catholic  church,  who,  though  he  wrote  against  him  with  great  bitter- 
ness, is  nevertheless  constrained  to  admit  that  Henry  was  a  learned 
man,  and  greatly  respected  by  his  numerous  followers.  The  latter, 
however,  to  avoid  his  fury,  was  compelled  to  save  himself  by  flight. 
He  was,  nevertheless,  seized,  in  his  retreat,  and  carried  before  Pope 
Eugenius  III.  who  assembled  a  council  at  Rheims,  in  which  he  pre- 
sided in  person,  and  having  received  a  number  of  accusations  against 
Henry,  committed  him  in  the  year  1158  to  a  close  prison,  in  which  he 
soon  ended  his  days.  His  doctrinal  sentiments  have  not  been  handed 
down  to  us  in  a  manner  so  full  and  explicit  as  could  be  wished.  "All 
we  know  is,  that  he  rejected  infant  baptism  ;  censured  with  severity  the 
corrupt  and  licentious  manners  of  the  clergy  ;  treated  the  festivals  and 
ceremonies  of  the  Catholic  church  with  the  utmost  contempt ;  and  held 
private  assemblies,  in  which  he  explained  and  inculcated  his  peculiar 
sentiments. "t 

I  feel  some  hesitation  in  adding  to  the  list  of  reformers  who  arose 
during  this  benighted  period,  the  name  of  Arnold  of  Brescia,  because 
Mosheim  and  other  writers  have  described  him  as  a  man  of  a  turbulent 
and  impetuous  spirit;  and,  though  he  is  universally  allowed  to  have 
been  possessed  of  extensive  erudition,  and  remarkable  for  the  austerity 
of  his  manners,  he  is  represented  by  those  writers  as  not  confining 
himself  to  the  apostolic  weapons  of  the  Christian  warfare.  Yet,  the 
spirit  of  candour  and  fairness  would  seem  to  require  that  allowance 
should  be  made  for  those  exaggerations  which  the  malignity  oi  his  en- 
raged adversaries  prompted  them  to  vent  against  him.  There  are  few 
things  more  difficult  than  to  combine  the  leniter  in  modo  with  the 
fortitcr  in  re,  and  gentleness  seems  almost  incompatible  with  the  zeal 
of  a  reformer.  I  shall,  however,  adduce  a  few  impartial  testimonies 
to  the  character  of  Arnold,  and  leave  the  reader  to  his  own  reflections 
on  them.  The  following  account  of  him  is  given  in  a  recent  publica- 
tion of  great  merit. 

*  Mosheim's  Church  History,  vol.  iii.  cent.  xii.  part  2.  ch.  v.  and  the  authors 
there  referred  to. 
f  Mosheim,  vol.  iii.  cent.  xii.  part  ii.  ch.  v. 


284  History  of  the  Christian  Church. 

"  Arnold,  at  an  early  period  of  life  travelled  into  France,  and  be- 
came the  disciple  of  the  celebrated  Abelard.  Having  imbibed  some  of 
the  heretical  sentiments,  and  a  portion  of  that  freedom  of  thought, 
which  distinguished  his  master,  he  returned  to  Italy,  and  in  the  habit 
of  a  monk,  began  to  propagate  his  opinions  in  the  streets  of  Brescia. 
The  zeal  of  this  daring  reformer  was  at  first  directed  against  the 
wealth  and  luxury  of  the  Romish  clergy.  Insisting  that  the  kingdom 
of  Christ  is  not  of  this  world,  he  maintained  that  the  temporal  power 
of  the  church  was  an  unprincipled  corruption  of  the  rights  of  secular 
princes,  and  that  all  the  corruptions  which  disgraced  the  Christian 
faith,  and  all  the  animosities  which  distracted  the  church,  sprang  from 
the  power  and  overgrown  possessions  of  the  clergy.  These  bold  truths 
were  propagated  not  as  mere  points  of  speculation,  or  as  an  explana- 
tion of  the  various  calamities  which  then  affected  the  church ;  they 
were  held  as  the  foundation  of  a  system  of  reform  which  the  people 
were  excited  to  carry  into  execution  ;  and  the  clergy  were  called  upon 
to  renounce  their  usurped  possessions,  and  to  lead  a  frugal  and  abste- 
mious life  on  the  voluntary  contributions  of  the  people.  The  inhabi- 
tants of  Brescia  were  roused  by  the  eloquent  appeals  of  their  country- 
man. They  revered  him  as  the  apostle  of  religious  liberty,  and  rose 
in  rebellion  against  their  lawful  bishop.  The  church  took  alarm  at 
these  dangerous  commotions,  and  in  a  general  council  of  the  Lateran, 
held  in  1139,  by  Innocent  II.  Arnold  was  condemned  to  perpetual  si- 
lence. He  sought  for  refuge  beyond  the  Alps,  and  found  an  hospita- 
ble shelter  in  the  Canton  of  Zurich.  Here  he  again  began  his  career 
of  reform,  and  had  the  ability  to  seduce  from  their  allegiance  the  bish- 
op of  Constance,  and  even  the  pope's  legate.  The  exhortations  of 
St.  Bernard,  however,  reclaimed  these  yielding  ecclesiastics  to  a  sense 
of  their  duty,  and  Arnold  was  driven  by  persecution  to  hazard  the  des- 
perate expedient  of  fixing  the  standard  of  rebellion  in  the  very  heart  of 
Rome. 

Protected,  perhaps,  if  not  invited,  by  the  nobles,  Arnold  harangued 
the  populace  with  his  usual  fervour,  and  inspired  them  with  such  a 
regard  for  their  civil  and  ecclesiastical  rights,  that  a  complete  revolu- 
tion was  effected  in  the  city.  Innocent  struggled  in  vain  against  this 
invasion  of  his  power,  and  at  last  sunk  under  the  pressure  of  calamity. 
His  successors,  Celestine  and  Lucius,  who  reigned  only  a  few  months, 
were  unable  to  check  the  popular  frenzy.  The  leaders  of  the  insur- 
rection waited  upon  Lucius,  demanded  the  restitution  of  the  civil  rights 
which  had  been  usurped  from  the  people,  and  insisted  that  his  holiness 
and  the  clergy  should  trust  only  to  pious  offerings  of  the  faithful. 
Lucius  survived  this  demand  but  a  few  days,  and  was  succeeded  by 
Eugenius  III.  who,  dreading  the  mutinous  spirit  of  the  inhabitants, 
withdrew  from  Rome,  and  was  consecrated  in  a  neighbouring  fortress. 
As  soon  as  Arnold  was  acquainted  with  the  escape  of  the  pontiff, 
he  entered  Rome,  and  animated  with  new  vigour  the  licentious  fury 
of  the  populace.  He  called  to  their  remembrance  the  achievements 
of  their  forefathers — he  painted  in  the  strongest  colours,  the  sufferings 
which  sprung  from  ecclesiastical  tyranny ;  and  he  charged  them  as 
men  and  as  Romans,  never  to  admit  the  pontiff  within  their  walls,  till 


Account  of  Arnold  of  Brescia.  285 

they  had  prescribed  the  limits  of  his  spiritual  jurisdiction,  and  fixed 
the  civil  government  in  their  own  hands.  Headed  by  the  disaffected 
nobles,  the  frenzied  populace,  attacked  the  cardinals  and  clergy,  who 
still  continued  in  the  city.  They  set  fire  to  the  palaces,  and  forced 
the  inhabitants  to  swear  allegiance  to  the  new  system  of  things. 

The  Roman  pontiff  could  no  longer  view  with  patience  the  excesses 
of  this  ungovernable  mob.     At  the  head  of  his  troops,  chiefly  com- 
posed of  Tiburtines,  he  marched  against  the  city,  and  after  some  tri- 
fling concessions  on  his  part,  was  reinstated  on  the  papal  throne.     Not- 
withstanding the  triumph  over  the  malecontents,  the  friends  of  Arnold 
were  still  numerous,  and  continued  10  disturb  the  peace  of  the  city,  till 
our  countryman,  Adrian  IV.  was  raised  to  the  chair  of  St.  Peter.     On 
the  first  appearance  of  a  riot,  during  which  a  cardinal  was  either  killed 
or  wounded  in  the  street,  Adrian  held  an  interdict  over  the  guilty  city, 
and  from  Christmas  to  Easter  deprived  it  of  the  privilege  of  religious 
worship.     This  bold  and  sagacious  contrivance  gave  a  sudden  turn  to 
the  minds   of  the  people.     Arnold  and  his  followers    were  banished 
from  the  city,  and  fled  for  protection  to  the  viscounts  of  Campania. 
His  holiness,  however,  was  not  satisfied  with  restoring  peace  to  his 
capital.       A  spirit  of  revenge  burned  within  him,   till  he  instigated 
Frederick  Barbarossa  to  force  Arnold  from  his  asylum  in  Campania. 
This  intrepid  reformer  was  immediately  seized  by  cardinal  Gerard  in 
1155,  and  was  burned  alive  in  the  midst  of  a  fickle  people,  who  gazed 
with  stupid  indifference  on  the  expiring  hero,  who  had  fallen  in  defence 
of  their  dearest  rights,  and   whom  they  had  formerly  regarded   with 
more  than  mortal  veneration ;  his  ashes  were  thrown  into  the  Tiber ; 
but  though  no  corporeal  relic  could  be  preserved  to  animate  his  fol- 
lowers, the  efforts  which  he  made  in  the  cause  of  civil  and  religious 
freedom  were  cherished  in  the  breasts  of  future  patriots,  and  inspired 
those  mighty  attempts  which  have  chained  down  and  finally  destroyed 
the  monster  of  superstition. 

It  is  impossible  not  to  admire  the  genius  and  persevering  intrepidity 
of  Arnold.  To  distinguish  truth  from  error  in  an  age  of  darkness,  and 
to  detect  the  causes  of  spiritual  corruption  in  the  thickest  atmosphere 
of  ignorance  and  superstition,  evinced  a  mind  of  more  than  ordinary 
stretch.  To  adopt  a  plan  for  recovering  the  lost  glory  of  his  country, 
and  fixing  the  limits  of  spiritual  usurpation,  demanded  a  degree  of  re- 
solution which  no  opposition  could  control.  But  to  struggle  against 
superstition  entrenched  in  power,  to  plant  the  standard  of  rebellion  in 
the  very  heart  of  her  empire,  and  to  keep  possession  of  her  capital  for 
a  number  of  years,  could  scarcely  have  been  expected  from  an  indi- 
vidual who  had  no  power  but  that  of  his  eloquence,  and  no  assistance 
but  what  he  derived  from  the  justice  of  his  cause.  Yet  such  were  the 
individual  exertions  of  Arnold,  which  posterity  will  appreciate  as  one 
of  the  noblest  legacies  which  former  ages  have  bequeathed.  Every 
triumph  that  is  gained  over  ecclesiastical  power  stretched  beyond  its 
just  limits,  in  whatever  country  it  is  sanctioned,  and  under  whatever 
system  of  faith  it  is  exercised,  is  the  triumph  of  right  reason  over 
the  worst  passions  of  the  heart.     It  is  the  greatest  step  which  the  hu- 


286  History  of  the  Christian  Church. 

man  mind  can  take  in  its  progress  to  that  knowledge  and  happiness  to 
which  the  Almighty  has  destined  it  to  arrive."* 

"  We  may  truly  say,"  says  Dr.  Allix,  "  that  scarcely  any  man  was 
ever  so  torn  and  defamed  on  account  of  his  doctrine  as  was  this  Ar- 
nold of  Brescia.  Would  we  know  the  reason  of  this  ?  It  was  be- 
cause, with  all  his  power,  he  opposed  the  tyranny  and  usurpation 
which  the  popes  began  to  establish  at  Rome  over  the  temporal  jurisdic- 
tion of  the  emperors.  He  was  the  man  who,  by  his  counsel,  renewed 
the  design  of  re-establishing  the  authority  of  the  senate  in  Rome,  and 
of  obliging  the  pope  not  to  meddle  with  any  thing  but  what  concerned 
the  government  of  the  church,  Avithout  invading  the  temporal  jurisdic- 
tion : — this  was  his  crime,  and  this  indeed  is  such  an  one  as  is  unpar- 
donable with  the  Pope,  if  there  be  any  such."t 

"  But  there  was  a  still  more  heinous  thing  laid  to  his  charge,  which 
was  this:  Prseter hsec  de  Sacramento  altaris  et  baptismo parvulorum, 
non  sane  dicitur  sensisse!  that  is,  "  He  was  unsound  in  his  judgment 
about  the  sacrament  of  the  altar  and  infant  baptism" — (in  other  words, 
he  rejected  the  popish  doctrine  of  transubstantiation  and  of  the  baptism 
of  infants.)  And  this  alone  was  sufficient  ground  for  his  condemnation  ; 
for  as  he  set  himself  industriously  to  oppose  the  accumulating  errors  in 
the  church  of  Brescia,  his  native  place,  in  which  he  was  supported  by 
Maifredus,  the  consul  of  that  city,  accusations  against  him  were  trans- 
mitted to  pope  Innocent  II.  who  immediately  imposed  silence  upon 
him,  lest  such  pernicious  doctrine  should  spread  further.  On  this,  Ar- 
nold retired  from  Italy,  and  settled  at  Zurich,  in  the  diocese  of  Con- 
stance, where  he  continued  to  disseminate  his  doctrine  until  the  death 
of  the  Pope,  at  which  time  he  returned  to  Rome." 

Otho  Frisingensis,  a  Catholic  bishop,  gives  the  following  account  of 
the  death  of  this  great  man.  "  Being  entered  into  the  city  [Rome]  and 
finding  it  altogether  in  a  seditious  uproar  against  the  Pope,  he  was  so 
far  from  following  the  advice  of  the  wise  man,  not  to  add  fuel  to  the 
fire,  that  he  greatly  increased  it,  proposing  to  the  multitude  the  exam- 
ples of  the  ancient  Romans,  who,  by  the  maturity  of  their  senators' 
counsels,  and  the  valour  and  integrity  of  their  youth,  made  the  world 
their  own.  He  therefore  advised  them  to  rebuild  the  capital,  to  restore 
the  dignity  of  the  senate,  and  reform  the  order  of  knights.  He  main- 
tained that  the  civil  government  of  the  city  did  not  belong  to  the  Pope, 
who  ought  to  confine  himself  to  matters  purely  ecclesiastical.  And  so 
far  did  the  mischief  of  this  infectious  doctrine  prevail,  that  the  mob 
pulled  down  several  of  the  houses  of  the  nobility  and  cardinals,  treating 
the  latter  with  personal  abuse,  and  even  violence.  He  could  not  hope 
to  escape  long,  after  committing  so  heinous  a  crime  against  persons  so 
extremely  jealous  of  their  tyranny. 

"  Having  persisted  for  a  length  of  time,  incessantly  and  irreverently, 
in  these  and  similar  enterprises,  contemning  the  sentence  of  the  clergy 
justly  and  canonically  pronounced  against  him  as  altogether  void,  and  of 
no  authority ;  he  at  length  fell  into  the  hands  of  some,  on  the  borders  of 

*  Brewster's  Edinburgh  Encyclop.  Art.  Arnold. 
f  Allix's  Remarks,  p.  169. 


Account  of  the  sect  of  the  Paterines.  287 

Tuscany,  who  took  him  prisoner,  and  being  preserved  for  the  prince's 
trial,  he  was  at  last,  by  the  prefect  of  the  city,  hanged,  (Mosheim  says 
he  was  crucified)  and  his  body  burnt  to  ashes,  to  prevent  the  foolish 
rabble  from  expressing  any  veneration  for  his  body,  and  the  ashes  of  it 
cast  into  the  Tiber."* 

Such  was  the  end  of  Arnold  of  Brescia,  whose  memory,  however, 
was  long  and  fondly  cherished  by  the  people  of  Rome,  whose  interests 
he  had  so  courageously  advocated  against  the  tyranny  of  the  popes,  and 
whose  hatred  he  had  thereby  incurred.  His  tragical  end  occasioned 
deep  and  loud  murmurs;  it  was  regarded  as  an  act  of  injustice  and  cru- 
elty, the  guilt  of  which  lay  upon  the  bishop  of  Rome  and  his  clergy, 
who  had  been  the  occasion  of  it.  The  disciples  of  Arnold,  who  were 
numerous,  and  obtained  the  name  of  Arnoldists,  separated  themselves 
from  the  communion  of  the  church  of  Rome,  and  long  continued  to  bear 
their  testimony  against  its  numerous  abominations. 

This  seems  to  be  the  proper  place  for  introducing  some  particular 
mention  of  the  sect  of  the  Paterines.  The  most  copious  account  of  them 
that  I  have  met  with,  is  that  given  by  Mr.  Robinson  in  his  Ecclesiasti- 
cal Researches ;  and  as  it  appears  to  be  well  supported  by  the  authori- 
ties which  he  has  adduced,  and  to  correspond  with  what  is  said  of  the 
same  people  by  Dr.  Allix,  Mosheim,  and  others,  I  present  it  to  the 
reader  mostly  in  his  own  words. 

Much  has  been  written  on  the  etymology  of  the  word  Paterine  ; 
but  as  the  Italians  themselves  are  not  agreed  on  the  derivation,  it  is  not 
likely  foreigners  should  be  able  to  determine  it.  In  Milan,  where  it  was 
first  used,  it  answered  to  the  English  words,  vulgar,  illiterate,  low- 
bred ;  and  these  people  were  so  called,  because  they  were  chiefly  of 
the  lower  order  of  men;  mechanics,  artificers,  manufacturers,  and 
others,  who  lived  of  their  honest  labour.  Gazari,  is  a  corruption  of 
Cathari,  Puritans  ;  and  it  is  remarkable  that  in  the  examinations  of 
these  people,  they  are  not  taxed  with  any  immoralities,  but  were  con- 
demned for  speculations,  or  rather  for  virtuous  rules  of  action,  which 
all  in  power  accounted  heresies.  They  said  a  Christian  church  ought 
to  consist  of  only  good  people ;  a  church  had  no  power  to  frame  any 
constitutions ;  it  was  not  right  to  take  oaths ;  it  was  not  lawful  to  kill 
mankind;  a  man  ought  not  to  be  delivered  up  to  officers  of  justice  to  be^ 
converted  ;  the  benefits  of  society  belonged  alike  to  all  the  members  of 
it ;  faith  without  works  could  not  save  a  man  ;  the  church  ought  not  to 
persecute  any,  even  the  wicked : — the  law  of  Moses  was  no  rule  to 
Christians ;  there  was  no  need  of  priests,  especially  of  wicked  ones ; 
the  sacraments,  and  orders,  and  ceremonies  of  the  church  of  Rome  were 
futile,  expensive,  oppressive,  and  wicked ;  with  many  more  such  posi- 
tions, all  inimical  to  the  hierarchy. 

As  the  Catholics  of  those  times  baptized  by  immersion,  the  Paterines, 
by  what  name  soever  they  were  called,  as  Manichaeans,  Gazari,  Jose- 
phists,  Passigines,  &c.  made  no  complaint  of  the  mode  of  baptizing, 
but  when  they  Mere  examined,  they  objected  vehemently  against  the 
baptism  of  infants,  and  condemned  it  as  an  error.  Among  other  things, 

•  Dr.  Allix's  Remarks,  p.  172. 


288  History  of  the  Christian  Church. 

they  said,  that  a  child  knew  nothing  of  the  matter,  that  he  had  no  de- 
sire to  be  baptized,  and  was  incapable  of  making  any  confession  of 
faith,  and  that  the  willing  and  professing  of  another  could  be  of  no  ser- 
vice to  him.  "Here  then,"  says  Dr.  Allix,  very  truly,  we  have  found 
a  body  of  men  in  Italy,  before  the  year  one  thousand  and  twenty-six, 
five  hundred  years  before  the  Reformation,  who  believed  contrary  to  the 
opinions  of  the  church  of  Rome,  and  who  highly  condemned  their  er- 
rors." Atto,  bishop  of  Verceulli,  had  complained  of  such  people  eighty 
years  before,  and  so  had  others  before  him,  and  there  is  the  highest 
reason  to  believe  that  they  had  always  existed  in  Italy.  It  is  observa- 
ble that  those  who  are  alluded  to  by  Dr.  Allix,  were  brought  to  light  by 
mere  accident.  No  notice  was  taken  of  them  in  Italy,  but  some  disci- 
ples of  Gundulf,  one  of  their  teachers,  went  to  settle  in  the  Low  Coun- 
tries, (Netherlands)  and  Gerard,  bishop  of  Cambray,  imprisoned  them, 
under  pretence  of  converting  them. 

From  the  tenth  to  the  thirteenth  century,  the  dissenters  in  Italy  con- 
tinued to  multiply  and  increase  ;  for  which  several  reasons  may  be  as- 
signed. The  excessive  wickedness  of  the  court  of  Rome  and  the  Ita- 
lian prelates  was  better  known  in  Italy  than  in  the  other  countries. 
There  was  no  legal  power  in  Italy  in  these  times  to  put  dissenters  to 
death.  Popular  preachers  in  the  church,  such  as  Claude  of  Turin, 
and  Arnold  of  Brescia,  increased  the  number  of  dissenters,  for  their 
disciples  went  further  than  their  masters.  The  adjacency  of  France 
and  Spain  too,  contributed  to  their  increase,  for  both  abounded  with 
Christians  of  this  sort.  Their  churches  were  divided  into  sixteen 
compartments,  such  as  the  English  Baptists  would  call  associations. 
Each  of  these  was  subdivided  into  parts,  which  would  be  here  termed 
churches  or  congregations.  In  Milan  there  was  a  street  called  Pataria, 
where  it  is  supposed  they  met  for  divine  worship.  At  Modena  they 
assembled  at  some  water-mills.  They  had  houses  at  Ferrara,  Brescia, 
Viterbe,  Verona,  Vicenza,  and  several  in  Rimini,  Romandiola,  and 
other  places.  Reinerius  says,  in  1259  the  Paterine  church  of  Alba 
.consisted  of  about  five  hundred  members  ;  that  at  Concorezzo  of  more 
than  fifteen  hundred ;  and  that  of  Bagnolo  about  two  hundred.  The 
houses  where  they  met  seem  to  have  been  hired,  by  the  people,  and 
tenanted  by  one  of  the  brethren.  There  were  several  in  each  city,  and 
each  was  distinguished  by  a  mark  known  by  themselves.  They  had 
bishops,  or  elders,  pastors  and  teachers,  deacons,  and  messengers  ; 
that  is,  men  employed  in  travelling  to  administer  to  the  relief  and  com- 
fort of  the  poor,  and  the  persecuted.  In  times  of  persecution  they  met 
in  small  companies  of  eight,  twenty,  thirty,  or  as  it  might  happen  ; 
but  never  in  large  assemblies,  for  fear  of  the  consequences. 

The  Paterines  were  decent  in  their  deportment,  modest  in  their 
dress  and  discourse,  and  their  morals  irreproachable.  In  their  conver- 
sation there  was  no  levity,  no  scurrility,  no  detraction,  no  falsehood, 
no  swearing.  Their  dress  was  neither  fine  nor  mean.  They  were 
chaste  and  temperate,  never  frequenting  taverns,  or  places  of  public 
amusement.  They  were  not  given  to  anger  and  other  violent  pas- 
sions. They  were  not  eager  to  accumulate  wealth,  but  content  with 
the  necessaries  of  life.  They  avoided  commerce,  because  they  thought 


Of  the  Paterine  Churches.  289 

it  would  expose  them  to  the  temptation  of  collusion,  falsehood,  and 
oaths,  choosing. rather  to  live  by  lahour  or  useful  trades.  They  were 
always  employed  in  spare  hours  either  in  giving  or  receiving  instruc- 
tion. Their  bishops  and  officers  were  mechanics,  weavers,  shoe- 
makers, and  others,  who  maintained  themselves  by  their  industry. 

About  the  year  1040,  the  Paterines  had  become  very  numerous  at 
Milan,  which  was  their  principal  residence,  and  here  they  flourished 
at  least  two  hundred  years.  They  had  no  connection  with  the  [Ca- 
tholic] church;  for  they  rejected  not  only  Jerome  of  Syria,  Augustine 
of  Africa,  and  Gregory  of  Rome,  but  Ambrose  of  Milan  ;  considering 
them,  and  other  pretended  fathers,  as  corrupters  of  Christianity.  They 
particularly  condemned  pope  Sylvester  as  Antichrist.  They  called 
[the  adoration  of]  the  cross  the  mark  of  the  beast.  They  had  no 
share  in  the  state,  for  they  took  no  oaths  and  bore  no  arms.  The 
state  did  not  trouble  them,  but  the  clergy  preached,  prayed,  and  pub- 
lished books  against  them  with  unabated  zeal.  About  the  year  1176, 
the  archbishop  of  Milan,  an  old  infirm  man,  while  preaching  against  them 
with  great  vehemence,  dropped  down  in  a  fit,  and  expired  as  soon  as  he 
had  received  extreme  unction  !  About  fourteen  years  afterwards,  one 
Bonacursi,  ivho  pretended  he  had  been  one  of  these  Paterines,  made  a 
'public  renunciation  of  his  opinions,  and  embraced  the  Catholic  faith,  fil- 
ling Milan  with  fables,  as  all  renegadoes  do.  He  reported  that  cities, 
subburs,  towns.,  and  castles,  were  full  of  these  false  prophets — that  it 
was  the  time  to  suppress  them,  and  that  the  prophet  Jeremiah  had  direct- 
ed the  Milanese  what  to  do,  when  he  said,  "  Cursed  be  he  that  keepeth 
back  his  sword  from  blood  ! !"  Advice  which  Ave  shall  presently  see 
was  but  too  implicitly  followed.* 


SECTION  IV. 


HISTORY  OF    THE  CRUSADES  TO    ASIA,    FOR   THE    RECOVERY  OF    THE  HOLY 
LAND  AND  THE    CITY  OF  JERUSALEM   FROM  THE  TURKS. A.  D.   1096 

1270. 

It  has  be"en  remarked  by  a  late  eminent  historian,!  that  "  there  is 
no  event  in  the  history  of  mankind  more  singular  than  that  of  the  cru- 
sades." The  subject  is  indeed  very  remotely,  if  at  all,  connected  with 

*  Robinson's  Ecclesiastical  Researches,  p.  407 — 412.  and  p.  455.  As  it  may 
afford  satisfaction  to  some  readers  to  know  from  what  sources  of  authority  Mr. 
R.  has  drawn  his  account  of  the  Paterines,  I  here  subjoin  them.  Muratori 
JLntiq.  Ital.  torn.  v.  Gregorii,  contra  Maniclises,  qui  Paterini  dicuntur,  opusculi 
specimen,  cap.  vi.  Sicardi  Episcopi  Cremonensis  chronicon,  ad.  An.  1213.  Bona- 
cursi Vitx  haereticorum.  Manifestatio  kseresis  Catharorum  D'Archerii  Spicile- 
gium,  torn.  i.  208.     Be  Catharis  monitum. 

f  Robertson's  History  of  Charles  V.  vol.  i.   Appendix,  Note  13.  Mr.  Hume 
terms  them  "the  most  signal  and  most  durable  monument  of  human  folly  that 
has  yet  appeared  in  any  age  or  nation."     Hist,  of  England,  vol.  i.  ch.  5. 
25 


290  History  of  the  Christian  Church. 

the  kingdom  of  Christ ;  but  as  it  forms  a  prominent  feature  in  the  his- 
tory of  the  Antichristian  apostasy  ;  and  as  these  extravagant  enter- 
prises took  place  towards  the  end  of  the  eleventh,  and  during  a  con- 
siderable part  of  the  twelfth  century,  and  especially  as  the  relation  of 
them  throws  a  portion  of  light  upon  the  history  of  Europe  during  this 
benighted  period,  it  may  not  be  without  its  use  here  to  give  a  concise 
account  of  them.  I  have  purposely  reserved  the  article  for  a  separate 
section,  to  prevent  its  being  mingled  with  what  regards  the  Waldenses 
and  Albigenses,  who  had  nothing  to  do  with  these  frantic  expeditions, 
except  to  condemn  tbem. 

Pope  Gregory  VII.  among  his  other  vast  ideas,  had  formed  the 
project  of  uniting  the  Christians  of  the  Western  empire  against  the 
Mahometans,  and  of  recovering  Palestine  from  the  hands-of  those  in- 
fidels :  but  his  quarrels  with  the  emperor  Henry  IV.  prevented  the  en- 
terprise from  being  achieved  during  his  pontificate.  The  work,  how- 
ever, was  reserved  for  a  meaner  instrument ;  for  a  man,  whose  condi- 
tion could  excite  no  jealousy ;  and  whose  hand  was  as  weak  as  his 
imagination  was  warm.  But  previous  to  entering  upon  his  history,  it 
will  be  proper  to  describe  the  state  of  the  East  at  that  time,  and  of  the 
passion  for  pilgrimages  which  then  prevailed  in  Europe. 

The  veneration  and  delight  with  which  we  view  those  places  that 
have  been  the  residence  of  any  illustrious  personage,  or  the  theatre  of 
any  great  event,  has  been  frequently  remarked  by  philosophers  and 
moralists.  Hence  the  enthusiasm  with  which  the  learned  still  visit  the 
ruins  of  Athens  and  Rome  ;  and  from  this  source  also  flowed  the  su- 
perstitious devotion  with  which  Christians  from  the  earliest  time  were 
accustomed  to  visit  that  country  whence  their  religion  originated,  and 
that  city  in  particular  in  which  the  Saviour  died  for  the  redemption  of 
sinners.  Pilgrimages  to  the  shrines  of  saints  and  martyrs  were  also 
common ;  and  in  proportion  to  the  difficulty  with  which  they  were 
performed  to  distant  countries,  was  their  merit  appreciated,  till  they 
came  at  length  to  be  considered  as  an  expiation  for  almost  every  crime. 
Moreover,  an  opinion  began  to  prevail  over  Europe  towards  the  close 
of  the  tenth  and  beginning  of  the  eleventh  century,  that  the  thousand 
years  mentioned  by  the  writer  of  the  book  of  the  Revelation,  ch.  xx. 
2 — 4,  were  nearly  accomplished,  and  the  end  of  the  world  at  hand — a 
persuasion  which  greatly  augmented  the  number  and  ardour  of  the 
credulous  devotees  who  undertook  this  tedious  journey.  A  general 
consternation  seized  the  minds  of  men;  numbers  relinquished  their 
possessions,  forsook  their  families  and  friends,  and  hastened  to  the 
Holy  Land,  where  they  imagined  Christ  would  suddenly  appear  to 
judge  the  living  and  the  dead. 

But  in  these  pious  journeys,  the  pilgrims  had  the  mortification  to 
find  the  holy  sepulchre,  and  the  other  places  which  had  been  rendered 
sacred  by  the  Saviour's  presence,  fallen  into  the  hands  of  infidels. 
The  Mahometans  had  made  themselves  masters  of  Palestine,  soon 
after  the  death  of  their  prophet ;  but  they  gave  little  disturbance,  to  the 
zealous  pilgrims  who  daily  flocked  to  Jerusalem  ;  and  they  allowed 
every  person,  on  payment  of  a  moderate  tribute,  to  visit  the  holy  se- 
pulchre, to  perform  his  religious  duties,  and  to  return  in  peace.     But, 


Expedition  of  the  Crusades.  291 

about  the  middle  of  the  eleventh  century,  the  Turks,  who  had  also 
embraced  Mahometanism,  wrested  Syria  from  the  Saracens  who  had 
now  been  in  possession  of  it  for  several  centuries,  and  making  them- 
selves masters  of  Jerusalem,  the  pilgrims  became  exposed  to  outrages 
of  every  kind  from  those  fierce  barbarians.  Every  person  who  re- 
turned from  Palestine  related  the  dangers  that  he  had  encountered  in 
visiting  the  holy  city,  and  described  the  cruelty  and  vexation  of  the 
Turks,  who,  to  use  the  language  of  the  pilgrims,  not  only  profaned 
the  sepulchre  of  the  Lord  by  their  presence,  but  derided  the  sacred 
mysteries  in  the  very  place  of  their  completion,  and  where  the  Son  of 
God  was  expected  immediately  to  judge  the  world. 

"While  the  minds  of  men  were  thus  roused,  a  fanatical  monk,  com- 
monly known  by  the  name  of  Peter  the  Hermit,  a  Frenchman,  born 
at  Amiens  in  Picardy,  conceived  the  project  of  leading  all  the  forces 
of  Christendom  against  the  infidels,  and  driving  them  out  of  the  Holy 
Land.  He  had  made  the  pilgrimage  to  Jerusalem,  and  was  so  deeply 
affected  with  the  danger  to  which  his  fellow  pilgrims  were  now  ex- 
posed, that,  on. his  return,  he  ran  from  province  to  province,  with  a 
crucifix  in  his  hand,  exciting  princes  and  people  to  undertake  this  holy 
warfare  ;  and  he  succeeded  in  every  where  kindling  the  same  enthusias- 
tic ardour  for  it  with  which  he  himself  was  animated.  "  When  he  painted 
the  suffering  of  the  natives  and  pilgrims  of  Palestine,  every  heart  was 
melted  to  compassion  ;  every  breast  glowed  with  indignation  when  he 
challenged  the  warriors  of  the  age  to  defend  their  brethren  and  rescue 
their  Saviour."* 

Pope  Urban  II.  who  at  first  hesitated  about  the  success  of  such  a 
project,  at  length  entered  into  Peter's  views,  and  summoned  a  council 
at  Placentia,  at  which,  so  immense   was  the   multitude  of  "attendants, 
that  it  was  found  necessary  to  hold  it  in  the  open  fields.     It  consisted 
of  four  thousand  ecclesiastics  and  thirty  thousand  of  the  laity,  who  all 
declared  for  the  war  against  the  Infidels,  though  but  few  of  them  dis- 
covered any  alacrity   to    engage   personally  in    the  enterprise.     The 
Pope,  therefore,  was   under  the  necessity  of  calling  another  council, 
during  the  same  year,  at  Clermont  in  Auvergne,  which  was   attended 
by  prelates,  nobles,  and  princes  of  the  first  distinction.     On  this  occa- 
sion the  pontiff  and  the  hermit  exerted  all  their  eloquence,  by  the  most 
pathetic  exhortations,  to  stimulate  the  audience  to  embark  in  this  pious 
cause ;  at  the  conclusion  of  which  the  whole  assembly,  as  if  impelled 
by  an  immediate  inspiration,  exclaimed  with  one  voice,  "  It  is  the  will 
of  God  J  It  is  the  will  of  God!"  "  It  is  indeed  the  will  of  God,"  re- 
plied the  pope  ;  "  and  let  this  memorable  saying,  the  inspiration  surely 
of  the  Holy  Spirit,  be  for  ever  adopted  as  your  cry  of  battle  to  animate 
the  devotion  and  courage  of  the  champions  of  Christ.     His  cross  is 
the  symbol  of  your  salvation ;   wear  it :  a  red,  a  bloody  cross,  as  an 
external  mark  on  your  breast  or  shoulders  ;  as  a  pledge  of  your  sacred 
and  irrevocable  engagement."     The  words  were  accordingly   adopted 
as  the  motto  for  the  sacred  standard,  and  as  the  signal  of  rendezvous 
and  battle  in  all  the  future  exploits  of  the  champions  of  the   Cross; 

•  Gibbon's  Rome,  vol.  vi.  p.  3, 


292  History  of  the  Christian  Church. 

the  symbol  chosen  by  the  devout  combatants,  as  the  badge  of  union  ; 
and  it  was  affixed  to  their  right  shoulder ;  whence  their  expedition  ob- 
tained the  name  of  a  Crusade. 

Persons  of  all  ranks  now  flew  to  arms  with  the  utmost  ardour ;  not 
only  the  gallant  nobles  of  that  age  and  their  martial  followers,  whom 
the  boldness  of  a  romantic  enterprise  might  be  supposed  to  allure,  but 
persons  in  the  more  humble  and  pacific  stations  of  life,  ecclesiastics  of 
every  order,  and  even  females  concealing  their  sex  beneath  the  disguise 
of  armour,  engaged  with  emulation  in  a  cause  which  was  deemed  so 
sacred  and  meritorious.  The  greatest  criminals  entered  with  alacrity 
into  a  service  which  they  regarded  as  a  propitiation  for  all  their  of- 
fences :  if  they  succeeded,  they  flattered  themselves  with  the  hope  of 
making  their  fortunes  in  this  world  ;  and  if  they  died,  they  were  pro- 
mised a  crown  of  glory  in  the  world  to  come.  Devotion,  passion, 
prejudice,  and  habit,  all  contributed  to  the  same  common  end,  and  the 
combination  of  so  many  causes  produced  that  wonderful  emigration 
which  induced  the  daughter  of  Alexis  Comnenus,  the  emperor  of  Con- 
stantinople, to  say,  that  "  Europe  loosened  from  its  foundations,  and 
impelled  by  its  moving  principle,  seemed  in  one  united  body  to  pre- 
cipitate itself  upon  Asia." 

The  number  of  adventurers  soon  became  so  great,  that  their  more 
experienced  leaders  were  apprehensive  the  greatness  of  the  armament 
would  defeat  its  own  purpose.  They  therefore  wisely  permitted  an 
undisciplined  multitude,  computed  at  three  hundred  thousand  men,  to 
go  before  them,  under  the  command  of  Peter  the  Hermit,  Walter  the 
Moneyless,  and  other  wild  fanatics. 

Peter,  at  the  head  of  his  army,  with  sandals  on  his  feet  and  a  rope 
about  his  waist,  marched  through  Hungary  and  Bulgaria  towards  Con- 
stantinople. A  German  priest  of  the  name  of  Godescaldus,  followed 
by  a  numerous  banditti,  took  the  same  route ;  and  trusting  to  heaven 
for  a  miraculous  supply  of  all  their  wants,  they  made  no  provision  for 
subsistence  on  their  march.  They  were  not  long,  however,  in  finding 
themselves  reduced  to  the  necessity  of  obtaining  by  plunder  what  they 
presumptuously  expected  from  miracles.  The  Jews  were  the  first 
victims  of  their  plunder.  Considering  themselves  as  enlisted  in  the 
service  of  Christ,  they  concluded  that  they  were  fully  warranted  to 
take  vengeance  on  his  murderers,  and  they,  therefore,  put  to  the  sword 
without  mercy  such  as  refused  to  be  baptized,  seizing  their  property 
without  the  smallest  regard  to  the  rights  of  justice.  In  Bavaria  alone 
twelve  thousand  Jews  were  massacred,  and  many  thousands  more  in 
the  other  provinces  of  Germany.  But  Jews  were  not  to  be  found 
every  where :  these  pious  robbers,  having  tasted  the  sweets  of  plunder, 
and  being  subject  to  no  military  regulations,  began  of  course  to  pillage 
without  distinction,  till  the  inhabitants  of  the  countries  through  Avhich 
they  passed  rose  in  defence  of  themselves  and  families,  and  nearly  de- 
stroyed them  all.  Peter,  however,  with  the  remnant  of  his  army,  con- 
sisting ,of  about  twenty  thousand  starving  wretches,  at  length  reached 
Constantinople,  where  he  was  reinforced  by  a  multitude  of  the  rabble 
from  Germany  and  Italy,  who,  by  pillaging  the  churches,  and  prac- 
tising the  greatest  disorders,  had  contrived  so  far  to  follow  their 
leader. 


Engagement  of  the  Crusaders  with  Soliman.  293 

Alexis  Comnenus,  the  Greek  emperor,  was  astonished  to  see  his 
dominions  deluged  with  an  inundation  of  licentious  barbarians,  strangers 
alike  to  order  and  discipline  ;  and  especially  on  being  told  of  the  multi- 
tudes that  were  following  under  different  leaders.  Thus  circumstanced, 
however,  he  very  wisely  considered  that  the  most  prudent  step  he  could 
take,  was  to  get  rid  of  such  troublesome  guests  as  soon  as  possible,  by 
furnishing  them  with  vessels  to  transport  themselves  to  the  other  side 
of  the  Bosphorus ;  and  Peter,  the  general  of  the  Crusade,  soon  found 
himself  in  the  plains  of  Asia,  at  the  head  of  a  Christian  army,  ready  to 
give  battle  to  the  Infidels.  Their  first  engagement  was  with  Soliman, 
Sultan  of  Nice,  who  fell  upon  the  disorderly  crowd,  and  slaughtered 
them  almost  without  resistance.  Walter  the  Moneyless,  and  many  other 
leaders  of  equal  celebrity,  were  slain  ;  but  Peter  the  Hermit  found  his 
way  back  to  Constantinople,  where  he  was  regarded  as  a  maniac  who 
had  enlisted  a  multitude  of  infatuated  people  to  follow  him. 

Asia  was  then  divided  into  a  number  of  petty  states,  comprehended 
under  the  great  ones.  The  princes  of  the  lesser  states  paid  homage  to 
the  Caliphs,  though  they  were  in  effect  their  masters  :  and  the  Sultans, 
-who  were  very  numerous,  still  further  enfeebled  the  Mahometan  empire 
by  continual  wars  with  each  other,  the  certain  consequence  of  divided 
sway.  The  crusaders,  therefore,  who,  when  mustered  on  the  banks 
of  the  Bosphorus,  amounted  to  the  incredible  number  of  one  hundred 
thousand  horsemen  and  six  hundred  thousand  foot,  were  sufficient  to 
have  conquered  all  Asia,  had  they  been  properly  disciplined,  united 
under  one  head,  or  commanded  by  leaders  who  acted  in  concert ;  but 
they  were  conducted  by  men  of  the  most  independent,  intractable  spirits, 
unacquainted  with  discipline,  and  enemies  to  civil  and  military  subor- 
dination. Their  zeal,  however,  their  courage,  and  their  irresistible 
force,  still  carried  them  forward,  and  advanced  them  to  the  object  of 
their  expedition  in  defiance  of  every  obstacle.  After  an  obstinate  siege, 
they  took  Nice,  the  seat  of  old  Soliman,  Sultan  of  Syria  ;  they  also 
made  themselves  masters  of  Antioch,  the  seat  of  another  Sultan,  and 
entirely  broke  the  strength  of  the  Turks,  who  had  for  a  long  time  ty- 
rannized over  the  Arabs. 

On  the  fall  of  the  Turkish  power,  the  Caliph  of  Egypt,  whose  al- 
liance the  crusaders  had  hitherto  courted,  recovered  the  authority  of 
the  Caliphs  of  Jerusalem.  He  therefore,  sent  ambassadors  to  the  leaders 
of  the  Crusades,  informing  them,  that  if  they  would  throw  away  their 
arms  they  might  now  perform  without  molestation  or  inconvenience 
their  religious  vows  in  the  holy  city,  and  that  all  pilgrims,  who  should 
from  that  time  visit  the  holy  sepulchre,  might  expect  the  same  good 
treatment  which  they  had  ever  received  from  their  predecessors.  His 
offer  was,  however,  rejected:  he  was  required  to  yield  up  the  city  to 
the  Christians;  and  on  his  refusal,  Jerusalem  was  besieged,  the  pos- 
session of  which  was  the  great  object  of  their  armament,  and  the  con- 
summation of  their  labours. 

The  army  of  the  Crusaders  was  now  greatly  reduced  in  number, 
partly  by  disasters,  and  partly  by  the  detachments  they  had  been  ob- 
liged to  make  in  order  to  keep  possession  of  the  places  they  had  con- 
quered, insomuch,  that  according  to  the  testimony  of  historians,  they 
25* 


294  History  of  the  Christian  Church. 

scarcely  exceeded  twenty  thousand  foot  and  fifteen  hundred  horse, 
while  the  garrison  of  Jerusalem  consisted  of  forty  thousand  men.  Yet, 
notwithstanding  this  diminution  of  force,  after  a  siege  of  five  weeks, 
they  took  the  city  by  assault,  and  put  the  garrison  and  inhabitants  to 
the  sword  without  distinction.  The  brave  were  not  protected  by  arms, 
nor  the  timid  by  submission ;  neither  age  nor  sex  were  spared ;  infants 
perished  by  the  same  sword  that  pierced  the  supplicating  mother.  The 
streets  of  Jerusalem  were  covered  with  heaps  of  slain ;  and  the  shrieks 
of  agony  or  despair  resounded  from  every  house,  when  these  triumphant 
warriors,  glutted  with  slaughter,  threw  aside  their  arms,  still  streaming 
with  blood,  and  advanced,  with  naked  feet  and  bended  knees  to  the 
sepulchre  of  the  Prince  of  Peace!  sung  anthems  to  that  Redeemer  who 
had  purchased  their  salvation  by  his  death,  and  while  deaf  to  the  cries 
of  distress  from  their  fellow-creatures,  dissolved  in  tears  for  the  suffer- 
ings of  the  Messiah  !  So  inconsistent  is  human  nature  with  itself;  and 
so  easily  does  the  most  degrading  superstition  associate  both  with  the 
most  heroic  courage  and  with  the  fiercest  barbarity. 

This  important  event,  the  conquest  of  Jerusalem,  was  achieved  in 
1099,  the  last  year  of  the  eleventh  century ;  but  towards  the  middle  of 
the  twelfth,  the  power  of  the  crusaders  began  to  decline,  and  was  grow- 
ing weaker  every  day  in  those  countries  which  they  had  conquered. 
The  small  kingdom  of  Edessa,  had  been  retaken  by  the  Turks,  and 
Jerusalem  itself  was  threatened.  Europe  was  solicited  for  a  new  arma- 
ment; and,  as  the  French  had  taken  the  lead  in  the  former  armament, 
they  were  on  the  present  occasion  honoured  with  the  first  application 
for  a  renewal.  The  papal  chair  was  at  that  time  filled  by  Eugenius  III. 
to  whom  the  deputies  of  the  East  had  been  sent ;  and  he  wisely  pitched 
upon  the  celebrated  Bernard,  as  the  instrument  of  this  pious  warfare. 
A  more  suitable  character  could  scarcely  have  been  found.  Bernard 
was  learned  for  the  times  in  which  he  lived  ;  he  was  naturally  eloquent, 
austere  in  his  life,  irreproachable  in  morals,  enthusiastically  zealous, 
and  inflexible  in  his  purpose.  He  had  long  held  the  reputation  of  a 
saint,  was  regarded  as  an  oracle,  and  revered  as  a  prophet ;  no  wonder 
then  that  he  found  means  to  persuade  the  young  king  of  France,  Lewis 
VII.  to  engage  in  this  fresh  Crusade.  The  French  monarch,  who  had 
but  recently  ascended  the  throne,  found  himself  at  the  commencement 
of  his  reign  engaged  in  one  of  those  civil  wars  which  the  feudal  govern- 
ments rendered  almost  unavoidable ;  and  having  in  an  expedition  into 
Champagne,  made  himself  master  of  Vitry,  he  caused  the  church  to  be 
set  on  fire,  by  which  means  thirteen  hundred  persons,  who  had  taken 
refuge  in  it,  all  perished  in  the  flames — a  piece  of  cruelty  which,  on 
reflection,  sunk  deep  into  the  king's  mind,  and  filled  him  with  dreadful 
remorse.  Bernard  availed  himself  of  this  penitentiary  state,  and  per- 
suaded the  king  of  France,  that  to  expiate  his  guilt,  it  was  his  indis- 
pensable duty  to  make  an  expedition  to  the  Holy  Land. 

At  Vezelar,  a  city  in  the  province  of  Burgundy,  a  scaffold  was  erected 
in  the  market  place,  on  which  Bernard  appeared  by  the  side  of  Lewis 
VII.  The  saint  first  harangued  the  multitude,  and  was  then  seconded 
by  the  king,  after  receiving  the  cross  from  his  hands.  The  queen  who 
was  present,  also  took  the  cross  ;  and  the  example  of  the  royal  pair  was 


Second  Crusade  to  the  Holy  Land.        v  295 

followed  by  all  the  company,  among  whom  were  many  of  the  nobility. 
In  vain  did  Suger,  who  was  prime  minister  to  the  king,  labour  to  dis- 
suade his  royal  master  from  abandoning  his  dominions,  by  assuring  him 
that  he  might  make  a  much  more  suitable  atonement  for  his  sins  by 
remaining  at  home,  and  governing  his  dominions  in  a  wise  and  prudent 
manner  ;  the  eloquence  of  Bernard,  and  the  frenzy  of  the  times  prevail- 
ed. The  minister,  however,  retained  his  opinion  ;  and  made  no  scruple 
to  predict  the  inconveniences  that  would  attend  an  expedition  to  Pales- 
tine, whilst  the  monk  pledged  himself  for  its  success,  and  extolled  it 
with  an  enthusiasm  that  passed  for  inspiration. 

From  France,  Bernard  proceeded  to  preach  the  Crusade  in  Germany  ; 
where  through  the  force  of  his  irresistible  eloquence,  he  prevailed  on 
the  emperor  Conrad  III.  as  well  as  on  Frederick  Barbarossa,  who  was 
afterwards  emperor,  and  an  immense  number  of  persons  of  all  ranks,  to 
take  the  cross,  promising  them  in  the  name  of  the  Most  High,  complete 
victory  over  the  Infidels.  He  ran  from  city  to  city,  every  where  com- 
municating his  enthusiasm ;  and,  if  we  may  credit  the  historians  of 
those  times,  working  miracles.  It  is  not  indeed  pretended  that  he  re- 
stored the  dead  to  life ;  but  it  is  affirmed  that  the  blind  received  their 
sight,  the  lame  walked,  the  sick  were  healed,  and  to  these  bold  asser- 
tions we  may  add  a  fact  no  less  incredible,  that  while  St.  Bernard's 
eloquence  operated  so  powerfully  on  the  minds  of  the  Germans,  he  al- 
ways preached  to  them  in  French,  a  language  which  they  did  not 
understand ! 

The  confident  hopes  of  success  in  this  new  enterprise,  induced  the 
greatest  part  of  the  knights  in  their  respective  dominions  to  enrol  them- 
selves under  the  banners  of  the  emperor,  and  king  of  France  ;  and  it  is 
said,  that  in  each  army  there  were  seventy  thousand  men  in  complete 
armour,  with  a  prodigious  number  of  light  horse,  besides  the  infantry, 
making  this  second  emigration  at  least  equal  to  the  number  of  three 
hundred  thousand  men  ;  which  added  to  thirteen  hundred  thousand  sent 
on  the  former  occasion,  makes  a  sum  total  of  one  million  six  hundred 
thousand  of  the  inhabitants  of  Europe  transplanted  to  Asia  on  these 
crusading  expeditions.  The  Germans  advanced  first,  the  French  fol- 
lowed them ;  and  the  same  excesses  that  had  been  committed  by  the 
soldiers  of  the  first  Crusade  were  repeated  by  those  of  the  second. 

When  the  emperor  Conrad  had  passed  the  Bosphorus,he  acted  with 
that  imprudence  which  is  very  characteristic  of  such  expeditions.  In- 
stead of  joining  those  Christians  who  remained  in  Syria,  and  there  wait- 
ing the  arrival  of  the  king  of  France,  jealous  of  all  competitors,  he 
marched  his  army  into  the  heart  of  Asia  Minor,  where  the  Sultan  of 
Iconium,  a  more  experienced  general  than  himself,  drew  his  heavy 
German  cavalry  among  the  rocks  and  cut  his  army  in  pieces.  He  fled 
to  Antioch,  and  from  thence  proceeded  to  Jerusalem  as  a  pilgrim,  in- 
stead of  appearing  as  the  leader  of  an  army,  and  at  last  returned  to 
Europe  with  an  handful  of  men,  A.  D.  1148. 

The  king  of  France  was  not  more  successful  in  his  enterprise.  He 
fell  into  the  same  snare  that  had  entrapped  the  emperor ;  and  being  sur- 
prised among  the  rocks  near  Laodicea,  was  defeated  as  Conrad  had 
been,  and  the  conclusion  of  the  whole  expedition  was,  that  Lewis,  like 


296  History  of  the  Christian  Church. 

Conrad,  returned  to  Europe  with  the  wreck  of  a  great  army,  A.  D. 
1149,  after  visiting  the  holy  sepulchre.  A  thousand  ruined  families 
in  vain  exclaimed  against  Bernard  for  his  prophecies:  he  excused  him- 
self upon  the  example  of  Moses,  who  he  said,  had  like  himself  pro- 
mised the  children  of  Israel  to  conduct  them  into  a  happy  country,  and 
yet  saw  the  first  generation  perish  in  the  deserts. 

The  failure  of  this  second  Crusade  reduced  the  affairs  of  the  Oriental 
Christians  to  a  state  of  great  distress,  which  was  still  further  augment- 
ed by  the  bold  and  enterprising  conduct  of  Saladin  the  Great,  a  prince 
of  Persian  extraction,  who,  having  by  his  bravery  fixed  himself  on  the 
throne  of  Egypt,  began  to  extend  his  conquests  over  all  the  East,  but 
finding  the  settlement  of  the  Christians  in  Palestine  an  obstacle  to  the 
progress  of  his  arms,  he  bent  the  whole  force  of  his  policy  and  valour 
to  subdue  that  small  though  important  territory.  Taking  advantage  of 
the  dissensions  that  prevailed  among  the  champions  of  the  cross,  and 
having  secretly  gained  over  to  his  interest  the  Count  of  Tripoli,  who 
commanded  their  armies,  he  invaded  Palestine  with  a  mighty  force,  and 
obtained  a  complete  victory  over  them,  utterly  annihilating  the  vigour 
of  the  already  languishing  kingdom  of  Jerusalem.  The  holy  city  itself 
fell  into  his  hands  in  the  year  1187,  after  a  feeble  resistance;  the  king- 
dom of  Antioch  was  almost  entirely  subdued;  and,  excepting  some  ma- 
ritime towns,  nothing  of  importance  remained  of  those  boasted  con- 
quests, which,  nearly  a  century  before,  had  cost  the  efforts  of  all  Eu- 
rope to  acquire. 

The  papal  chair  was  then  filled  by  Clement  III.  who  no  sooner  re- 
ceived the  melancholy  tidings,  than  he  ordered  a  Crusade  to  be  preach- 
ed throughout  all  the  countries  of  Christendom.  Europe  was  filled 
with  grief  and  consternation.  The  emperor  of  Germany,  Frederick 
Barbarossa,  assembled  a  diet  at  Mentz  in  1188,  in  order  to  deliberate 
with  the  states  of  the  empire  on  this  unhappy  event.  To  encourage 
his  subjects,  he  himself  took  the  cross  ;  his  son  Frederick,  duke  of  Sua- 
bia,  followed  his  father's  example,  as  did  also  sixty-eight  of  the  first 
German  nobles,  ecclesiastics  as  well  as  laymen.  Ratisbon  was  appoint- 
ed the  place  of  rendezvous ;  and  to  prevent  the  inconvenience  arising 
from  too  great  a  multitude,  Frederick  decreed  that  no  person  should 
take  the  cross,  who  could  not  afford  to  expend  three  marks  of  silver. 
Yet,  notwithstanding  this  regulation,  so  great  was  the  zeal  of  the  Ger- 
mans, that  an  army  was  formed,  consisting  of  a  hundred  and  fifty  thou- 
sand military  adventurers,  well  armed,  and  provided  with  necessaries 
for  undertaking  the  third  Crusade. 

The  emperor  in  person  marched  at  the  head  of  thirty  thousand  men, 
by  way  of  Vienna  to  Presburg,  where  he  was  joined  by  the  rest  of  his 
army.  He  thence  proceeded  through  Hungary,  into  the  territories  of 
the  Greek  emperor,  who,  notwithstanding  his  professions  of  friendship, 
had  been  detached  by  Saladin's  promises  and  insinuations,  to  give  up 
the  interests  of  Frederick,  in  consequence  of  which  he  took  every  oppor- 
tunity of  harassing  the  Germans  in  their  march.  Enraged  at  his-  per- 
fidy, Frederick  laid  the  country  under  contribution  ;  captured  and  plun- 
dered Philipopolis  ;  defeated  a  body  of  Greek  troops  that  attacked  him 
by  surprise,  and  compelled  the  emperor  of  Constantinople  to  sue  for 


Crusade  of  England  and  France.  297 

peace.  He  wintered  at  Adrianople;  crossed  the  Hellespont  in  the 
spring ;  refreshed  his  troops  a  short  time  at  Laodicea ;  defeated  the 
Turks  in  several  battles ;  took  and  pillaged  the  city  of  Iconium,  and 
crossed  Mount  Taurus,  so  that  all  Asia  was  filled  with  the  terror  of  his 
name.  Among  the  crusaders,  Frederick  was  as  renowned  as  Saladin 
among  the  Turks.  The  Christians  in  Syria  and  Palestine  flattered 
themselves  that,  from  his  assistance,  they  should  obtain  effectual  relief, 
but  their  hopes  were  suddenly  blasted.  This  great  prince  who  was  an 
expert  swimmer,  one  day  plunged  into  the  cold  river  Cydnus,  to  refresh 
himself  from  the  sultry  heat  of  summer,  which  brought  on  a  fatal  ill- 
ness, which  at  once  put  a  period  to  his  life  and  heroic  exploits. 

The  kings  of  England  and  France  had  entered  with  considerable 
ardour  into  the  third  Crusade.  Philip  Augustus  reigned  at  that  time 
over  France  ;  and  in  our  own  country  the  throne  was  filled  by  the 
first  Richard.  Both  of  these  monarchs  considered  the  recovery  of  the 
Holy  Land  as  the  ultimate  purpose  of  their  government ;  yet  neither 
of  them  was  so  much  impelled  to  the  pious  enterprise  by  superstition, 
as  by  the  love  of  military  glory.  Richard,  in  particular,  had  so  little 
regard  to  sanctity  in  his  external  deportment,  that  when  a  zealous 
preacher  of  the  Crusade  advised  him  to  rid  himself  of  his  pride,  ava- 
rice, and  voluptuousness,  which  the  priest  called  his  majesty's  three 
favourite  daughters,  Richard  replied,  "  You  counsel  well;  and  I  here- 
by dispose  of  the  first  to  the  Templars,  the  second  to  the  Benedict- 
ines, and  the  third  to  my  bishops  !" 

Resolving  to  profit  by  the  disasters  that  had  attended  the  former  cru- 
sading expeditions,  the  kings  of  France  and  England  determined  to  make 
trial  of  another  road  to  the  Holy  Land,  which  was  to  conduct  their  ar- 
mies thither  by  sea  ;  to  carry  provisions  along  with  them  ;  and  by  means 
of  their  naval  power,  to  maintain  an  open  communication  with  their 
own  states,  and  with  the  western  parts  of  Europe.  Their  first  place 
of  rendezvous  was  the  plain  of  Vezelai,  on  the  borders  of  Burgundy, 
where  Philip  and  Richard  found  their  armies  amount  to  one  hundred 
thousand  men.  Here  they  pledged  each  other  in  promises  of  mutual 
friendship,  and  engaged  not  to  invade  each  other's  dominions  during 
the  Crusade ;  Their  barons  and  prelates  exchanged  oaths  to  the  same 
effect ;  after  which  they  separated.  Philip  took  the  road  to  Genoa, 
Richard  that  to  Marseilles,  with  a  view  of  meeting  their  fleets,  which 
were  severally  appointed  to  assemble  in  those  harbours.  They  put 
to  sea  at  the  same  time,  and  both  were  compelled  by  stress  of  weather 
to  take  shelter  in  the  harbour  of  Messina,  where  they  were  detained 
during  the  whole  winter. 

In  the  spring  of  the  year  1191,  both  fleets  arrived  in  Asia,  where, 
the  troops  being  embarked,  they  laid  siege  to  Ptolemais,  which  had 
been  attacked  about  two  years  before,  by  the  combined  force  of  all  the 
Christians  in  Palestine,  and  defended  by  the  utmost  efforts  of  Saladin 
and  the  Saracens.  Before  this  place,  Frederick,  duke  of  Suabia,  son  of 
the  emperor  Barbarossa,  had  perished;  and  along  with  him  the  re- 
mains of  the  German  army.  But  the  arrival  of  the  armies  of  England 
and  France,  with  Richard  and  Philip  at  their  head,  infused  fresh  vi- 
gour into  the  besiegers,  and  the  emulation  that  prevailed  between  these 


298  History  of  the  Christian  Church. 

rival  kings  and  rival  nations,  produced  extraordinary  feats  of  valour. 
Richard,  in  particular,  drew  upon  himself  the  attention  of  the  world, 
and  acquired  a  great  and  splendid  reputation.  Ptolemais  was  taken  ; 
the  Saracen  garrison  reduced  to  the  last  extremity,  surrendered  them- 
selves prisoners  of  war,  and  the  wood  of  the  true  cross  was  restored  ! 
And  thus  this  famous  siege,  which  had  engaged  the  attention  of  all  Eu- 
rope and  Asia,  was  at  last  achieved — with  the,  loss  of  three  hundred 
thousand  men. 

The  French  monarch,  instead  of  pursuing  his  conquests  further,  and 
redeeming  the  holy  city  from  slavery,  declared  his  resolution  of  re- 
turning into  France,  disgusted,  as  it  is  said,  by  the  ascendancy  which 
the  king  of  England  had  acquired  by  his  more  precipitate  courage,  and 
romantic  spirit ;  pleading  the  ill  state  of  his  health,  however,  as  the 
reason  of  his  deserting  the  common  cause.  The  heroic  actions  of 
Richard,  while  in  Palestine,  were  the  best  apology  for  his  conduct. 
On  opening  the  campaign  of  1192,  he  determined  to  attempt  the  siege 
of  Ascalon,  the  conquest  of  which  fortress  was  a  necessary  step  to 
prepare  the  way  for  that  of  Jerusalem  ;  and  leaving  Ptolemais,  he 
marched  with  the  army  under  his  command  along  the  sea  coast  with 
that  intention.  Saladin  determined  to  intercept  their  passage,  and  placed 
himself  upon  the  road  with  an  army  of  three  hundred  thousand  men. 
On  this  occasion  was  fought  one  of  the  most  formidable  battles  of  that 
age,  and  the  most  celebrated  for  the  military  genius  of  the  command- 
ers; for  the  number  and  valour  of  the  troops,  and  for  the  variety  of 
events  which  attended  it.  The  right  wing  of  the  Christian  army, 
commanded  by  D'Avesnes,  and  the  left  under  that  of  the  duke  of  Bur- 
gundy, were,  in  the  former  part  of  the  day,  broken  and  defeated  ;  when 
Richard,  who  led  on  the  main  body,  restored  the  fortunes  of  the  day. 
He  attacked  the  enemy  with  the  greatest  intrepidity  and  valour ;  with 
all  the  skill  of  a  consummate  general  and  gallant  soldier ;  and  not  only 
gave  his  two  wings  the  opportunity  of  recovering  from  their  confusion, 
but  obtained  a  complete  victory  over  the  Saracens ;  forty  thousand  of 
whom,  it  is  said,  were  left  dead  upon  the  field.  Ascalon  surrendered 
to  the  crusaders ;  other  sieges  were  carried  on  with  success.  Richard 
advanced  within  sight  of  Jerusalem,  when  he  had  the  mortification  to 
find  that  he  must  abandon  all  hopes  of  present  success  ;  and  put  a  stop 
to  his  career  of  victory. 

The  zeal  and  ardour  with  which  the  crusaders  were  animated  for 
some  time  carried  them  forwards  in  the  prosecution  of  their  romantic 
expedition,  regardless  of  all  the  rules  of  prudence  or  safety  ;.  and,  con- 
fident of  the  approbation  of  heaven,  they  set  nothing  before  them  but 
fame  and  victory  in  this  world,  and  a  crown  of  glory  in  the  next :  but 
long  absence  from  home,  famine,  fatigue,  and  disease,  added  to  the  va- 
rieties of  fortune  which  naturally  attend  war,  had  greatly  abated  that 
fury  which  nothing  was  able  directly  to  withstand.  All,  but  the  king 
of  England,  expressed  a  desire  to  return  to  Europe ;  so  that  there  ap- 
peared an  imperious  necessity  of  abandoning  for  the  present  all  future 
conquests,  and  of  securing  their  present  acquisitions  by  a  treaty  of 
peace  with  Saladin.  Richard,  therefore,  concluded  a  truce  with  that 
monarch :  and  stipulated  that  Ptolemais,  Joppa,    and   other  sea-port 


Celestine  III.  solicits  another  Crusade.  299 

towns  of  Palestine,  should  remain  in  the  hands  of  the  Christians,  and 
that  every  one  of  that  religion  should  enjoy  the  privilege  of  performing 
his  pilgrimage  unmolested.  This  truce  was  ratified  A.  D.  1192,  and 
was  to  remain  in  force  for  three  years,  three  months,  three  weeks, 
three  days,  and  three  hours  ;  a  magical  number,  suggested  by  a  super- 
stition well  suited  to  the  object  of  the  war. 

Saladin  died  at  Damascus  soon  after  the  ratification  of  this  truce 
with  the  leaders  of  the  Crusade.  He  was  a  prince  of  great  valour,  and 
of  generous  sentiments;  and  it  is  memorable,  that  during  his  last 
illness,  he  gave  orders  for  his  winding  sheet  to  be  carried  as  a  stand- 
ard through  every  street  of  the  city,  while  a  cryer  preceded  it  pro- 
claiming with  a  loud  voice,  "  This  is  all  that  remains  to  the  mighty 
Saladin,  the  conqueror  of  the  East,"  His  last  will  is  also  remarkable  : 
he  ordered  alms  to  be  distributed  to  the  poor  without  regard  to  distinc- 
tion of  Jew,  Mahometan,  or  Christian  ;  thereby  intimating  that  he 
considered  all  men  as  brethren,  and  as  equally  entitled  to  the  exercise 
of  our  compassion  when  in  distress — a  lesson,  though  coming  from  a 
Mussulman,  which  deserves  the  imitation  of  Christians.  But  the  ad- 
vantages of  science,  of  moderation,  and  of  humanity,  were  indeed  at 
that  time  wholly  on  the  side  of  the  former. 

Richard,  having  no  further  business  in  Palestine,  took  shipping  for 
Europe,  but  was  unfortunately  wrecked  in  the  Adriatic  ;  and,  reach- 
ing land,  he  disguised  himself  in  the  habit  of  a  pilgrim,  hoping  by  that 
means  to  pass  safely  through  Germany.  But  being  betrayed  by  his 
liberalities  and  expenses,  he  was  arrested  by  Leopold,  duke  of  Aus- 
tria, whom  he  had  offended  at  the  siege  of  Ptolemais,  who  to  gratify 
his  revenge  threw  him  into  prison,  and  then  sold  him  to  the  emperor 
Henry  VI.  The  latter  had  also  taken  offence  at  some  part  of  Rich- 
ard's conduct,  and  was  therefore  glad  to  have  him  in  his  power.  Thus 
the  gallant  king  of  England,  who  had  filled  the  world  with  his  renown, 
was  confined  to  a  dungeon  in  the  heart  of  Germany,  loaded  with 
chains,  and  entirely  at  the  mercy  of  his  enemy,  one  of  the  basest  and 
most  sordid  of  mankind!  Richard,  however,  in  a  little  time  succeeded 
in  bringing  his  case  before  a  diet  of  the  empire,  at  which  he  personally 
attended ;  and  by  his  eloquence  and  spirit,  made  such  an  impression 
on  the  German  princes,  that  they  exclaimed  loudly  against  the  con- 
duct of  the  emperor,  whom  the  pope  also  threatened  with  excommuni- 
cation. In  the  issue,  Henry  concluded  a  treaty  with  Richard  for  his 
ransom,  and  agreed  to  liberate  him  for  the  sum  of  about  three  hundred 
thousand  pounds  of  our  present  money — an  enormous  sum  in  those 
days. 

But  notwithstanding  the  reiterated  disasters  and  ill-success  that  at- 
tended the  frantic  expeditions  to  the  Holy  Land,  so  resolutely  was  the 
court  of  Rome  bent  on'the  achievement  of  its  grand  object,  that  the 
popes  were  continually  urging  the  princes  of  Europe  to  renew  their 
efforts.  Their  power  and  influence  were,  by  this  time,  become  so  pre- 
dominant, that  it  was  at  the  peril  of  the  latter  they  declined  compliance 
with  their  sovereign  will.  The  papal  chair  was  at  this  time  filled  by 
Celestine  III.  by  whom  Henry  VI.  was  crowned  emperor  of  Germany. 
He  was  then  a  very  old  man,  being  in  his  eighty-sixth  year ;  the  cere- 


300  History  of  the  Christian  Church. 

mony  of  coronation  was  performed  on  Easter  Monday  ;  the  pope  placed 
his  crown  on  the  head  of  Henry,  which  he  had  no  sooner  done,  than  he 
kicked  it  off  again,  as  a  testimony  of  the  power  residing  in  their  sove- 
reign pontiffs  to  make  and  unmake  emperors  at  their  pleasure  ! 

In  the  year  1196,  Henry  was  solicited  by  the  pope  to  engage  in  a 
new  Crusade  for  the  relief  of  the  Christians  in  Palestine ;  and  the  em- 
peror consented,  though  he  had  prudence  enough  to  study  his  own  in- 
terest in  the  compliance.  He  convoked  a  general  diet  at  Worms,  at 
which  he  avowed  his  determination  to  employ  all  his  resources,  and 
even  to  risk  his  own  life  for  the  accomplishment  of  so  holy  an  enter- 
prise; and  so  eloquently  did  he  expatiate  upon  the  subject,  that  nearly 
the  whole  assembly  took  the  cross.  Their  example  prevailed  through- 
out the  empire,  and  so  great  was  the  number  who  enlisted  themselves, 
that  Henry  divided  them  into  three  large  armies :  the  first,  under  the 
command  of  the  bishop  of  Mentz,  took  the  route  of  Hungary,  where  it 
was  joined  by  Margaret,  queen  of  that  country,  who  herself  entered  as 
a  volunteer  on  this  pious  expedition,  and  actually  ended  her  days  in 
Palestine :  the  second  was  assembled  in  lower  Saxony,  and  embarked 
in  a  fleet  furnished  by  the  inhabitants  of  Lubec,  Hamburgh,  Holstein, 
and  Friesland;  while  the  emperor  in  person,  conducted  the  third  into 
Italy,  to  avenge  himself  of  the  Normans  in  Naples  and  Sicily,  who  had 
revolted  from  their  allegiance  to  him. 

The  state  of  Europe  was  at  this  time  full  of  perplexity  and  confusion. 
Innocent  III.  succeeded  Celestine  in  the  papal  chair,  an  able  and  ambi- 
tious pontiff",  whose  ruling  passion  was  the  aggrandisement  of  the  holy 
see.  He  quarrelled  with  Philip,  duke  of  Suabia,  who  had  recently  been 
elected  king  of  the  Romans,  excommunicating  him  and  all  his  adhe- 
rents; and  laboured  with  all  his  might  to  detach  the  princes  and  pre- 
lates from  his  cause,  notwithstanding  the  remonstrances  of  the  king  of 
France,  to  whom  he  proudly  replied,  "  Either  Philip  must  lose  the  em- 
pire, or  I  the  papacy."  But  all  these  dissensions  and  troubles  in  Eu- 
rope did  not  prevent  the  formation  of  another  Crusade  to  Asia.  Those 
who  enrolled  themselves  were  principally  French  and  Germans.  Bald- 
win, Count  of  Flanders,  was  their  commander;  and  the  Venetians,  as 
greedy  of  wealth  and  power  as  the  Carthaginians  of  old,  furnished  them 
with  ships,  for  which  they  took  care  to  be  amply  repaid  both  in  money 
and  territory.  The  city  of  Zara,  in  Dalmatia,  had  recently  withdrawn 
itself  from  the  government  of  the  republic  of  Venice  ;  the  crusaders  un- 
dertook to  reduce  it  to  obedience  ;  and  they  besieged  and  took  it,  not- 
withstanding the  pope  threatened  to  excommunicate  them — a  striking 
proof  of  the  reigning  spirit  of  those  fanatical  adventurers. 

The  army  of  the  cross,  as  they  called  themselves,  next  fell  upon  Con- 
stantinople, under  the  pretext  of  avenging  the  cause  of  Isaac  Angelus, 
the  Greek  emperor,  who  had  been  dethroned  and  deprived  of  his  sight 
in  1195,  by  his  own  brother  Alexis.  Baldwin  and  his  followers,  eager- 
ly embraced  this  as  an  apology  for  their  violence ;  and  under  the  pre- 
text of  adjusting  the  quarrel  between  the  two  brothers,  they  made  them- 
selves masters  of  Constantinople.  They  entered  the  city  without  much 
resistance,  putting  every  one  to  the  sword  who  opposed  them,  and  gave 
themselves  up  to  ail  the  excesses  of  avarice  and  fury.     The  booty  of 


Constantinople  taken  and  sacked.  301 

the  French  lords  alone,  was  valued  at  four  hundred  thousand  marks  of 
silver:  the  very  churches  were  pillaged;  and  what  strongly  marks  the 
character  of  that  volatile  and  giddy  nation,  it  is  related  that  the  French 
officers  danced  with  the  ladies  of  Constantinople  in  the  church  of  St. 
Sophia,  after  having  robbed  the  altar  and  drenched  the  city  in  blood  ! 
Thus  was  this  noble  city,  in  that  age  the  most  flourishing  in  the  Chris- 
tian world,  for  the  first  time  taken  and  sacked  by  Christians  who  had 
made  a  vow  to  fight  only  against  Infidels.  One  consequence  of  this 
was,  that  the  pope  gained,  for  a  time,  the  whole  Eastern  church  ;  an 
acquisition  t>f  much  greater  consequence  to  him  than  that  of  Palestine. 
Of  this  indeed  the  conquerors  seemed  fully  sensible;  for,  notwithstand- 
ing the  vow  they  had  taken  to  go  and  succour  Jerusalem,  it  was  only  a 
very  inconsiderable  part  of  the  crusaders  that  proceeded  into  Syria,  and 
those  were  such  as  could  obtain  no  share  in  the  plunder  of  Constanti- 
nople. 

In  1215,  Frederick  II.  was  crowned  emperor  of  Germany  with  great 
magnificence  at  Aix-la-Chapelle ;  and  to  secure  the  favour  of  the  pope 
to  the  other  solemnities  of  his  cororation,  he  added  a  vow  to  make  an 
expedition  to  the  Holy  Land.  Pope  Innocent  died  the  following  year, 
and  was  succeeded  by  Honorius  III.  who  expressed  great  eagerness  to 
have  the  Crusade  carried  into  effect.  He  therefore  ordered  it  to  be 
preached  up  through  all  the  provinces  of  Germany,  Sweden,  Denmark, 
Bohemia,  and  Hungary,  and  his  exertions  were  crowned  with  extraor- 
dinary success.  The  emperor  himself  declined  the  performance  of  his 
vow  until  he  should  have  regulated  the  affairs  of  Italy,  and  most  of  the 
other  princes  of  Europe  were  detained  at  home  by  domestic  disturb- 
ances. But  an  infinite  number  of  private  noblemen  and  their  vassals 
took  the  cross,  ranging  themselves  under  the  dukes  of  Austria  and  Ba- 
varia, the  archbishop  of  Mentz,  and  the  bishops  of  Munster  and  Utretch ; 
and  the  king  of  Hungary,  who  brought  with  him  a  body  of  fine  troops, 
was  declared  generalissimo  of  the  Crusade. 

The  fate  of  this  expedition  pretty  nearly  resembled  those  of  the  pre- 
ceding. The  army  was  embarked  in  three  hundred  sail  of  transports, 
equipped  in  the  ports  of  Lower  Saxony,  which  joining  a  squadron  that 
was  fitted  out  by  the  Frieslanders,  Flemings,  and  people  of  Brabant, 
proceeded  for  the  Straits  of  Gibraltar  in  their  way  to  Ptolemais.  On 
their  arrival  at  that  port,  a  council  of  war  was  held,  at  which  it  was  re- 
solved to  besiege  Damietta,  in  Egypt,  which  was  accordingly  invested 
by  sea  and  land,  and  taken,  after  a  tedious  siege  of  eighteen  months,  in 
the  year  1219.  Their  possession  of  this  place,  however,  was  of  no 
great  duration.  A  dispute  arose  among  the  chiefs  of  the  crusaders 
about  precedency,  which  it  was  found  impossible  to  adjust  without  con- 
sulting his  holiness,  who,  in  his  great  wisdom,  at  length  directed  that 
the  supreme  command  should  be  vested  in  a  cardinal  of  the  church  of 
Rome.  This  monkish  general  brought  the  army  of  the  cross  between 
two  branches  of  the  river  Nile,  just  at  the  time  when  that  river,  which 
fertilizes  and  defends  Egypt,  began  its  periodical  inundation.  The  Sul- 
tan, informed  of  their  situation,  opened  the  sluices,  and  overflowed  the 
camp  of  the  crusaders ;  and  while  he  burnt  their  ships  on  one  side,  the 
Nile  increasing  on  the  other,  threatened  the  hourly  destruction  of  the 

26 


302  History  of  the  Christian  Church. 

whole  army.  The  pope's  legate  finding  himself  and  his  troops  reduced 
to  the  last  extremity,  restored  Damietta,  and  was  glad  to  conclude  with 
the  Sultan  a  dishonourable  treaty,  by  which  he  bound  himself  and  his 
army  not  to  serve  against  the  former  for  eight  years. 

When  the  leaders  of  the  crusading  army  arrived  in  Europe,  the 
pope  was  extremely  incensed  at  the  loss  of  Damietta,  and  wrote  a  se- 
vere letter  to  the  emperor,  accusing  him  of  having  sacrificed  the  inter- 
ests of  Christianity  by  so  long  delaying  the  performance  of  his  vow* 
and  threatening  him  with  immediate  excommunication,  if  he  did  not 
instantly  depart  with  an  army  into  Asia.  Frederick,  exasperated  at 
these  reproaches  renounced  all  correspondence  with  the  court  of  Rome, 
filled  up  vacant  sees  and  benefices,  and  even  expelled  some  bishops, 
who  were  creatures  of  the  pope,  on  pretence  of  their  being  concerned 
in7practices  against  the  state.  The  pontiff  at  first  attempted  to  repel 
force  by  force,  threatening  the  emperor  with  the  thunder  of  the  church, 
for  presuming  to  lift  his  hand  against  the  sanctuary ;  but  finding  that 
Frederick  was  not  to  be  intimidated,  he  became  sensible  of  his  own 
imprudence,  in  wantonly  incurring  the  resentment  of  so  powerful  a 
prince,  whose  temper  he  now  thought  proper  to  soothe  by  submissive 
apologies  and  gentle  exhortations.  A  reconciliation  accordingly  took 
place  ;  and  the  emperor,  as  a  proof  of  his  sincere  attachment  to  the 
church,  published  four  severe  edicts  against  the  Paterines,  Waldenses, 
and  others  to  which  we  shall  have  occasion  afterwards  to  advert,  and 
which  tended  greatly  to  promote  the  establishment  of  the  Inquisition. 

Not  long  after  this  a  solemn  assembly  was  held  at  Ferentino,  at 
which  both  the  emperor  and  pope  attended,  together  with  John  de 
Brienne,  the  titular  king  of  Jerusalem,  who  had  come  to  Europe  to 
demand  succours  against  the  Sultan  of  Egypt.  This  monarch  had  an 
only  daughter  whom  he  offered  in  marriage  to  the  emperor,  with  the 
kingdom  of  Jerusalem  as  her  dowry,  on  condition  that  he,  within  two 
years  performed  the  vow  he  had  made  of  leading  an  army  to  the  Holy 
Land.  Frederick  married  her  on  these  terms,  because  he  chose  to 
please  the  pope ;  and  since  that  time,  the  kings  of  Sicily  have  taken 
the  title  of  king  of  Jerusalem.  But  Frederick  evinced  no  impatience 
to  go  and  conquer  his  wife's  portion,  having  business  at  home  of  more 
importance  that  required  his  attendance.  The  principal  cities  of 
Lombardy  had  entered  into  a  league  to  renounce  his  authority ;  to 
counteract  which,  he  convoked  a  diet  at  Cremona,  A.  D.  1227,  where 
all  the  princes  and  nobles  of  Germany  and  Italy  were  summoned  to 
attend.  The  interference  of  the  pope  produced  an  accommodation, 
and  it  was  agreed  that  the  emperor  should  lay  aside  his  resentment 
against  the  confederate  towns,  and  that  those  towns  should  furnish  and 
maintain  four  hundred  knights  for  the  relief  of  the  Holy  Land.  Peace 
being  thus  concluded,  his  holiness  reminded  the  emperor  of  his  vow  ; 
Frederick  promised  compliance,  but  the  pope  died  before  the  execu- 
tion of  a  project  which  he  seemed  to  have  so  much  at  heart.  He  was 
succeeded  by  Gregory  IX.  who,  pursuing  the  same  line  of  .policy, 
urged  the  departure  of  Frederick  for  the  Holy  Land,  and  finding  him 
still  backward,  declared  him  incapable  of  holding  the  imperial  dignity, 
as  having  incurred  the  sentence  of  excommunication.     Frederick,  in- 


Frederick  in  possession  of  Jerusalem.  303 

censed  at  such  insolence,  ravaged  the  patrimony  of  St.  Peter,  and  was 
excommunicated.  Wearied,  however,  at  length  with  increasing  con- 
tentions, and  desirous  of  gratifying  the  prejudices  of  a  superstitious 
age,  Frederick  resolved  to  perform  his  vow,  and  accordingly  embarked 
for  the  Holy  Land.  The  pope  now  prohibited  his  departure  until  he 
was  absolved  from  all  the  censures  of  the  church  ;  but  the  emperor 
proceeded  in  contempt  of  the  pope's  threatening,  and  with  better  suc- 
cess than  his  predecessors.  He  did  not  indeed  desolate  Asia,  and  gra- 
tify the  barbarous  zeal  of  the  times,  by  shedding  the  blood  of  infidels ; 
but  he  concluded  a  treaty  with  the  Sultan  of  Egypt,  by  which  the  end 
of  his  expedition  was  fully  answered.  The  Sultan  ceded  to  him  Jeru- 
salem and  its  territory  as  far  as  Joppa,  Bethlehem,  and  Nazareth,  and 
all  the  country  between  Jerusalem  and  Ptolemais,  Tyre,  Sidon,  and 
the  neighbouring  districts:  and  in  return  for  these  concessions,  the 
emperor  granted  him  a  truce  for  ten  years.     A.  D.  1229. 

About  twenty  years  after  this,  the  Sultan  of  Egypt  having  regained 
his  authority  in  the  Holy  Land,  these  frantic  expeditions  were  re- 
sumed by  Louis  IX.  king  of  France,  commonly  called  Saint  Louis. 
This  prince  no  sooner  came  of  age  than  he  was  universally  acknow- 
ledged one  of  the  greatest  potentates  in  Europe  ;  and  his  character  is 
perhaps  one  of  the  most  singular  in  the  annals  of  history.  To  the  ab- 
ject superstition  of  a  monk,  he  united  all  the  magnanimity  of  a  hero ; 
but  what  may  be  deemed  still  more  wonderful,  the  justice  and  integrity 
of  the  sincere  patriot,  and  where  religion  Avas  not  concerned,  the  mild- 
ness and  humanity  of  the  true  philosopher.  J3ut  Louis  had  his  foibles. 
Persuaded  that  heretics,  or  those  who  dissented  from  the  Roman 
church,  deserved  the  punishment  of  death,  he  favoured  the  tribunal  of 
the  Inquisition;  and  the  same  turn  of  thinking  led  him  to  ascribe  merit 
to  a  war  against  Infidels.  His  humane  heart  became  a  prey  to  the 
barbarous  superstition  of  the  times.  When  a  dangerous  illness  de- 
prived him  of  his  senses,  and  almost  of  his  life,  his  heated  imagination 
took  fire,  and  he  thought  he  heard  a  voice  commanding  him  to  shed 
the  blood  of  Infidels.  He  accordingly  made  a  vow  that,  as  soon  as  he 
recovered,  he  would  engage  in  a  new  Crusade,  and  he  immediately 
took  the  cross.  Nor  could  any  remonstrances  induce  him  to  forego 
his  purpose  ;  he  considered  his  vow  as  a  sacred  and  indissoluble  obli- 
gation. A.  D.  1244. 

But  though  not  to  be  dissuaded  from  his  Eastern  expedition,  Louis 
was  in  no  haste  to  depart.  Four  years  were  spent  in  making  prepara- 
tions and  settling  the  government  of  his  kingdom,  which  he  committed 
to  the  care  of  his  mother;  and  at  length,  in  1248,  he  set  sail  for  Cy- 
prus, accompanied  by  his  queen,  his  three  brothers,  and  almost  all  the 
knights  of  France.  Arriving  at  Cyprus,  it  was  resolved  to  make  a 
descent  upon  Egypt,  as  it  was  supposed  that  Jerusalem  and  the  Holy 
Land  could  not  be  preserved  while  that  country  remained  in  the  hands 
of  the  Infidels.  Louis  and  his  army  therefore  landed  on  the  Egyptian 
coast,  near  to  the  city  of  Damietta ;  which,  contrary  to  all  expectation, 
was  abandoned  to  them.  Here  he  received  fresh  succours  from  France, 
and  found  himself  in  the  plains  of  Egypt  at  the  head  of  sixty  thousand 
men,  the  flower  of  his  kingdom,  by  whom  he  was  both  obeyed  and 


304  History  of  the  Christian  Church. 

loved.  Yet  this  Crusade,  like  all  the  rest,  ended  only  in  sorrow  and 
disappointment.  One-half  of  these  fine  troops-fell  a  prey  to  sickness 
and  debauchery  ;  the  other  part  was  defeated  by  the  Sultan,  at  Mas- 
soura,  where  Louis  beheld  his  brother  Robert,  Count  of  Artois,  killed 
by  his  side,  and  himself  taken  prisoner,  with  his  two  brothers,  the 
Counts  of  Anjou  and  Poictiers,  and  all  his  nobility,  A.  D.   1250. 

During  the  king's  captivity,  the  queen  mother  granted  permission  to 
a  fanatical  monk  to  preach  a  new  Crusade  for  her  son's  release  ;  and  this 
man,  availing  himself  of  the  pastoral  circumstances  attending  our  Lord's 
nativity,  assembled  nearly  a  hundred  thousand  of  the  rabble,  whom  he 
denominated  "  shepherds."  It  soon  appeared,  however,  that  their  more 
appropriate  title  would  have  been  that  of  wolves  ;  for,  wherever  they 
came,  they  robbed  and  pillaged  without  either  regard  to  justice  or  mer- 
cy ;  so  that  it  was  at  length  found  necessary  to  disperse  them  by  force 
of  arms ;  and  even  that  was  not  effected  without  some  difficulty.  The 
death  of  the  queen  mother  in  the  meantime,  made  it  necessary  for  Louis 
to  return  to  France;  and  to  effect  this,  after  a  captivity  of  more  than 
three  years,  he  purchased  his  ransom,  and  that  of  his  nobles,  for  a 
thousand  pieces  of  gold ;  but  he  returned  only  to  prepare  for  a  new 
Crusade,  so  strongly  had  this  mania  infected  his  mind !  A.  D.  1254. 

But  it  is  needless  to  prosecute  this  subject  further  in  detail.  Enough, 
and  more  than  enough,  has  been  said  to  convince  the  reader  of  the  de- 
plorable state  of  darkness  and  superstition  which  reigned  throughout 
Europe,  to  say  nothing  of  Asia  and  Africa,  during  this  period.  Yet 
these  romantic  expeditions,  though  barbarous  and  destructive  in  them- 
selves, were  not  without  some  beneficial  results  to  the  state  of  society: 
they  were  rendered  subservient  to  the  welfare  of  the  community  and  of 
individuals.  The  Crusades  being  conducted  under  the  immediate  pro- 
tection of  the  Roman  church,  and  its  heaviest  anathemas  being  denounced 
against  all  who  should  molest  their  persons  or  their  property,  private 
hostilities  were  for  a  time  suspended  or  extinguished ;  the  feudal  sove- 
reigns became  more  powerful,  and  their  vassals  less  turbulent;  a  more 
steady  administration  of  justice  was  introduced,  and  some  advances  were 
made  towards  regular  government.  Nor  were  the  commercial  effects 
of  the  Crusades  less  considerable  than  their  political  influence.  Many 
ships  were  necessary  to  transport  the  prodigious  armies  which  Europe 
poured  forth,  as  well  as  to  supply  them  with  provisions.  Those  ships 
were  principally  furnished  by  the  Venetians  and  Genoese,  who  thereby 
acquired  immense  sums  of  money,  and  at  the  same  time  opened  to 
themselves  a  new  source  of  wealth,  by  importing  into  Europe  the  com- 
modities of  Asia.  The  cities  of  Italy  grew  rich  and  powerful,  and  ob- 
tained extensive  privileges  ;  and  some  of  them  erected  themselves  into 
independent  states,  or  communities,  the  establishment  of  which  may 
be  considered  as  the  first  grand  step  towards  civilization  in  modern 
Europe.* 

*  Hume's  History  of  England,  vol.  i.  ch.  v.  Robertson's  Charles  V..  vol.  i. 
ArpENDix.  Russet's  History  of  Modern  Europe,  Lett.  xxv.  xxvii.  xxx.  xxxi 
xxxii.  xxxiv. 


HISTORY 


siujSESffiii^sr  ©sowscm 


BIRTH  OF  CHRIST  TO  THE  XVIII.  CENTURY. 


IN  TWO  VOLUMES. 


VOl..    II. 


(     307     ) 


CHAPTER  V. 

THE  HISTORY  OF    THE  WALDENSES    AND  ALBIGENSE9,  FROM  THE    TIME    OF 
PETER  WALDO,  A.  D.   1160,  TO  THE  DAYS  OF  WICKXIFFE,   1360. 


SECTION  I. 

ORIGIN  OF  THE  NAMES  WALDENSES  AND  ALBIGENSES,  WITH  SOME  ACCOUNT 
OF  PETER  WALDO  OF  LYONS,  AND  THE  SANGUINARY  EDICT  OF  POPE  LU- 
CIUS III.  AGAINST  THE  DISCIPLES  OF  WALDO. 

Having  sketched  the  more  prominent  features  of  the  Christian  Church, 
for  the  first  ten  centuries,  and  arriving  at  that  period  in  which  we  are 
to  give  the  reader  some  account  of  the  Waldenses,  it  will  be  proper  to 
introduce  the  subject  by  an  attempt  to  ascertain  the  origin  of  their  dis- 
tinguishing appellation.  The  learned  Mosheim  contends  with  consider- 
able pertinacity  that  they  derived  their  name  from  Peter  Waldo,  an 
opulent  merchant  of  Lyons,  whose  history  will  presently  come  under 
our  notice ;  but  in  this  he  is  contradicted  by  his  learned  translator,  and, 
I  believe,  I  may  truly  add,  by  most  writers  of  authority  since  his  time. 

The  most  satisfactory  definition  that  I  have  met  with  of  the  term 
Waldenses,  is  that  given  by  Mr.  Robinson,  in  his  Ecclesiastical  Re- 
searches ;  and,  in  the  confidence  that  it  is  the  true  one,  and  that  I  may 
not  unnecessarily  trespass  on  the  reader's  time  and  patience,  I  submit 
it  to  his  consideration. 

From  the  Latin  word  vallis,  came  the  English  word  valley,  the 
French  and  Spanish  valle,  the  Italian  voidest,  the  Low  Dutch  valleye, 
the  Provencal  vaux,  vaudois,  the  ecclesiastical  Valdenses,  Ualdenses, 
and  Waldenses.  The  words  simply  signify  valleys,  inhabitants  of  val- 
leys, and  no  more.  It  happened  that  the  inhabitants  of  the  valleys  of 
the  Pyrenees  did  not  profess  the  Catholic  faith;  it  fell  out  also  that  the 
inhabitants  of  the  valleys  about  the  Alps  did  not  embrace  it ;  it  happen-* 
ed,  moreover,  in  the  ninth  century,  that  one  Valdo,  a  friend  and  coun- 
sellor of  Berengarius,  and  a  man  of  eminence  who  had  many  followers, 
did  not  approve  of  the  papal  discipline  and  doctrine ;  and  it  came  to 
pass  about  an  hundred  and  thirty  years  after,  that  a  rich  merchant  of 
Lyons,  who  was  called  Valdus,  or  Waldo,  openly  disavowed  the  Ro- 
man Catholic  religion,  supported  many  to  teach  the  doctrines  believed 
in  the  valleys,  and  became  the  instrument  of  the  conversion  of  great 
numbers ;  all  these  people  were  called  Waldenses.*  This  view 
of  the  matter,  which  to  myself  appears  indisputably  the  true  one,  is 
also  supported  by  the  authority  of  their  own  historians,  Pierre  Gilles* 
Perrin,  Leger,  Sir  S.  Morland,  and  Dr.  Allix. 

*  Ecclesiastical  Researches,  page  302,  303, 


308  History  of  the  Christian  Church. 

To  the  preceding  account  of  the  derivation  of  the  term  Waldenses, 
I  shall  now  add  the  explanation  given  by  these  writers  of  various  other 
appellations  that  were  bestowed  on  this  class  of  Christians,  and  particu- 
larly that  of  Albigenses. 

The  names  imposed  on  them  in  France  by  their  adversaries,  they  say, 
have  been  intended  to  vilify  and  ridicule  them,  or  to  represent  them  as 
new  and  different  sects.  Being  stripped  of  all  their  property,  and  re- 
duced by  persecution  to  extreme  poverty,  they  have  been  called  "the 
poor  of  Lyons."  From  their  mean  and  famished  appearance  in  their 
exiled  and  destitute  state,  they  have  been  called  in  provincial  jargon 
"  Siccan,"  or  pickpockets.  Because  they  would  not  observe  saints' 
days,  they  were  falsely  supposed  to  neglect  the  Sabbath  also,  and  called 
"  Inzabbatati  or  Insabbathists."*  As  they  denied  transubstantiation,  or 
the  personal  and  divine  presence  of  Jesus  Christ  in  the  host,  or  wafer 
exhibited  in  the  mass,  they  were  called  "  Arians."  Their  adversaries, 
premising  that  all  power  must  be  derived  from  God  through  his  vice- 
gerent the  pope,  or  from  an  opposite  and  evil  principle,  inferred  that 
the  Waldenses  were  "  Manichaeans,"  because  they  denied  the  pope's 
supremacy  over  the  emperors  and  kings  of  the  earth. 

In  Languedoc,  the  Catholics  affirmed  that  the  origin  of  these  heretics 
was  recent,  and  that  they  derived  their  name  of  Vaudois,  or  Waldenses, 
from  Peter  Waldo,  one  of  their  barbes  or  preachers,  whose  immediate 
followers  were  called  Waldenses ;  but  this  was  rather  the  renovation 
of  the  name  from  a  particular  cause  than  its  original :  accordingly  it 
extended  over  that  district  only,  in  France,  where  Peter  Waldo  preach- 
ed ;  for  in  other  districts  the  people  who  were  branches  of  the  same 
original  sect,  as  in  Dauphine,  were,  from  a  noted  preacher  called  Jo- 
sephists — in  Languedoc,  they  were  called  Henricians — and  in  other 
provinces,  from  Peter  Bruys,  they  were  called  Petrobusians.  Some- 
times they  received  their  name  from  their  manners,  as  "  Catharists," 
{Puritans)  and  from  the  foreign  country  whence  it  was  presumed  they 
had  been  expelled,  they  were  called  "  Bulgarians"  or  Bougres.  In 
Italy  they  were  commonly  called  Fratricelli,  that  is,  "  men  of  the  bro- 
therhood," because  they  cultivated  brotherly  love  among  themselves, 
acknowledging  one  another  as  brethren  in  Christ.  Sometimes  they 
were  denominated  "  Paulicians,"  and,  by  corruption  of  the  word, 
"  Publicans,"  considering  them  as  sprung  from  that  ancient  sect  which, 
in  the  seventh  century,  spread  over  Armenia  and  Thrace,*  and  which, 
when  persecuted  by  the  Greek  emperor  might  migrate  into  Europe, 
and  mingle  with  the  Waldenses  in  Piedmont.  Sometimes  they  were 
named  from  the  country  or  city  in  which  they  prevailed,  as  Lombard- 
ists,  Toulousians,  and  Albigenses.  All  these  branches,  however,  sprang 

*  Dr.  Mosheim  traces  the  derivation  of  this  word  to  a  kind  of  slipper  which 
they  wore,  as  a  distinguishing-  badge  of  the  sect,  and  Gibbon  has  adopted  his 
opinion.  But  I  agree  with  Mr.  Robinson  in  thinking  it  very  unlikely,  that  people 
who  could  not  descend  from  their  mountains  into  neighbouring  states,  without 
hazarding  their  lives  through  the  furious  zeal  of  inquisitors,  should  tempt  danger 
by  affixing  a  visible  mark  on  their  shoes.  The  above  opinion,  therefore,  appears 
to  me  much  more  probable. 

■j-  See  vol.  I.  ch.  ill.  sect.  4. 


Various  names  given  to  the  Sect.  309 

from  one  common  stock,  and  were  animated  by  the  same  religious  and 
moral  principles. 

Albigenses  became  latterly  their  common  name  in  France,  from  the 
great  number  of  them  that  inhabited  the  city  of  Alby,  and  the  district  of 
Albigeois,  between  the  Garonne  and  the  Rhone :  but  that  name  was 
not  general  and  confirmed  till  after  the  council  of  Alby  in  the  year 
1254,  which  condemned  them  as  heretics.  Their  number  and  preva- 
lence in  that  country  are  ascribed  to  the  patronage  and  protection 
which  they  received  from  Roger,  Count  of  Alby,  after  they  had  been 
persecuted  in  other  countries.  Some  writers  have  laboured  to  prove 
that  the  Waldenses  and  Albigenses  were  quite  different  classes  of 
Christians,  and  that  they  held  different  principles  and  opinions  :  but 
there  seems  no  solid  ground  for  maintaining  such  a  distinction.  When 
the  popes  issued  their  fulminations  against  the  Albigenses,  they  ex- 
pressly condemn  them  as  Waldenses  ;  their  legates  made  war  against 
them  as  professing  the  faith  of  the  Waldenses ;  the  monks  of  the  in- 
quisition formed  their  processes  of  indictment  against  them  as  being 
Waldenses ;  the  people  persecuted  them  as  such;  and  they  uniformly 
adopted  the  title  when  it  was  given  them,  and  even  thought  themselves 
honoured  by  it.  To  this  may  be  added,  that  historians  do  not  trace 
their  origin  to  any  local  causes  in  Albigeois,  and  about  Toulouse,  but 
represent  them  as  emigrants  from  other  regions.  Neither  do  they  re- 
present their  origin  as  recent  before  the  council  of  Alby,  but  as  stran- 
gers from  adjacent  countries  about  a  hundred  years  before. 

Farther,  the  provincial  councils  of  Toulouse,  in  1119,  and  of  Lom- 
bez,  in  1176,  and  the  general  councils  of  Lateran  in  1139,  and  1179, 
do  not  treat  of  them,  nor  condemn  them  as  Albigenses  but  as  heretics, 
and  when  they  particularize  them,  they  denominate  them  "  bons  hom- 
met" — (i.  e.  good  men) — "  Cathari" — "  Paterini" — "Publicani,"  &c. 
which  shows  that  they  existed  before  they  were  generally  known  as 
Albigenses.  It  is  also  proved,  from  their  books,  that  they  existed  as 
Waldenses,  before  the  times  of  Peter  Waldo,  who  preached  about  the 
year  1160.  Perrin,  who  wrote  their  history,  had  in  his  possession  a 
New  Testament  in  the  Vallese  language,  written  on  parchment,  in  a 
very  ancient  letter,  and  a  book  entitled  in  their  language,  "  Qual  cosa 
sia  1' Antichrist" — that  is,  "  What  is  Antichrist?"  under  date  of  the 
year  1120,  which  carries  us  back  at  least  twenty  years  before  Waldo. 
Another  book  entitled,  "  The  Noble  Lesson" — is  dated  A.  D.  1100. 

Their  enemies  confirm  their  great  antiquity.  Reinerius  Saccho,  an 
inquisitor,  and  one  of  their  most  implacable  enemies,  who  lived  only 
eighty  years  after  Waldo,  admits  that  the  Waldenses  flourished  five 
hundred  years  before  that  preacher.  Gretzer,  the  Jesuit,  who  also 
wrote  against  the  Waldenses,  and  had  examined  the  subject  fully,  not 
only  admits  their  great  antiquity,  but  declares  his  firm  belief  "  that  the 
Toulousians  and  Albigenses  condemned  in  the  years  1177,  and  1178, 
were  no  other  than  Waldenses.  In  fact,  their  doctrine,  discipline,  go- 
vernment, manners,  and  even  the  errors  with  which  they  have  been 
charged  (by  the  Catholics,)  show  that  the  Albigenses  and  Waldenses 


310  History  of  the  Christian  Church. 

were  distinct  branches  of  the  same  sect,  or  that  the  former  were  sprung 
from  the  latter.* 

From  the  death  of  Claude,  bishop  of  Turin,  who  may  not  impro- 
perly be  termed  the  Wickliffe  of  that  city,  to  the  times  of  Peter  Waldo 
of  Lyons,  a  considerable  period  intervened,  during  which  the  history 
of  the  disciples  of  that  great  man  is  involved  in  much  obscurity.  They 
seem  to  have  had  no  writers  among  themselves  capable  of  detailing 
their  proceedings  during  this  period ;  or,  if  any  records  of  their  eccle- 
siastical history  were  committed  to  writing,  the  zeal  of  their  oppo- 
nents hath  prevented  their  transmission  to  our  times.  In  the  writings 
of  their  adversaries,  indeed,  we  have  abundant  proof  of  their  existence, 
as  a  class  of  Christians  separated  in  faith  and  practice  from  the  catho- 
lic church,  and  of  the  multiplication  of  their  numbers  ;  but  of  their 
proceedings  in  the  formation  of  churches,  and  of  their  order,  worship, 
and  discipline,  we  are  very  imperfectly  informed. 

Of  the  Catharists,  in  Germany,  and  of  the  Paterines,  in  the  duchy 
of  Milan,  &c.  during  this  period,  both  of  which  held  the  same  princi- 
ples as  the  Waldenses,  we  have  already  taken  some  notice  in  the  pre- 
ceding chapter.  But  it  was  not  till  the  twelfth  century  that  the  Vau- 
dois  appear  in  ecclesiastical  history  as  a  people  obnoxious  to  the  church 
of  Rome.  And  even  then  it  seems,  in  great  measure,  to  have  been  oc- 
casioned by  the  indefatigable  labours,  the  ardent  zeal,  and  the  amazing 
success  which  crowned  the  ministry  of  Peter  Waldo  of  Lyons,  whose 
followers  first  obtained  the  name  of  Leonists,  and  who,  when  persecu- 
ted in  France,  fled  into  Piedmont,  incorporating  themselves  with  the 
Vaudois.  The  following  is  the  account  which  Mr.  Robinson  gives  of 
this  intricate  article  of  ecclesiastical  history,  and  as  it  appears  to  my- 
self more  probable  than  any  other  that  I  have  seen,  I  incline  to  admit 
it  as  the  true  one. 

"  In  the  twelfth  century,  towards  the  close,  a  great  reformation  was 
begun  at  Lyons,  under  the  auspices  of  a  merchant  there,  who  procured 
a  translation  of  the  Four  Gospels  from  Latin  into  French,  and  who 
both  preached  in  person,  and  engaged  others  to  do  so  in  various  parts 
of  the  country.  Reinerius  Saccho  thought  all  the  believers  (Credenti) 
sprung  from  this  stock;  and  he  therefore  calls  them  all  Leonists. 
Whether  the  merchant  received  his  name  (Valdus)  from  the  Vaudois, 
or  whether  they  received  theirs  from  him,  is  uncertain  ;  the  former  is 
the  more  probable  opinion  of  the  two,  and  the  fact  seems  to  be,  that 
till  then  the  Vaudois  were  (comparatively  speaking)  few  and  obscure, 
and  the  Leonists  at  once  numerous  and  popular ;  that  the  Vaudois  and 
Leonists  soon  incorporated  themselves  together  ;  that  the  Vaudois  com- 
municated their  name,  which  passed  for  that  of  a  low,  rustical,  and  ob- 
scure people  to  the  Leonists  ;  and  that  the  Leonists  emboldened  the 
Vaudois  to  separate  openly  from  the  church.     This  view  of  things  in 

*  Dr.  Rankin's  History  of  France,  vol.  iii.  p.  198 — 202.  To  this  contempo- 
rary and  able  writer,  I  have  much  pleasure  in  tendering  my  acknowledgments 
for  the  eminent  services  which,  in  this  instance,  he  has  rendered  to  the  cause 
of  truth  and  virtue.  His  patient  research,  and  his  cool,  correct,  and  discrimi- 
nating judgment,  have  greatly  abridged  my  labour  on  this  branch  of  the  sub- 
ject. 


Conversion  of  Peter  Waldo.  311 

part  reconciles  the  opinion  of  the  catholic  bishop,  Bossuet,  with  that 
of  Dr.  Allix  and  other  Protestants.  Bossnet  says,  the  separation  of 
the  Vaudois  was  for  a  long  time  a  mere  schism  in  the  church,  and  that 
Waldo  was  their  parent.  Protestants  deny  this,  and  say  that  the  Vau- 
dois were  the  parents  of  the  Leonists.  It  should  seem  the  Vaudois 
were  the  first,  and  that  they  continued  in  the  church  a  sort  of  party 
till  Waldo  emboldened  them  to  separate,  and  so  became  not  the 
founder  of  the  party,  but  the  parent  of  their  separation." 

But  the  history  of  Peter  Waldo,  his  exemplary  life,  his  zeal  in  the 
cause  of  truth  and  virtue,  the  noble  sacrifices  which  he  made  to  reli- 
gious principle,  and  the  extraordinary  success  which  crowned  his  la- 
bours in  the  promulgation  of  the  gospel  of  peace,  entitle  him  to  some- 
what more  than  an  incidental  mention  in  the  history  of  the  times  in 
which  he  lived.  He  was  an  opulent  merchant  in  the  city  of  Lyons — 
a  city  which,  in  the  second  century  of  the  Christian  sera,  as  we  have 
formerly  seen,*  was  blessed  with  the  clear  light  of  divine  truth — where 
Christ  had  planted  a  numerous  church  to  serve  as  a  pillar  on  which 
his  truth  was  inscribed,  or  a  candlestick  on  which  he  had  placed  the 
lamp  of  life.  But  the  lamp  had  long  been  extinguished,  and  the  pillar 
removed.  Lyons,  in  the  times  of  Peter  Waldo,  was  sunk  into  a  state 
of  the  grossest  darkness  and  superstition.  About  the  year  1160,  the 
doctrine  of  transubstantiation,  which  some  time  afterwards  pope  Inno- 
cent III.  confirmed  in  a  very  solemn  manner,  was  required  by  the 
court  of  Rome  to  be  acknowledged  by  all  men.  A  most  pernicious 
practice  of  idolatry  was  connected  with  the  reception  of  this  doctrine. 
Men  fell  down  before  the  consecrated  wafer  and  worshipped  it  as  God ; 
an  abomination,  the  absurdity  and  impiety  of  which  forcibly  struck 
the  mind  of  Waldo,  who  opposed  it  in  a  most  courageous  manner.* 

But  although  the  conscience  or  common  sense  of  Waldo  revolted 
against  this  novel  piece  of  superstition,  he  seems  not  to  have  entertain- 
ed, at  that  time,  the  most  distant  idea  of  withdrawing  himself  from  the 
communion  of  the  Romish  church,  nor  indeed  to  have  had  much  sense 
of  religion  upon  his  mind.  God,  however,  who  hath  the  hearts  of  all 
men  in  his  hands,  and  who  turns  them  as  the  rivers  of  water,  had  des- 
tined him  for  great  usefulness  in  his  kingdom.  To  him,  also,  what- 
ever means  seem  necessary  for  effecting  his  purposes  in  the  Avorld,  are 
equally  at  command.  An  extraordinary  occurrence  in  providence  was 
the  means  of  awakening  the  mind  of  Peter  Waldo,  to  the  "  one  thing 
needful."  One  evening  after  sup"per,  as  he  sa^conversing  with  a  party 
of  his  friends,  and  refreshing  himself  among  them,  one  of  the  company 
fell  down  dead  on  the  floor,  to  the  consternation  of  all  that  were  pre- 
sent. Such  a  lesson  on  the  uncertainty  of  human  life,  and  the  very 
precarious  tenure  on  which  mortals  hold  it,  most  forcibly  arrested  his 
attention.  The  Latin  Vulgate  Bible  was  the  only  edition  of  the  Scrip- 
tures at  that  time  in  Europe;  but  that  language  was  inaccessible  to  all, 
except  one  in  an  hundred  of  its  inhabitants.  Happily  for  Waldo,  his 
situation  in  life  had  enabled  him  to  surmount  that  obstacle.  "  Being 
somewhat  learned,''''  says  Reinerius  Saccho,  when  speaking  of  him, 

•  See  vol.  i.  p.  129.  f  Perrin  Histoire  des  Vaudois,  ch.  i. 


312  History  of  the  Christian  Church. 

"  Vie  taught  the  people  the  text  of  the  New  Testament  in  their  mother 
tongue."  The  sudden  death  of  his  friend  led  him  to  think  of  his  own 
approaching  dissolution,  and  under  the  terrors  of  an  awakened  con- 
science, he  had  recourse  to  the  Holy  Scriptures  for  instruction  and 
comfort.  There,  in  the  knowledge  of  the  true  character  of  God,  as 
the  just  God  and  the  Saviour,  he  found  the  pearl  of  great  price — the 
way  of  escape  from  the  wrath  which  is  to  come.  The  belief  of  the 
testimony  which  God  hath  given  of  his  Son,  diffused  peace  and  joy 
into  his  own  mind,  raised  his  views  and  conceptions  above  "  the 
smoke  and  din  of  this  dim  spot  which  men  call  earth,"  and  led  him  to 
look  for  glory,  honour,  and  immortality,  even  eternal  life,  in  the  world 
to  come.  But  Christian  love  is  an  operative  principle.  It  expands 
the  mind  in  which  it  dwells,  and  fills  it  with  generous  sentiments — 
with  supreme  love  to  God,  and  the  most  disinterested  benevolence  to 
man.  Waldo  was  desirous  of  communicating  to  others  a  portion  of 
that  happiness  which  he  himself  enjoyed.  He  abandoned  his  mercan- 
tile pursuits,  distributed  his  wealth  to  the  poor  as  occasion  required  ; 
and,  while  the  latter  flocked  to  him  to  partake  of  his  alms,  he  laboured 
to  engage  their  attention  to  the  things  which  belonged  to  their  everlas- 
ting peace. 

One  of  the  first  objects  of  his  pursuit  was  to  put  into  their  hands 
the  word  of  life ;  and  he  either  himself  translated,  or  procured  some 
one  else  to  translate  the  four  Gospels  into  French ;  and  the  next  was 
to  make  them  acquainted  with  their  sacred  contents.  Matthias  Illy- 
rius,  a  writer  who  prosecuted  his  studies  under  Luther  and  Me- 
lancthon,  and  was  one  of  the  Madgeburgh  Centuriators,  speaking  of 
him,  says,  "  His  kindness  to  the  poor  being  diffused,  his  love  of 
teaching  and  their  love  of  learning  growing  stronger  and  stronger, 
greater  crowds  came  to  him, 'to  whom  he  explained  the  Scriptures. 
He  was  himself  a  man  of  learning  ;  so  I  understand  from  some  old 
parchments — nor  was  he  obliged  to  employ  others  to  translate  for  him 
as  his  enemies  affirm."  But  whether  Waldo  himself  translated  these 
Scriptures  or  employed  others  to  do  it,  or,  which  is  most  probable, 
executed  it  himself  with  the  assistance  of  others,  certain  it  is,  that  the 
inhabitants  of  Europe  were  indebted  to  him  for  the  first  translation  of 
the  Bible  into  a  modern  tongue,  since  the  time  that  the  Latin  had 
ceased  to  be  a  living  language — a  gift  of  inestimable  value. 

As  Waldo  became  more  acquainted  .with  the  Scriptures,  he  began  to 
discover  that  a  multiplicity  of  doctrines,  rites,  and  ceremonies  which 
had  been  introduced  into  the  national  religion,  had  not  only  no  founda- 
tion in  the  word  of  God,  but  were  most  pointedly  condemned  in  that 
book.  Inflamed  with  zeal  for  the  glory  of  God,  on  the  one  hand,  and 
with  concern  for  the  souls  of  his  fellow-sinners  on  the  other,  he  raised 
his  voice  loudly  against  them,  condemning  the  arrogance  of  the  pope, 
and  the  reigning  vices  of  the  clergy.  Nor  did  he  satisfy  himself  with 
mere  declamation  against  what  was  wrong  in  others.  He  taught  the 
truth  in  its  simplicity,  and  enforced  its  practical  influence  on  the  heart 
and  life ;  and  by  his  own  example,  as  well  as  by  an  appeal  to  the  lives 
of  those  who  first  believed  in  Christ,  he  laboured  to  demonstrate  the 
great  difference  that  existed  between  the  Christianity  of  the  Bible  and 
that  of  the  church  of  Rome. 


Preaching  of  Waldo  at  Lyons.  313 

The  consequence  of  all  this  may  be  easily  supposed  by  a  reflecting 
mind.  The  archbishop  of  Lyons  heard  of  these  proceedings,  and  be- 
came indignant.  Their  tendency  was  obvious ;  the  honour  of  the 
church"  was  involved  in  them,  and,  in  perfect  consistency  with  the  usual 
mode  of  silencing  objectors  among  the  Catholic  party,  he  forbade  the 
new  reformer  to  teach  any  more  on  pain  of  excommunication,  and  of 
being  proceeded  against  as  an  heretic.  Waldo  replied,  that  though  a 
layman,  he  could  not  be  silent  in  a  matter  which  concerned  the  salva- 
tion of  his  fellow-creatures.  Attempts  were  next  made  to  apprehend 
him  ;  but  the  number  and  kindness  of  his  friends,  the  respectability  and 
influence  of  his  connections,  mar  y  of  whom  were  men  of  rank ;  the  uni- 
versal regard  that  was  paid  to  his  character  for  probity  and  religion ; 
and  the  conviction  that  his  presence  was  highly  necessary  among  the 
people  whom  he  had  by  this  time  gathered  into  a  church,  and  of  which 
he  had  taken  the  oversight,  all  operated  so  strongly  in  his  favour,  that 
he  lived  concealed  at  Lyons  during  the  space  of  three  whole  years.* 

Information  of  these  things  was  then  conveyed  to  pope  Alexander  III. 
who  no  sooner  heard  of  such  heretical  proceedings  than  he  anathema- 
tized the  reformer  and  his  adherents,  commanding  the  archbishop  to 
proceed  against  them  with  the  utmost  rigour.  Waldo  was  now  com- 
pelled to  quit  Lyons ;  his  flock  in  a  great  measure  followed  their  pas- 
tor; and  hence  a  dispersion  took  place  not  unlike  that  which  arose  in 
the  church  of  Jerusalem  on  the  occasion  of  the  death  of  Stephen.  The 
effects  were  also  similar.  Waldo  himself  retired  into  Dauphiny,  where 
he  preached  with  abundant  success  ;  his  principles  took  deep  and  last- 
ing root,  and  produced  a  numerous  harvest  of  disciples  who  were  deno- 
minated Leonists,  Vaudois,  Albigenses,  or  Waldenses ;  for -the  very 
same  class  of  Christians  is  designated  by  these  various  appellations  at 
different  times,  and  according  to  the  different  countries  or  quarters  of 
the  same  country  in  which  they  appeared.! 

Persecuted  from  place  to  place,  Waldo  retired  into  Picardy,  where 
also  success  attended  his  labours.  Driven  from  thence,  he  proceeded 
into  Germany,  carrying  along  with  him  the  glad  tidings  of  salvation ; 
and,  according  to  the  testimony  of  Thuanus,  a  very  authentic  French 
historian,  he  at  length  settled  in  Bohemia,  where  he  finished  his  course, 
in  the  year  1179,  after  a  ministry  of  nearly  twenty  years.  He  was  evi- 
dently a  man  of  very  singular  endowments ;  and  one  of  those  extraor- 
dinary persons  whom  God  in  his  providence  occasionally  raises  up  and 
qualifies  for  eminent  usefulness  in  his  kingdom ;  but  he  has  met  with 
no  historian  capable  of  doing  justice  to  his  talents  and  character.  Num- 
bers of  his  people  fled  for  an  asylum  into  the  valleys  of  Piedmont,  tak- 
ing with  them  the  new  translation  of  the  Bible.  In  the  ensuing  section, 
we  shall  have  an  opportunity  of  examining  their  doctrinal  sentiments ; 
and  their  history  in  that  country,  as  well  as  in  the  south  of  France,  and 
wherever  else  Ave  can  trace  them,  will  occupy,  in  one  way  or  other,  the 
remaining  pages  of  this  volume. 

The  persecution  of  Waldo  and  his  followers,  with  their  flight  from 
Lyons,  is  a  remarkable  epoch  in  the  annals  of  the  Christian  church. 

*  Perrin's  History,  ch.  i.  j-  Ibid.  ch.  i. 

27 


314  History  of  the  Christian  Church. 

Wherever  they  went,  they  sowed  the  seeds  of  reformation.  The  coun- 
tenance and  blessingof  the  King  of  kings  accompanied  them.  The  word 
of  God  grew  and  multiplied,  not  only  in  the  places  where  Waldo  him- 
self had  planted  it,  but  in  more  distant  regions.  In  Alsace  and  along 
the  Rhine,  the  doctrines  of  Waldo  spread  extensively.  Persecutions 
ensued — thirty-five  citizens  of  Mentz  were  burned  in  one  fire  at  the 
city  of  Bingen,  and  eighteen  at  Mentz  itself.  The  bishops  of  both 
Mentz  and  Strasburgh  breathed  nothing  but  vengeance  and  slaughter 
against  them ;  and  at  the  latter  city,  where  Waldo  himself  is  said  to 
have  narrowly  escaped  apprehension,  eighty  persons  were  committed 
to  the  flames.  In  the  treatment,  and  in  the  behaviour  of  the  Walden- 
ses,  were  renewed  the  scenes  of  martyrdom  of  the  second  century. 
Multitudes  died  praising  God,  and  in  the  confident  hope  of  a  blessed 
resurrection.  But  the  blood  of  the  martyrs  again  became  the  seed  of 
the  church;  and  in  Bulgaria,  Croatia,  Dalmatia,  and  Hungary,  churches 
were  planted,  which  flourished  throughout  the  thirteenth  century,  and 
which  are  said  to  have  owed  their  rise  chiefly  to  the  labours  of  one 
Bartholomew,  a  native  of  Carcassone,  a  city  not  far  distant  from  Tou- 
louse, in  the  south  of  France,  and  which  may  be  not  improperly  term- 
ed the  metropolis  of  the  Albigenses.  In  Bohemia,  and  in  the  country 
of  Passau,  it  has  been  computed  that  there  were  not  less  than  eighty 
thousand  of  this  class  of  Christians  in  the  year  1315.  In  short  we  shall 
find  in  the  sequel,  that  they  spread  themselves  throughout  almost  every 
country  in  Europe  ;  but  they  were  every  where  treated  as  the  filth  of 
the  world,  and  as  the  offscouring  of  all  things.* 

It  can  excite  no  surprise  that  their  increasing  numbers  should  rouse 
the  court  of  Rome  to  adopt  the  most  vigorous  measures  for  suppress- 
ing them.  The  inquisition  had  not  yet  been  established;  but  council 
after  council  had  been  convened  in  France ;  and  about  twenty  years 
after  Waldo  had  been  driven  from  Lyons,  the  following  persecuting 
edict  was  issued  from  Rome. 

THE  DECREE  OF  POPE  LUCIUS  III.  AGAINST  HERETICS,  A.  D.  1181. 

"  To  abolish  the  malignity  of  diverse  heresies  which  are  lately  sprung 
up  in  most  parts  of  the  world,  it  is  but  fitting  that  the  power  commit- 
ted to  the  church  should  be  awakened,  that  by  the  concurring  assist- 
ance of  the  Imperial  strength,  both  the  insolence  and  mal-pertness  of 
the  heretics  in  their  false  designs  may  be  crushed,  and  the  truth  of  Car 
tholic  simplicity  shining  forth  in  the  holy  church,  may  demonstrate  her 
pure  and  free  from  the  execrableness  of  their  false  doctrines.  Where- 
fore we,  being  supported  by  the  presence  and  power  of  our  most  dear 
son,  Frederick,  the  most  illustrious  Emperor  of  the  Romans,  always 
increaser  of  the  empire,  with  the  common  advice  and  council  of  our 
brethren,  and  other  patriarchs,  archbishops,  and  many  princes,  who 
from  several  parts  of  the  world  are  met  together,  do  set  themselves 
against  these  heretics  who  have  got  different  names  from  the  several 
i'alse  doctrines  they  profess,  by  the  sanction  of  this  present  general  de- 

•  Perrin's  Hist.  ch.  ii. 


Decree  of  pope  Lucius  III.  against  Heretics.  315 

cree,  and  by  our  apostolical  authority  according  to  the  tenor  of  these 
presents,  we  condemn  all  manner  of  heresy,  by  what  name  soever  it 
may  be  denominated. 

"  More  particularly,  we  declare  all  Catharists,  Paterines,  and  those 
who  call  themselves  '  the  Poor  of  Lyons  ;'  the  Passignes,  Josephists, 
Arnoldists,  to  lie  under  a  perpetual  anathema.  And  because  some,  under 
a  form  of  godliness,  but  denying  the  power  thereof,  as  the  apostle  saith, 
assume  to  themselves  the  authority  of  preaching;  whereas  the  same 
apostle  saith,  '  how  shall  they  preach  except  they  be  sent' — we 
therefore  conclude  under  the  same  sentence  of  a  perpetual  anathema, 
all  those  who  either  being  forbid  or  not  sent  do  notwithstanding  pre- 
sume to  preach  publicly  or  privately,  without  any  authority  received 
either  from  the  Apostolic  See,  or  from  the  bishops  of  their  respective 
dioceses  :  As  also  all  those  who  are  not  afraid  to  hold  or  teach  any  opin- 
ions concerning  the  sacrament  of  the  body  and  blood  of  our  Lord  Jesus 
Christ,  baptism,  the  remission  of  sins,  matrimony,  or  any  other  sacra- 
ments of  the  church,  differing  from  what  the  holy  church  of  Rome  doth 
preach  and  observe :  and  generally  all  those  whom  the  same  church  of 
Rome,  or  the  several  bishops  in  their  dioceses,  with  the  advice  of  their 
clergy,  or  the  clergy  themselves,  in  case  of  a  vacancy  of  the  See,  with 
the  advice  if  need  be  of  neighbouring  bishops,  shall  judge  to  be  heretics. 
And  we  likewise  declare  all  entertainers  and  defenders  of  the  said  here- 
tics, and  those  that  have  showed  any  favour  or  given  countenance  to 
them,  thereby  strengthening  them  in  their  heresy,  whether  they  be 
called  comforted,  believers,  or  perfect,  or  with  whatsoever  superstitious 
name  they  disguise  themselves,  to  be  liable  to  the  same  sentence. 

"And  though  it  sometimes  happens  that  the  severity  of  ecclesiastical 
discipline,  necessary  to  the  coercion  of  sin,  is  condemned  by  those  who 
do  not  understand  the  virtue  of  it,  we  notwithstanding  by  these  presents 
decree,  That  whosoever  shall  be  notoriously  convicted  of  these  errors, 
if  a  clergyman,  or  one  that  endeavours  to  conceal  himself  under  any 
religious  order,  he  shall  be  immediately  deprived  of  all  prerogative  of 
the  church  orders,  and  so  being  divested  of  all  office  and  benefice,  be 
delivered  to  the  secular  power  to  be  punished  according  to  demerit,  un- 
less immediately  upon  his  being  detected  he  voluntarily  returns  to  the 
truth  of  the  Catholic  faith,  and  publicly  abjures  his  errors,  at  the  dis- 
cretion of  the  bishop  of  the  diocese,  and  makes  suitable  satisfaction. 
And  as  for  a  layman  who  shall  be  found  guilty  either  publicly  or  pri- 
vately of  any  of  the  aforesaid  crimes,  unless  by  abjuring  his  heresy  and 
making  satisfaction  he  immediately  return  to  the  orthodox  faith,  we 
decree  him  to  be  left  to  the  sentence  of  the  secular  judge,  to  receive 
condign  punishment  according  to  the  quality  of  the  offence. 

"And  as  to  those  who  are  taken  notice  of  by  the  church  as  suspect- 
ed of  heresy,  unless  at  the  command  of  the  bishop  they  give  full  evi- 
dence of  their  innocence,  according  to  the  degree  of  suspicion  against 
them  and  the  quality  of  their  persons,  they  shall  be  liable  to  the  same 
sentence.  But  those  who  after  having  abjured  their  errors,  or  cleared 
themselves  upon  examination  to  their  bishop,  if  they  be  found  to  have 
relapsed  into  their  abjured  heresy — We  decree  that  without  any  further 
hearing  they  be  forthwith  delivered  up  to  the  secular  power,  and  their 
goods  confiscated  to  the  use  of  the  church. 


316  History  of  the  Christian  Church. 

"  And  we  further  decree,  That  this  excommunication,  in  which  our 
will  is  that  all  heretics  be  included,  shall  be  repeated  and  renewed  by 
all  patriarchs,  archbishops,  and  bishops,  in  all  the  chief  festivals  and 
on  any  public  solemnity,  or  upon  any  other  occasion  to  the  glory  of 
God  and  the  putting  a  stop  to  all  heretical  pravity  :  ordering  by  our 
apostolic  authority,  that  if  any  bishop  be  found  wanting  or  slow  herein, 
he  be  suspended  for  three  years  from  his  episcopal  dignity  and  admin- 
istration. 

"  Furthermore,  with  the  counsel  and  advice  of  bishops,  and  intima- 
tion of  the  emperor  and  princes  of  the  empire,  we  do  add,  That  every 
archbishop  or  bishop,  either  in  his  own  person  or  by  his  archdeacon, 
or  by  other  honest  and  fit  persons,  shall  once  or  twice  in  the  year  visit 
the  parish  in  which  it  is  reported  that  heretics  dwell,  and  there  cause 
two  or  three  men  of  good  credit,  or,  if  need  be,  the  whole  neighbour- 
hood, to  swear  that  if  they  know  of  any  heretics  there,  or  any  that 
frequent  private  meetings,  or  that  differ  from  the  common  conversation 
of  mankind,  either  in  life  or  manners,  they  will  signify  the  same  to  the 
bishop  or  archdeacon :  The  bishops  also  or  archdeacon  shall  summon 
before  them  the  parties  accused,  who,  unless  they  at  their  discretion, 
according  to  the  custom  of  the  country,  do  clear  themselves  of  the  guilt 
laid  to  their  charge ;  or  if  after  having  so  cleared  themselves  they  re- 
lapse again  to  their  former  unbelief,  they  shall  be  punished  at  the  bishop's 
discretion.  And  if  any  of  them,  by  a  damnable  superstition,  shall  re- 
fuse to  swear,  that  alone  shall  suffice  to  convict  them  of  being  heretics, 
and  liable  to  the  punishments  before  mentioned. 

"  We  ordain  further,  That  all  eafls,  barons,  governors  and  consuls  of 
cities  and  other  places,  in  pursuance  of  the  commonition  of  the  respec- 
tive archbishops  and  bishops,  shall  promise  upon  oath,  that  in  all  these 
particulars,  whenever  they  are  required  so  to  do,  they  will  powerfully 
and  effectually  assist  the  church  against  heretics  and  their  accomplices  ; 
and  endeavour  faithfully,  according  to  their  office  and  power,  to  execute 
the  ecclesiastical  and  imperial  statutes  concerning  the  matters  herein- 
mentioned. 

"  But  if  any  of  them  shall  refuse  to  observe  this,  they  shall  be  de- 
prived of  their  honours  and  charges,  and  be  rendered  incapable  of  re- 
ceiving others  ;  and,  moreover,  be  involved  in  the  sentence  of  excom- 
munication, and  their  goods  be  confiscated  to  the  use  of  the  church. 
And  if  any  city  shall  refuse  to  yield  obedience  to  these  Decretal 
Constitutions,  or  that  contrary  to  the  episcopal  commonition  they  shall 
neglect  to  punish  opposers,  we  ordain  the  same  to  be  excluded  from 
ail  commerce  with  other  cities,  and  be  deprived  of  the  episcopal  dignity. 

"  We  likewise  decree,  That  all  favourers  of  heretics,  as  men  stigma- 
tized with  perpetual  infamy,  shall  be  incapable  of  being  attorneys  or 
witnesses,  or  of  bearing  any  public  office  whatsoever.  And,  as  for 
those  who  are  exempt  from  the  law  of  diocesan  jurisdiction,  as  being 
immediately  under  the  jurisdiction  of  the  apostolic  see;  nevertheless, 
as  to  these  constitutions  against  heretics,  we  will,  That  they  be  subject 
to  the  judgment  of  the  archbishop  and  bishops,  and  that  in  this  case 
they  yield  obedience  to  them,  as  to  the  delegates  of  the  apostolic  see, 
the  immunity  of  their  privileges  notwithstanding." 


King  of  Arr  agon's  edict  against  Heretics.  317 

Ildefonsus,  king  of  Arragon,  also  testified  his  zeal  against  the  Wal- 
denses,  by  an  edict  published  in  the  year  1194,  from  the  tenor  of 
which  we  are  authorized  to  infer,  that  the  doctrine  of  Waldo  had  not 
only  found  its  way  into  Spain,  but  that  it  had  got  such  footing  there  a? 
to  create  no  little  alarm,  and  call  forth  the  determined  interference  of 
the  government.  The  following  is  a  copy  of  this  severe  edict,  as  given 
by  Pegna,  in  his  notes  on  the  "  Directory  of  the  Inquisitors." 

"  Ildefonsus,  by  the  grace  of  God,  King  of  Arragon,  Earl  of  Bar- 
celona, Marquis  of  Provence,  to  all  archbishops,  bishops,  and  other 
prelates  of  the  church  of  God,  earls,  viscounts,  knights,  and  to  all  peo- 
ple of  his  kingdom,  or  belonging  to  his  dominions,  wisheth  health, 
and  the  sound  observance  of  the  Christian  religion. 

"  Forasmuch  as  it  hath  pleased  God  to  set  us  over  his  people,  it  is 
but  fit  and  just,  that  according  to  our  might  we  should  be  continually 
solicitous  for  the  welfare  and  defence  of  the  same;  wherefore  we,  in 
imitation  of  our  ancestors,  and  in  obedience  to  the  canons  which  deter- 
mine and  ordain  heretics,  as  persons  cast  out  from  the  sight  of  God 
and  all  Catholics,  to  be  condemned  and  persecuted  every  where,  do 
command  and  charge  that  the  Waldenses,  Inzabbati,  who  otherwise  are 
called  '  the  poor  of  Lyons,'  and  all  other  heretics  who  cannot  be  num- 
bered, being  excommunicated  from  the  holy  church,  adversaries  to  the 
cross  of  Christ,  violaters  and  corrupters  of  the  Christian  religion,  and 
the  avowed  enemies  of  us  and  our  kingdom,  to  depart  out  of  our  king- 
dom and  all  our  dominions.  Whosoever,  therefore,  from  this  day  for- 
ward, shall  presume  to  receive  the  said  Waldenses,  and  Inzabbati,  or 
any  other  heretics  of  whatsoever  profession,  into  their  houses,  or  to 
be  present  at  their  pernicious  sermons,  or  to  afford  them  meat,  or  any 
other  favour,  shall  thereby  incur  the  indignation  of  Almighty  God,  as 
well  as  ours,  and  have  his  goods  confiscated,  without  the  remedy  of  an 
appeal,  and  be  punished  as  if  he  were  actually  guilty  of  high  treason. 
And  we  strictly  charge  and  command,  that  this  our  edict  and  perpetual 
constitution  be  publicly  read  on  the  Lord's  days  by  the  bishops  and 
other  rectors  of  churches,  in  all  the  cities,  castles,  and  towns  of  our 
kingdom,  and  throughout  all  our  dominions :  and  that  the  same  be  ob- 
served by  vicars,  bailiffs,  justices,  &c.  and  all  the  people  in  general; 
and  that  the  aforesaid  punishment  be  inflicted  on  all  transgressors. 

"  We  further  will,  that  if  any  person,  noble  or  ignoble,  shall  in  any 
part  of  our  dominions  find  any  of  these  wicked  wretches,  who  shall 
be  known  to  have  had  three  days  notice  of  this  our  edict,  and  that  do 
not  forthwith  depart,  but  rather  are  obstinately  found  staying  or  lin- 
gering ;  let  such  know  that  if  they  shall  any  way  plague,  despitefully 
use  or  distress  them,  wounding  unto  death  and  maiming  of  them  only 
excepted,  he  will  in  so  doing  perform  nothing  but  what  will  be  very 
grateful  and  pleasing  to  us,  and  shall  be  so  far  from  fearing  to  incur 
any  penalty  thereby,  that  he  may  be  sure  rather  to  deserve  our  favour. 
Furthermore,  we  give  these  wicked  miscreants  respite,  though  that  may 
seem  somewhat  contrary  to  reason  and  our  duty,  till  the  day  after  All 
Saints  day :  but  that  all  those  who  either  shall  not  be  gone  by  that 
time,  or  at  least  preparing  for  their  departure,  shall  be  spoiled,  beaten, 
cudgelled,  and  shamefully  ill-treated." 
27* 


318  History  of  the  Christian  Church. 

SECTION  II. 

SOME  ACCOUNT  OF  THE  DOCTRINAL  SENTIMENTS  AND  RELIGIOUS  PRAC- 
TICES OF  THE  WALDENSES,  COLLECTED  FROM  THE  WRITINGS  OF  THEIR 
ADVERSARIES. 

It  is  intended,  in  this  and  the  two  following  sections,  to  lay  before 
the  reader  a  more  detailed  account  of  the  principles  and  practices  of 
the  Waldenses,  than  hath  hitherto  been  given ;  and  there  appears  no 
method  of  doing  this  more  satisfactory,  than  by  first  hearing  the 
charges  alleged  against  them  by  their  adversaries  of  the  Romish  church; 
and  then  attending  to  the  apologies,  reasonings,  and  confessions  of 
faith  which,  from  time  to  time,  the  ever  laudable  principle  of  self-de- 
fence necessarily  extorted  from  them.  This  is  the  plan,  therefore, 
which  I  intend  to  pursue,  and  the  present  section  shall  be  devoted  to 
the  testimony  of  their  adversaries. 

Reinerius  Saccho,  whose  name  I  have  had  occasion  more  than 
once  to  mention,  was  for  seventeen  years  of  the  earlier  part  of  his  life, 
tn  some  way  or  other,  connected  with  the  Waldenses;  but  he  aposta- 
iized  from  their  profession,  entered  the  Catholic  church,  was  raised  in 
it  to  the  dignified  station  of  an  inquisitor,  and  became  one  of  their  most 
cruel  persecutors.  He  was  deputed  by  the  pope  to  reside  in  Lom- 
bardy,  in  the  south  of  France  ;  and  about  the  year  1250,  published  a 
catalogue  of  the  errors  of  the  Waldenses  under  three  and  thirty  distinct 
heads.  The  reader  who  wishes  to  peruse  the  original  Latin,  may  find 
it  in  Dr.  Allix's  Remarks  upon  the  Churches  of  Piedmont,  p.  188 — 
191.     The  following  is  a  faithful  translation. 

"  Their  first  error,"  says  he,  "  is  a  contempt  of  ecclesiastical  pow- 
er, and  from  thence  they  have  been  delivered  up  to  Satan,  and  by  him 
cast  headlong  into  innumerable  errors,  mixing  the  erroneous  doctrines 
of  the  heretics  of  old  with  their  own  inventions.  And  being  cast  out 
of  the  Catholic  church,  they  affirm  that  they  alone  are  the  church  of 
Christ  and  his  disciples.  They  declare  themselves  to  be  the  apostles' 
successors,  to  have  apostolical  authority,  and  the  keys  of  binding  and 
loosing.  They  hold  the  church  of  Rome  to  be  the  whore  of  Babylon, 
(Rev.  ch.  xvii.)  and  that  all  that  obey  her  are  damned,  especially  the 
clergy  that  have  been  subject  to  her  since  the  time  of  pope  Sylvester. : 
They  deny  that  any  true  miracles  are  wrought  in  the  church,  because 
none  of  themselves  ever  worked  any.  They  hold,  that  none  of  the  or- 
dinances of  the  church,  which  have  been  introduced  since  Christ's  as- 
cension, ought  to  be  observed,  as  being  of  no  value.  The  feasts,  fasts, 
orders,  blessings,  offices  of  the  church,  and  the  like,  they  utterly  reject. 
They  speak  against  consecrating  churches,  church-yards,  and  other 
things  of  the  like  nature,  declaring  that  it  was  the  invention  of  cove- 
tous priests,  to  augment  their  own  gains,  in  spunging  the  people 
by  those  means  of  their  money  and  oblations.     They  say,  that  a  man 

*  This  pontiff  was  bishop  of  Rome  in  the  days  of  Constantine  the  Great,  about 
the  year  330. 


II einer ills'1  s  account  of  the  Waldenses.  319 

is  then  first  baptized  when  he  is  received  into  their  community.  Some  j 
of  them  hold  that  baptism  is  of  no  advantage  to  infants,  because  they 
cannot  actually  believe.  They  reject  the  sacrament  of  confirmation, 
but  instead  of  that,  their  teachers  lay  their  hands  upon  their  disciples. 
They  say,  the  bishops,  clergy,  and  other  religious  orders  are  no  better 
than  the  Scribes  and  Pharisees,  and  other  persecutors  of  the  apostles. 
They  do  not  believe  the  body  and  blood  of  Christ  to  be  the  true  sacra- 
ment, but  only  blessed  bread,  which  by  a  figure  only  is  called  the  body 
of  Christ,  even  as  it  is  said,  "  and  the  rock  was  Christ,"  &c.  Some 
of  them  hold  that  this  sacrament  can  only  be  celebrated  by  those  that 
are  good,*  others  again  by  any  that  know  the  words  of  consecration. 
This  sacrament  they  celebrate  in  their  assemblies,  repeating  the  words 
of  the  gospel  at  their  table,  and  participating  together,  in  imitation  of 
Christ's  supper.  They  say  that  a  priest  who  is  a  sinner,  cannot  bind 
or  loose  any  one,  as  being  himself  bound  ;  and  that  any  good  and  in- 
telligent layman  may  absolve  another,  and  impose  penance.  They  re- 
ject extreme  unction,  declaring  it  to  be  rather  a  curse  than  a  sacrament. 
Marriage,  say  they,  is  nothing  else  but  sworn  fornication,  unless  the 
parties  live  continently,  and  account  any  filthiness  preferable  to  the 
conjugal  rites.  They  praise  continence  indeed,  but  in  the  meantime 
give  way  to  the  satisfying  of  burning  lust  by  any  filthy  means  whatso- 
ever, expounding  that  place  of  the  apostle,  '  It  is  better  to  marry  than  to 
burn,'  thus,  that  it  is  better  to  satisfy  one's  lust  by  any  filthy  act,  than  to 
be  tempted  therewith  in  the  heart.t  But  this  they  conceal  as  much  as 
possible,  that  they  may  not  be  reproached  therewith.  If  any  honest  wo- 
man among  them  that  has  the  repute  of  chastit)^  is  brought  to  bed  of  a 
child,  they  carefully  conceal  it,  and  send  it  abroad  to  be  nursed,  that  it  may 
not  be  known.  They  hold  all  oaths  to  be  unlawful,  and  a  mortal  sin, 
yet  they  dispense  with  them  when  it  is  done  to  avoid  death,  lest  they 
should-  betray  their  accomplices,  or  the  secret  of  their  infidelity.  They 
hold  it  to  be  an  unpardonable  sin  to  betray  an  heretic,  yea  the  very 
sin  against  the  Holy  Ghost.     They  say  that  malefactors  ought  not  to 

*  The  meaning  of  this  does  not  seem  very  obvious.  The  words  in  the  origi- 
nal are,  Quidam  autem  hoc  dicunt  tantum  per  bonos  Jleri,  alii  per  omnes  qui  verba 
consecrationis  sciunt  ,•  and  the  reason  of  the  obscurity  is,  that,  as  I  shall  hereafter 
show,  they  did  not  allow  any  but  pastors  to  administer  the  eucharist. 

f  There  appears  something  like  a  consciousness  about  Reinerius,  that  in  this 
monstrous  accusation  he  was  calumniating  the  Waldenses,  for  in  the  following 
words  he  qualifies  the  charge  by  describing  them  as  not  avowing  it.  The  read- 
er will  presently  see  their  sentiments  on  the  subject  of  marriage,  and  be  con- 
vinced of  the  foulness  of  this  slander.  I  shall,  therefore,  at  present,  only  quote 
from  their  own  apology  a  short  extract,  in  winch  they  repel  the  charge  of  coun- 
tenancing lasciviousness.  "It  was  tins  vice,"  say  they,  "that  led  David  to  pro- 
cure the  death  of  his  faithful  servant,  that  he  might  enjoy  his  wife — and  Ammon 
to  defile  his  sister  Tamar.  This  vice  consumes  the  estates  of  many,  as  it  is  said 
of  the  prodigal  son,  who  wasted  his  substance  in  riotous  living.  Balaam  made 
choice  of  this  vice  to  provoke  the  children  of  Israel  to  sin,  which  occasioned  the 
death  of  twenty -four  thousand  persons.  This  sin  was  the  occasion  of  Samson's 
losing  his  sight;  it  perverted  Solomon,  and  many  have  perished  through  the 
beauty  of  a  woman.  The  remedies  for  this  sin  are  fasting,  prayer,  and  keeping 
at  a  distance  from  it.  Other  vices  may  be  subdued  by  fighting;  in  this  we  con- 
quer by  flight;  of  which  we  have  an  example  in  Joseph." — Perrin's  Hist.  ch.  iv. 


320  History  of  the  Christian  Church. 

be  put  to  death  by  the  secular  power.  Some  of  them  hold  it  unlawful 
to  kill  brute  animals,  as  fishes,  or  the  like  ;  but  when  they  have  a 
mind  to  eat  them,  they  hang  them  over  the  fire  or  smoke  till  they  die. 
Fleas  and  such  sort  of  insects  they  shake  off  their  clothes,  or  else  dip 
their  clothes  in  hot  water,  supposing  them  thus  to  be  dead  of  them- 
selves.* Thus  they  cheat  their  own  consciences  in  this  and  other  ob- 
servances. From  whence  we  may  see,  that  having,  forsaken  truth, 
they  deceive  themselves  with  their  own  false  notions.  According 
to  them  there  is  no  purgatory,  and  all  that  die,  immediately  pass 
either  into  heaven  or  hell.  That  therefore  the  prayers  of  the  church 
for  the  dead  are  of  no  use,  because  those  that  are  in  heaven  do  not 
want  them,  nor  can  those  that  are  in  hell  be  relieved  by  them. 
And  from  thence  they  infer,  that  all  offerings  made  for  the  dead  are 
only  of  use  to  the  clergymen  that  eat  them,  and  not  to  the  deceased, 
who  are  incapable  of  being  profited  by  them.  They  hold,  that  the 
saints  in  heaven  do  not  hear  the  prayers  of  the  faithful,  nor  regard  the 
honours  which  are  done  to  them,  because  their  bodies  lie  dead  here 
beneath,  and  their  spirits  are  at  so  great  a  distance  from  us  in  heaven, 
that  they  can  neither  hear  our  prayers  nor  see  the  honours  which  we 
pay  them.  They  add,  that  the  saints  do  not  pray  for  us,  and  that 
therefore,  we  are  not  to  entreat  their  intercession,  because,  being 
swallowed  up  with  heavenly  joy,  they  cannot  attend  to  us,  nor  indeed 
to  any  thing  else.  Hence  they  deride  all  the  festivals  which  we  cele- 
brate in  honour  of  the  saints,  and  all  other  instances  of  our  veneration 
for  them.  Accordingly,  wherever  they  can  do  it,  they  secretly  work 
upon  holy  days,  arguing,  that  since  working  is  good,  it  cannot  be  evil 
to  do  that  which  is  good  on  a  holy  day.  They  do  not  observe  Lent, 
or  other  fasts  of  the  church,  alleging  that  God  does  not  delight  in  the 
afflictions  of  his  friends,  as  being  able  to  save  without  them.  Some 
heretics  indeed  afflict  themselves  with  fasting,  watchings,  and  the  like, 
because  without  these  they  cannot  obtain  the  reputation  of  being  holy 
among  the  simple  people,  nor  deceive  them  by  their  feigned  hypocrisy. 
They  do  not  receive  the  Old  Testament,  but  the  Gospel  only,  that  they 
may  not  be  overthrown  by  it,  but  rather  be  able  to  defend  themselves 
therewith  ;  pretending  that  upon  the  introduction  of  the  gospel  dispen- 
sation all  old  things  were  to  be  laid  aside.t  In  like  manner  they  se- 
lect the  choicest  sayings  and  authorities  of  the  holy  fathers,  such  as 
Augustine,  Jerome,  Gregory,  Chrysostom,  and  Isidore,  that  with  them 
they  may  support  their  opinions,  oppose  others,  or  the  more  easily 
seduce  the  simple,  by  varnishing  over  their  sacrilegious  doctrine  with 
the  good  sentences  of  the  saints,  at  the  same  time  very  quietly  passing 
over  those  parts  of  the  writings  of  the  holy  fathers  that  oppose  and 
confute  their  errors.  Such  as  are  teachable  and  eloquent  among  them, 
they  instruct  to  get  the  words  of  the  gospel,  as  well  as  the  sayings  of 

*  Many  will  think  that  Reinerius  must  have  been  at  great  loss  for  substantial 
grounds  of  accusation  against  the  Waldenses,  when  he  could  condescend  to  enu- 
merate such  childish  things  as  these. 

f  This  was  precisely  the  charge  which  was  brought  against  the  Paulicians  ; 
see  Note,  vol.  i.  ch.  iii.  sect.  4,  and  the  remarks  there  offered  upon  it. 


Albigenses  not  Manichaeans.  321 

the  apostles,  and  other  holy  men  by  heart,  that  they  may  be  able  to 
inform  others,  and  draw  in  believers,  beautifying  their  sect  with  the 
goodly  words  of  the  saints,  that  the  things  they  persuade  and  recom- 
mend may  pass  for  sound  and  wholesome  doctrine ; — thus  by  their 
soft  speeches  deceiving  the  hearts  of  the  simple.  And  not  only  the 
men,  but  even  their  women  also  teach*  amongst  them,  because  women 
have  an  easier  access  to  those  of  their  own  sex,  to  pervert  them,  that 
afterwards,  by  their  means,  the  men  may  be  perverted  also,  as  the 
serpent  deceived  Adam  by  means  of  Eve.  They  teach  their  disciples 
to  speak  in  dark  and  obscure  words,  and  instead  of  speaking  truth,  to 
endeavour  to  speak  lies ;  that  when  they  are  asked  about  one  thing, 
they  might  perversely  answer  about  another,  and  thus  craftily  deceive 
their  hearers,  especially  when  they  fear  that  by  confessing  the  truth, 
they  should  discover  their  errors.  In  the  same  dissembling  manner 
they  frequent  our  churches,  are  present  at  divine  service,  offer  at  the 
altar,  receive  the  sacrament,  confess  to  the  priests,  observe  the  church 
fasts,  celebrate  festivals,  and  receive  the  priest's  blessing,  reverently 
bowing  their  heads,  though  in  the  meantime  they  scoff  at  all  these  in- 
stitutions of  the  church,  looking  upon  them  as  profane  and  hurtful. 
They  say  it  is  sufficient  for  their  salvation  if  they  confess  to  God,  and 
not  to  man." 

Such  is  the  view  which  Reinerius  gave  of  the  principles  of  the  Wal- 
denses,  about  eighty  years  subsequent  to  the  times  of  Peter  Waldo ; 
and  we  must  understand  this  description  as  applicable  to  one  general 
class  of  Christians,  scattered  throughout  the  south  of  France,  the  valleys 
of  thePyrenean  mountains,  the  valleys  of  Piedmont,  and  the  country  of 
the  Milanese ;  though  probably  distinguished  in  different  places  by  the 
different  names  of  Puritans,  or  Catharists,  Paterines,  Arnoldists,  Leon- 
ists,  Albigenses,  or  Waldenses,  the  last  of  which  ultimately  became 
their  more  general  appellation.!  No  doubt  there  were  shades  of  dif- 
ference in  sentiment  among  them  on  points  of  minor  importance,  even 
as  there  are  among  Christians  in  the  present  day ;  and  it  is  very  certain 
that  the  Catholic  writers  sometimes  class  under  the  general  name  of 

*  The  reader  must  not  understand  the  teaching  here  alluded  to  as  referring 
to  public  teaching  in  the  church,  for  the  Waldenses  permitted  nothing  of  that 
kind  in  their  females,  and  the  Scriptures  pointedly  forbid  it:  but  he  refers  to 
their  mode  of  propagating  their  sentiments  by  conversation,  and  I  shall  have  an 
opportunity  of  showing,  in  a  future  section,  from  the  writings  of  this  same  Rei- 
nerius, the  very  simple  and  striking  manner  in  which  they  did  this. 

-j-  "Nothing  is  so  well  known  to  the  curious  in  these  matters,  as  the  following 
verses  upon  the  Vaudois  (  Waldenses)  in  the  year  1100  : — 

Que  non  vogli  maudir  ne  jura,  ne  mentir, 
N'occir,  ne  avoutrar,  ne  prenre  de  altrui, 
Ne  s'avengear  deli  suo  ennemi, 
Loz  dison  qu'  es  Vaudes  &  los  feson  morir. 


Whosoever  refuses  to  curse,  to  swear,  to  lie,  to  kill,  to  commit  adultery,  to  steal, 
to  be  revenged  of  his  enemy — they  say  he  is  a  Vaudois,  and  therefore  they  put 
him  to  death." 

Voltaire's  Gen.  History,  ch.  lxix. 


322  History  of  the  Christian  Church. 

Waldenses  or  Albigenses,  persons  whose  theological  sentiments  and  re- 
ligious practices  were  very  opposite  to  those  which  were  professed  by 
the  followers  of  Peter  Waldo.  "  The  practice  of  confounding  heretics 
of  all  kinds  in  one  common  herd,"  says  Mr.  Robinson,  "  hath  been  an 
ancient  custom  with  ecclesiastical  historians,  and  it  hath  obscured  his- 
tory."* This  is  a  very  just  remark,  and  the  reader  who  would  not  be 
imposed  upon  by  those  writers,  will  find  it  of  great  importance  to  at- 
tend to  it.  He  himself,  however,  tells  us  that  the  Albigenses  wereMa- 
nichaeans,t  or  nearly  so,  and  that  they  differed  from  the  Vaudois  and 
Waldenses.  That  individuals,  or  even  a  sect,  holding  those  wild  and 
extravagant  opinions,  may  have  existed  at  that  time,  and  been  classed 
by  the  Catholic  writers  under  the  head  of  Albigenses,  is  not  impossible, 
though  I  have  met  with  no  evidence  that  puts  the  fact  beyond  dispute; 
and  the  historians  of  the  latter  give  a  very  easy  and  natural  solution  of 
the  reason  of  their  being  accused  of  ManichaBism.  But,  whatever  may 
be  in  this,  the  following  facts  are  indisputable  ;  that  the  general  body  of 
the  Albigenses  received  the  doctrines  of  Peter  Waldo — that  these  doc- 
trines had  no  connection  with  Manichseism — and  that  the  Waldenses 
and  Albigenses  were  two  branches  of  the  same  sect,  inhabiting  different 
countries,  each  deriving  its  appellation  from  its  local  residence. 

*  Eccles.  Researches,  p.  463. 

f  The  sect  of  the  Manichzeans  derived  its  origin  from  a  person  of  the  name  of 
Manes,  or  Manichreus,  as  he  is  sometimes  called  by  his  disciples.  He  was  by- 
birth  a  Persian,  educated  among1  the  Magi,  and  himself  one  of  their  number  be- 
fore he  embraced  the  profession  of  Christianity,  about  the  end  of  the  third  cen- 
tury. His  doctrine  was  a  motley  mixture  of  the  tenets  of  Christianity,  with  the 
ancient  philosophy  of  the  Persians,  in  which  he  had  been  instructed  during  his 
youth.  The  following  view  of  his  system  is  given  by  Dr.  Mosheim,  Vol.  I.  Cent. 
iii.  ch.  v.  "  That  there  are  two  principles  from  which  all  things  proceed — the 
one  a  most  pure  and  subtle  matter,  called  Light,  the  other  a  gross  and  corrupt 
substance  called  Darkness.  The  being  who  presides  over  light  is  called  God — 
he  that  rules  the  land  of  darkness  bears  the  name  of  Hyle,  or  Demon.  The  ruler 
of  the  light  is  supremely  happy,  and  consequently  benevolent  and  good — the 
prince  of  darkness  is  unhappy  in  himself,  and  desiring  to  render  others  parta- 
kers of  his  misery,  is  evil  and  malignant.  These  two  beings  have  produced  an 
immense  multitude  of  creatures,  resembling  themselves,  whom  they  have  distri- 
buted through  their  respective  provinces.  He  held  that  Christ  is  that  glorious 
intelligence  whom  the  Persians  called  Mithras — a  splendid  substance,  endowed 
with  life,  and  having  his  residence  in  the  sun.  The  Holy  Ghost  a  luminous  and 
animated  body,  diffused  throughout  every  part  of  the  atmosphere  which  sur- 
rounds this  terrestrial  globe.  He  held  that  the  God  of  the  Jews  was  the  prince 
of  darkness — affirmed  that  the  Old  Testament  was  not  the  word  of  God,  but  of 
the  prince  of  darkness,  and  rejected  as  spurious  the  four  Gospels,  and  indeed 
most  of  the  canonical  Scriptures — maintained  the  transmigration  of  souls,"  &.C&.C 

It  is  really  surprising  that  Mr.  Robinson,  the  acute,  the  ingenious,  the  liberal- 
minded  Mr.  Robinson,  should  have  charged  the  Albigenses  with  adopting  this 
absurd  system,  without  producing  any  evidence  to  support  such  an  opinion. 
Few  writers  have  combated  the  foul  misrepresentations  of  the  Catholics  with 
more  zeal  and  success  than  he  has  done;  but  in  this  instance  he  has  joined  their 
senseless  clamour  against  the  Albigenses.  It  is  a  very  questionable  point, 
whether  the  sect  of  the  Manichreans  had  any  existence  at  the  period  of  which 
Mr.  R.  is  treating,  and  I  am  strongly  inclined  to  think  they  had  not,  at  least  in 
Europe.  But  even  though  that  could  be  proved,  I  may  venture  to  affirm  that 
it  was  utterly  out  of  the  power  of  Mr.  R.  or  any  other  person  to  produce  from 


Hit  Albigenses  not  Manichseans.  323 

In  the  sketch  which  Reinerius  has  furnished  of  the  principles  of  the 
Waldenses,  it  is  to  be  remarked,  that  there  is  not  the  slightest  allusion 
to  any  erroneous  opinions  maintained  by  them,  regarding  the  faith  and 
doctrines  of  the  gospel,  and  this  is  a  noble  testimony  to  the  soundness 
of  their  creed.  For  having  himself  been  connected  with  them, — a 
man  of  learning  and  talents,  he  doubtless  was  intimately  acquainted  with 
their  doctrinal  sentiments ;  and,  having  apostatized  from  their  profession 
and  become  their  determined  adversary,  he  did  not  want  inclination  to 
bring  forward  any  accusation  against  them  which  could  be  done  with 
the  smallest  regard  to  decency  on  his  own  part.  The  errors  of  which 
he  accuses  them  (a  few  instances  excepted,  and  on  which  they  repelled 
his  slanderous  charges)  are  such  as  no  protestant  dissenter  of  the  present 
day  would  shrink  from  the  odium  which  is  connected  with  holding, 
since  they  will  all  be  found  in  one  way  or  other  to  resolve  themselves 
into  the  unfounded  claims  of  the  clergy,  or  the  introduction  of  human 
traditions  and  the  basest  superstition  into  the  worship  of  God. 

It  will  be  recollected  that,  towards  the  close  of  the  former  section,  it 
was  stated  that  Peter  Waldo,  after  disseminating  his  doctrines  in  France 
and  Germany,  was  at  length  driven  into  Bohemia,  where  he  spent  the 
last  years  of  his  life  in  preaching  the  gospel,  which  he  did  with  the 
most  astonishing  success.  That  kingdom  comprehended  what  is  now 
included  in  the  duchy  of  Silesia,  and  the  marquisate  of  Moravia.  The 
country  is  about  three  hundred  miles  long,  and  two  hundred  and  fifty 
broad,  almost  wholly  surrounded  with  impenetrable  forests  and  lofty 
mountains.  The  soil,  where  it  is  cultivated,  is  fruitful,  and  yields  corn 
enough  for  the  use  of  its  inhabitants,  which  are  computed  at  three 
millions  in  number,  leaving  a  considerable  surplus  frequently  for  ex- 
portation. Its  pasture-lands  produce  abundance  of  cattle  particularly 
horses  fit  for  war.  They  have  inexhaustible  mines  of  gold,  silver, 
copper,  tin,  iron,  lead,  sulphur  and  nitre ;  and  their  carbuncles,  emeralds, 
and  other  precious  stones,  are  vended  all  over  Europe.  Crantz,  who 
wrote  the  history  of  the  Bohemian  brethren,  mentions  a  colony  of  Wal- 
denses as  obtaining  permission  to  settle  at  Saltz  and  Lun,  on  the  river 
Eger,  so  early  as  the  twelfth  century,  which  the  coincidence  of  time 
renders  it  highly  probable,  refers  to  the   persecuted  Waldo  and  his 

the  confessions,  catechisms,  testimonies,  or  conduct  of  the  Albigenses  the  least 
trace  of  Manichseism.  I  am  tempted  on  this  occasion  to  adopt  the  lofty  language 
of  Dr.  Allix,  when  defending  the  Piedmontese  Waldenses  from  the  same  charge 
brought  against  them  by  the  Catholic  bishop  Bossuet.  "I  defy  the  impudence 
.of  the  devil  himself,"  says  he,  "to  find  in  their  writings  the  least  shadow  of 
Manichxism." — Remarks,  ch.  17.  The  fact  is,  that,  on  this  subject,  the  Catho- 
lic writers  misled  Mosheim  and  Limborch;  and  these  latter  historians  have  mis- 
led Mr.  Robinson.  Indeed,  an  impartial  reader  will  easily  perceive  throughout 
this  gentleman's  account  of  "the  Valleys  of  Piedmont,"  in  his  Ecclesiastical  Re- 
searches, the  strongest  indications  of  a.  jaundiced  eye.  Speaking  of  Leger's  His- 
tory of  the  Waldenses,  he  adds,  "  Orthodoxy  is  proved  and  overproved  in  it,  for 
it  will  be  allowed  that  an  apostolical  church  with  the  Athanasian  creed  is  above 
par."  He  cannot  therefore  believe  that  the  Catholics  inflicted  upon  the  "  poor 
Waldenses,"  the  horrible  cruelties  which  are  detailed  by  Leger,  though  he  has 
no  difficulty  in  believing  them  to  have  inflicted  cruelties  full  as  great  upon 
others ! 


324  History  of  the  Christian  Church. 

brethren.  Certain  it  is,  that  his  labours  were  crowned  with  great  suc- 
cess in  that  country ;  and  we  have  two  noted  authors  who  have  left  us 
a  particular  account  of  the  faith  and  practices  of  the  Waldenses  in  Bo- 
hemia, during  the  fourteenth  century,  at  which  time  their  numbers  had 
increased  very  considerably,  and  they  had  to  sustain  the  fire  of  papal 
persecution.  The  first  is  an  inquisitor  of  the  church  of  Rome,  who 
says  "  Ae  had  exact  knowledge  of  the  Waldenses,"  at  whose  trials  he 
had  often  assisted,  in  several  countries.  The  other  is  ^Eneas  Sylvius, 
who  wrote  the  history  of  Bohemia,  and  afterwards  ascended  the  ponti- 
fical chair  with  the  title  of  pope  Pius  II.  Thus  writes  the  inquisitor 
concerning  the  Waldenses  of  Bohemia. 

The  first  error  of  the  Waldenses,  says  he,  is,  that  they  affirm  the 
church  of  Rome  is  not  the  church  of  Jesus  Christ,  but  an  assembly  of 
ungodly  men,  and  that  she  has  ceased  from  being  the  true  church,  from 
the  time  of  pope  Sylvester,  at  which  time  the  poison  of  temporal  ad- 
vantages was  cast  into  the  church — That  all  vices  and  sins  reign  in  that 
church,  and  that  they  alone  live  righteously — That  they  are  the  true 
church  of  Christ,  and  that  the  church  of  Rome  is  the  whore  mentioned 
in  the  Revelation.  They  despise  and  reject  all  the  ordinances  and 
statutes  of  the  church,  as  being  too  many  and  very  burdensome.  They 
insist  that  the  pope  is  the  head  and  leader  of  all  error — That  the  pre- 
lates are  the  scribes  and  seemingly  religious  Pharisees — That  the  popes 
and  their  bishops,  on  account  of  the  wars  they  foment,  are  murderers 
— That  our  obedience  is  due  to  God  alone,  and  not  to  prelates,  which 
they  found  on  Acts  iv.  9. — That  none  in  the  church  ought  to  be  greater 
than  their  brethren,  according  to  Matt.  xx.  25,  &c. — That  no  man 
ought  to  kneel  to  a  priest,  because  the  angel  said  to  John  (Rev.  xix. 
10.)  "  See  thou  do  it  not" — that  tithes  ought  not  to  be  given  to  priests, 
because  there  was  no  use  of  them  in  the  primitive  church — That  the 
clergy  ought  not  to  enjoy  any  temporal  possessions,  because  it  was 
said  in  the  law,  "  The  tribe  of  Levi  shall  have  no  inheritance  with  the 
children  of  Israel,  the  sacrifices  being  their  portion"  (Deut.  xviii.) — 
That  it  is  wrong  to  endow  and  found  churches  and  monasteries,  and 
that  nothing  ought  to  be  bequeathed  to  churches  by  way  of  legacy. 
They  condemn  the  clergy  for  their  idleness,  saying  they  ought  to  work 
with  their  hands  as  the  apostles  did.  They  reject  all  the  titles  of  pre- 
lates, as  pope,  bishop,  &c.  They  affirm  that  no  man  ought  to  be  forci- 
bly compelled  in  matters  of  faith.  They  condemn  all  ecclesiastical  of- 
fices, and  the  privileges  and  immunities  of  the  church,  and  all  persons 
and  things  belonging  to  it,  such  as  councils  and  synods,  parochial 
rights,  &c.  declaring  that  the  observances  of  the  religious  are  nothing 
else  than  pharisaical  traditions. 

As  to  the  second  class  of  their  errors — They  condemn  all  the  sacra- 
ments of  the  church.  Concerning  the  sacrament  of  baptism  they  say, 
that  the  catechism  signifies  nothing,  that  the  absolution  pronounced 
over  infants  avails  them  nothing — that  the  godfathers  and  godmothers 
do  not  understand  what  they  answer  the  priest.  That  the  oblation 
which  is  called  SI  wogen  is  nothing  but  a  mere  human  invention. 
They  reject  all  exorcisms  and  blessings.  Concerning  the  eucharist 
they  say,  that  a  wicked  priest  cannot  celebrate  that  sacrament — that 


Principles  of  the  Waldenscs.  325 

transubstantiation  is  not  performed  by  the  hands  of  him  who  celebrates 
unworthily,  and  that  it  (the  eucharist)  may  be  celebrated  on  our  com- 
mon tables,  alleging  for  this  the  words  of  Malachi  i.  11.     "  In  every 
place  shall  a  pure  offering  be  offered  to  my  name."     They  condemn 
the  custom  of  believers  communicating  no  more  than  once  a  year, 
whereas  they  communicate  daily.*     That  the  mass  signifies  nothing  : 
that  the  apostles  knew  nothing  of  it :  and  that  it  is  only  done  for  gain. 
They  reject  the  canon  of  the  mass,  and  only  make  use  of  the  words  of 
Christ  in  the  vulgar  tongue — affirming  that  the  offering  made  by  the 
priest  in  the  mass  is  of  no  value.     They  reject  the  kiss  of  peace,  that 
of  the  altar,  of  the  priest's  hands,  and  the  pope's  feet.     They  condemn 
marriage  as  a  sacrament,  saying,  that  those  that  enter  into  the  state  of 
marriage  without  hope  of  children,  are  guilty  of  sin.     They  have  no 
regard  to  the  degrees  of  carnal  or  spiritual  affinity  in  marriage   which 
the  church  observes,  nor  the  impediments  of  order  and  public  decency, 
or  to  the  prohibition  of  the  church  in  that  matter.     They  contend  that 
a  woman  after  child-birth  doth  not  stand  in  need  of  any  blessing  or 
churching.     That  it  was  an  error  of  the  church  to  forbid  the  clergy  to 
marry.     They  disallow  the  sacrament  of  extreme  unction — they  hold 
the  sacrament  of  different  orders  of  the  clergy  to  be  of  no  use,  every 
good  layman  being  a  priest,  and  the  apostles  themselves  being  all  lay- 
men.    That  the  preaching  of  a  wicked  priest  cannot  profit  any  body, 
and  that  which  is  uttered  in  the  Latin  tongue  can  be  of  no  use  to  those 
laymen  who  do  not  understand  it.  They  deride  the  tonsure  of  priests ; 
and  reproach  the  church  that  she  raiseth  bastards,  boys,  and  notorious 
sinners  to  high  ecclesiastical  dignities. — Whatsoever  is  preached  without 
scripture  proof,  they  account  no  better  than  fables.      They  hold  that 
the  Holy  Scripture  is  of  the  same  efficacy  in  the  vulgar  tongue  as  in 
Latin,   and  accordingly  they   communicate   and  administer  the  sacra- 
ments in  the  vulgar  tongue.    They  can  say  a  great  part  of  the  Old  and  | 
New  Testament  by  heart.       They  despise  the  decretals,  and  the  say- 
ings and  expositions  of  holy  men,  and  cleave  only  to  the  text  of  scrip- 
ture.    They  contemn  excommunication,  neither  do  they  value  absolu- 
tion, which  they  expect  alone  from  God.    They  reject  the  indulgences 
of  the   church,   and  deride  its  dispensations.     They  admit  none  for 
saints  except  the  apostles,  and  they  pray  to  no  saint.     They  contemn 
the  canonization,  translation,  and  vigils  of  the  saints.     They  laugh  at 
those  laymen  who  choose  themselves  saints  at  the  altar.     They  never 
read  the  liturgy.     They  give  no  credit  to   the  legends  of  the  saints, 
make  a  mock  of  the  saints'  miracles,  and  despise  their  relics.     They 
abhor  the  wood  of  the  cross,  because  of  Christ's  sufferings  on  it ;  nei- 
ther do  they  sign  themselves  with  it.     They  contend  that  the  doctrine 
of  Christ  and  his  apostles  is  sufficient  to  salvation  without  any  church 
statutes  and  ordinances,   and  affirm   that  the  traditions  of  the  church 
were  no  better  than  the  traditions  of  the  Pharisees — insisting,  more- 
over, that  greater  stress  is  laid  on  the  observation  of  human  tradition, 

*  I  suspect  this  should  have  been  every  Lord's  day,  or  first  day  of  the  week, 
for  it  is  certain  they  did  not  come  together  for  worship  every  day  ,■  nor  indeed 
was  the  thing  practicable. 

28 


326  History  of  the  Christian  Church. 

than  on  the  keeping  of  the  law  of  God.  They  refute  the  mystical 
sense  of  scripture,  especially  as  delivered  in  sayings  and  actions,  and 
published  by  the  church,  such  as  that  the  cock  upon  steeples  signifies 
the  pastor! 

Their  third  class  of  errors  is  as  follows.  They  contemn  all  approved 
ecclesiastical  customs  which  they  do  not  read  of  in  the  gospel,  such  as 
the  observation  of  Candlemas,  Palm-Sunday,  the  reconciliation  of  peni- 
tents, and  the  adoration  of  the  cross  on  Good-Friday.  They  despise 
the  feast  of  Easter,  and  all  other  festivals  of  Christ  and  the  saints,  and 
say  that  one  day  is  as  good  as  another,  working  upon  holy-days,  where 
they  can  do  it  without  being  taken  notice  of.  They  disregard  the 
church  fasts,  alleging  Isa.  lviii.  "  Is  this  the  fast  that  I  have  chosen?" 
They  deride  and  mock  at  all  dedications,  consecrations,  and  benedic- 
tions of  candles,  ashes,  palm-branches,  oil,  fire,  wax  candles,  Jignus 
BeVs,  churching  of  women,  strangers,  holy  places  and  persons,  vest- 
ments, salt  and  water.  They  look  upon  the  church  built  of  stone  to 
be  no  better  than  a  common  barn,  neither  do  they  believe  that  God 
dwells  there,  quoting  Acts  vii.  48.  "  God  doth  not  dwell  in  temples 
made  with  hands" — and  that  prayers  offered  up  in  them  are  of  no  more 
efficacy  than  those  which  we  offer  up  in  our  closets,  according  to  Matt. 
vi.  6.  "But  thou  when  thou  prayest,  enter  into  thy  closet."  They 
set  no  value  on  the  dedication  of  churches,  and  call  the  ornaments  of 
the  altar  "the  sin  of  the  church,"  saying,  that  it  would  be  much  better 
to  clothe  the  poor  than  to  decorate  walls.  Of  the  altar  they  say,  that 
it  is  wastefulness  to  let  so  much  cloth  lie  rotting  upon  stones  ;  and  that 
Christ  never  gave  to  his  disciples  vests,  or  rockets,  or  mitres.  They 
celebrate  the  eucharist  in  their  household  cups,  and  say  that  the  cor- 
poral, or  cloth  on  which  the  host  is  laid,  is  no  holier  than  the  cloth  of 
their  breeches.  Concerning  lights  used  in  the  church,  they  say  that 
God,  who  is  the  true  light,  stands  in  no  need  of  light,  and  that  it  can 
have  no  further  use  than  to  hinder  the  priests  from  stumbling  in  the 
dark.  They  reject  all  censings  ;  estimating  holy  water  no  better  than 
common  water.  The  images  and  pictures  in  the  church  they  pro- 
nounce to  be  idolatrous.  They  mock  at  the  singing  [chanting]  in 
churches,  saying  that  the  efficacy  is  in  the  words  and  not  in  the  music. 
They  deride  the  cries  of  the  laymen,  and  reject  all  festival  processions, 
as  those  of  Easter,  as  well  as  mournful  processions  at  Rogation-week 
and  at  funerals.  They  laugh  at  the  custom  of  bringing  sick  persons 
on  a  bench  before  the  altar.  They  dissuade  people  from  going  on  a 
pilgrimage  to  Rome,  and  other  places  beyond  sea,  though  they  them- 
selves pretend  to  go  on  pilgrimage,  whereas  it  is  only  with  a  design  to 
visit  their  bishops  who  live  in  Lombardy.  They  express  no  value  for 
the  Lord's  sepulchre,  nor  for  those  of  the  saints,  and  condemn  the  bu- 
rying in  churches,  which  they  found  on  Matt,  xxiii.  29.  "  Wo  unto 
you  Scribes  and  Pharisees,  because  ye  build  the  tombs,"  &c.  and . 
would  prefer  burying  in  the  field  to  the  chureh-yard,  were  they  not 
afraid  of  the  church.  They  maintain  that  the  offices  for  the  dead, 
masses  for  the  deceased,  offerings,  funeral  pomps,  last  wills,,  legacies, 
visiting  of  graves,  the  reading  of  vigils,  anniversary  masses,  and  simi- 
lar suffrages,  are  of  no  avail  to  departed  souls.     They  condemn  watch- 


Waldenses  of  Bohemia  described.  327 

ing  with  the  dead  by  night,  because  of  the  folly  and  wickedness  which 
are  practised  on  those  occasions. 

They  hold  all  these  errors  because  they  deny  purgatory,  saying  that 
there  are  only  two  ways,  the  one  of  the  elect  to  heaven,  the  other  of 
the  damned  to  hell,  according  to  Eccles.  xi.  3.  "  Which  way  soever 
the  tree  falleth  there  it  must  lie."  They  contend  that  a  good  man 
stands  in  no  need  of  intercessions,  and  that  they  cannot  profit  those 
that  are  wicked — That  all  sins  ara  mortal,  and  none  of  them  venial — 
That  once  praying  in  the  words  of  the  Lord's  prayer  is  of  more  effica- 
cy than  the  ringing  of  ten  bells,  yea,  than  the  mass  itself.  They  think 
that  all  swearing  is  sinful,  because  Christ  says,  Matt.  v.  34,  "  Swear 
not  at  all,  but  let  your  communication  be  yea,  yea,  nay,  nay."  They 
are  against  punishing  malefactors  with  death,  which  they  found  on 
Rom.  xii.  19.  "Vengeance  is  mine;  I  will  repay  it,  saith  the  Lord."* 
— Thus  far  the  testimony  of  this  inquisitor  ;  to  which  I  shall  now  sub- 
join the  short  account  which  the  celebrated  iEneas  Sylvius  gives  of 
the  Waldenses. of  Bohemia,  in  his  history  of  that  kingdom. 

They  hold,  says  he,  that  the  pope  of  Rome  is  not  superior  to  bi- 
shops, and  that  there  is  no  difference  (as  to  rank  or  dignity,)  for  that 
grace  and  virtue  alone  give  the  preference — That  the  souls  of  the  de- 
ceased are  either  immediately  plunged  into  hell,  or  advanced  to  eternal 
joys  [in  heaven.] — That  there  is  no  purgatory  fire — that  it  is  a  vain 
thing  to  pray  for  the  dead,  and  merely  an  invention  of  priestly  covet- 
ousness — That  the  images  of  God  and  of  the  saints  ought  to  be  de- 
stroyed— That  the  blessing  of  water  and  palm-branches  is  ridiculous — 
That  the  religion  of  the  Mendicants  [begging  Friars]  was  invented  by 
evil  spirits — That  priests  ought  to  be  poor,  and  content  themselves 
with  alms — That  every  one  has  liberty  to  preach  [or  instruct.] — No 
capital  sin  ought  to  be  tolerated  under  pretence  of  avoiding  a  greater 
evil — That  he  who  is  guilty  of  mortal  sin,  ought  not  to  enjoy  any  ec- 
clesiastical dignity — That  the  confirmation  which  is  celebrated  with 
anointing  and  extreme  unction,  is  none  of  the  sacraments  of  the  church 
of  Christ — That  auricular  confession  is  a  piece  of  foppery — that  every 
one  ought,  in  his  closet,  to  confess  his  sins  to  God — That  baptism 
ought  to  be  administered  without  the  addition  of  holy  oil — That  the 
use  of  church-yards  is  vain,  and  nothing  but  a  covetous  invention,  and 
that  it  signifies  nothing  in  what  ground  the  bodies  of  the  dead  are  laid 
— That  the  temple  of  the  great  God  is  the  universe,  and  that  to  build 
churches,  monasteries,  and  oratories  to  him  under  the  supposition  that 
the  divine  goodness  could  be  more  favourably  found  in  them  than  in 
other  places,  is  a  limiting  the  Divine  Majesty — That  the  priestly 
vestments,  altar,  ornaments,  pall,  corporals,  chalices,  patins,  and 
other  vessels  are  of  no  efficacy — That  it  is  vain  to  implore  the  suf- 
frages of  the  saints  reigning  with  Christ  in  heaven,  because  they  can- 
not help  us — That  it  is  to  no  purpose  to  spend  one's  time  in  singing 
and  saying  the  canonical  hours — That  we  are  to  cease  from  working 
on  no   day  except  the  Lord's  day — That  the  holidays  of  saints  are  to 

•  Hist.  Script.  Bohem.  p.  222.  et  seq.  in  Dr.   Alllx's  Remarks,  p.  211— 
219. 


328  History  of  the  Christian  Church. 

be  rejected,  and  that  there  is  no  merit  in  observing  the  fasts  instituted 
by  the  church.* 

Claudius  Seisselius,  was  archbishop  of  Turin,  towards  the  close  of 
the  fifteenth  century,  a  little  before  the  time  of  the  Reformation,  and 
wrote  a  treatise  against  the  Waldenses.  His  residence  in  the  very 
heart  of  the  valleys  of  Piedmont  must  have  furnished  him  with  the  best 
opportunities  of  becoming  acquainted  with  the  principles  and  practices 
of  his  non-conformist  neighbours,  and  he  has  transmitted  to  posterity 
a  narrative  sufficiently  circumstantial  and  explicit  to  enable  any  impar- 
tial person  to  form  a  tolerably  correct  judgment  of  them.  His  testimo- 
ny is  therefore,  of  too  much  importance  to  be  omitted  :  but  I  must  en- 
treat the  reader  to  bear  in  mind  that  it  is  the  testimony  of  an  adversa- 
ry, whose  papal  zeal  he  will  perceive  to  blaze  forth  against  them  occa- 
sionally with  no  little  fury.  Alluding  to  the  churches  of  the  Waldenses 
in  Piedmont,  and  those  scattered  throughout  the  diocese  of  Italy,  he 
tells  us,  that  the  most  cruel  persecutions  had  not  been  able  to  extirpate 
them,  or  hinder  them  from  a  constant  defence  of  that  doctrine  which 
they  had  received  from  their  ancestors.  "  All  sorts  of  people,"  says 
he,  "have  repeatedly  endeavoured,  but  in  vain,  to  root  them  out;  for 
even  yet,  contrary  to  the  opinion  of  all  men,  they  still  remain  con- 
querors, or  at  least  wholly  invincible."  He  then  proceeds  thus  to  de- 
scribe them.  "The  Pope  of  Rome,  and  the  rest  of  the  prelates  and 
priests  of  that  church,"  these  Waldenses  affirm,  "  neither  follow  the 
life  nor  the  precepts  of  Christ,  but  do  quite  the  contrary ;  and  that  not 
only  in  secret,  but  so  openly  and  manifestly  that  it  can  no  longer  be 
disguised,  because  they  chiefly  value  themselves  on  things  that  are 
contrary  to  religion,  and  not  only  contemn  but  even  mock  at  the  pre- 
cepts of  the  apostles.  The  latter  lived  in  great  poverty,  humility, 
chastity,  continence  as  to  carnal  things,  and  contempt  of  the  world; 
whereas  we  prelates  and  priests  live  in  great  pomp,  luxuriousness,  and 
dissoluteness.  We  think  it  a  brave  thing  to  excel  in  royal  power  ra- 
ther than  in  sacerdotal  sanctity  ;  and  all  our  endeavours  and  studies 
tend  only  to  the  acquisition  of  glory  amongst  men,  not  by  means  of 
virtue,  holiness,  and  learning,  but  by  the  abundance  of  all  [temporal] 
things;  by  arms  and  warlike  magnificence,  and  by  vast  expense  in 
equipage,  furniture  of  horses,  gold,  and  other  things  of  that  nature. 
The  apostles  would  not  possess  any  thing  as  their  own,  neither  would 
they  receive  any  into  their  society  who  had  not  forsaken  all  and  laid  it 
in  common  :  whereas  we,  not  contented  with  what  we  already  pos- 
sess, fish  for  other  people's  goods  more  greedily  and  impudently  than 
heathens  themselves.  Hence  it  is  that  we  make  wars,  and  incite 
Christian  princes  and  people  to  take  up  arms.  The  apostles  travelling 
through  towns  and  villages,  and  sowing  the  word  of  God  with  power, 
exercised  many  other  offices  of  charity,  according  to  the  several  gifts 
they  had  received  :  whereas  we,  not  only  do  nothing  like  this,  and 
give  no  good  examples  of  holy  conversation,  but  on  the  contrary  fre- 
quently resist  and  oppose  those  that  do,  thus  opening  the  way  to  all 
manner  of  dissoluteness  and  avarice.     They,  as  it  were,  against  their 

*  Hist.  Bohem.  p.  141.  abi  supra. 


Seisselius's  account  of  the  Waldenses.  329 

wills  and  with  reluctance,  by  the  divine  command  or  inspiration  of 
God,  received  ordination  to  promote  the  salvation  of  others  :  whereas 
we  buy  benefices  and  preferments  for  money,  or  procure  them  by  force, 
or  through  the  favour  of  princes  and  other  indirect  means,  merely  to 
satiate  our  lusts,  to  enrich  our  relations,  and  for  tbe  sake  of  worldly 
glory.  Moreover,  they  spent  their  lives  in  manifold  fastings,  watch- 
ings,  and  labours,  terrified  neither  by  trouble  nor  danger,  that  they 
might  show  to  others  the  way  of  salvation  :  whereas  we  pass  our  time 
in  idleness,  in  pleasures,  and  other  earthly  or  wicked  tilings.  They, 
despising  gold  and  silver,  as  they  had  freely  received  the  divine  grace, 
so  they  freely  dispensed  it  to  others  ;  whereas  we  set  all  holy  things 
to  sale,  and  barter  with  the  heavenly  treasures  of  God  himself,  and,  in 
a  word,  confound  all  things  both  divine  and  human.  So  that  the  church 
of  Rome  cannot  be  said  to  be  the  spouse  of  Christ,  but  that  common 
prostitute  described  by  Isaiah,  Jeremiah,  Ezekiel,  and  St.  John,  in  the 
Revelation,  in  such  lively  colours.  For  Christ  hath  joined  his  church 
to  him  to  be  his  bride,  holy,  pure,  fair,  adorned  with  the  ornaments 
and  jewels  of  every  virtue,  without  spot  or  wrinkle,  such  as  the  Holy 
Spirit  figuratively  describes  her  in  the  Canticles.  Far  be  it,  therefore, 
that  Christ  should  ever  think  of  changing  this  his  beautiful  and  loving 
bride  for  such  a  stinking,  loathsome  harlot." 

Further,  Seisselius  thus  proceeds.  "  We  do  not  deny,"  say  the 
Waldenses,  "  that  God  alone  is  the  searcher  of  hearts,  for,  as  the 
Scripture  saith,  '  He  searcheth  the  heart  and  trieth  the  reins  ;'  and 
therefore,  that  he  alone  knows  whether  the  works  of  men  are  pleasing 
unto  him  and  obtain  his  favour,  which  others  can  only  know  by  con- 
jecture. But  he  himself  hath  taught  us  how  to  form  our  judgment 
when  he  saith,  *  Ye  shall  know  them  by  their  fruits  ;  for  an  evil  tree 
cannot  bring  forth  good  fruit,  nor  a  good  tree  evil  fruit.'  Hence, 
though  it  be  a  difficult  thing  to  judge  of  good  works,  because  they  re- 
ceive their  value  from  the  intention  of  the  doer,  yet  wicked  works  dis- 
cover themselves,  and  the  intention  cannot  make  them  good,  especially 
when  they  are  open,  barefaced,  and  obviously  repugnant  to  the  law  of 
God.  Therefore,  if  I  see  the  bishops  and  priests  every  day  living  in 
dissoluteness  and  luxury,  robbing  others  of  their  goods,  smiting  their 
neighbours,  persecuting  those  that  are  good,  blaspheming  the  name  of 
God,  prodigally  wasting  the  patrimony  of  the  church  in  voluptuous- 
ness and  damnable  crimes,  may  I  not  undoubtedly  affirm,  that  they 
who  commit  these  things  are  not  the  ministers  of  God,  but  his  public 
and  avowed  enemies  ?  Surely  such  they  are,  though  we  should  sup- 
pose them  created  or  confirmed  by  an  universal  synod  of  Christians, 
or  by  the  pope,  or  by  Peter  himself.  But  how  much  more  may  we 
conclude  them  such,  when  those  that  ordained  them  are  worse  than 
themselves,  and  their  works  obviously  worse  than  theirs  ?  What  shall 
we  say,  if  it  appear  that  they  have  publicly  and  notoriously  bought  the 
papacy — that  they  openly  set  to  sale  sacerdotal  functions,  and  that  they 
set  over  the  churches,  not  by  mistake,  but  out  of  malice,  those  who 
are  known  to  be  wholly  unworthy  of  that  charge,  and  who  never  in 
all  their  lifetime  did  any  thing  worthy  either  of  a  priest,  or  even  of  a 
Christian?  Shall  we  obey  such  priests  and  prelates  who  lead  us  in  the 
28* 


330  History  of  the  Christian  Church. 

way  to  salvation  neither  by  word  or  work,  but  rather  endeavour  all 
they  can  to  drag  us  into  the  same  pit  of  destruction  as  themselves  ? 
Doth  not  our  Saviour  tell  us  that  we  must  not  suffer  ourselves  to  be  led 
by  blind  guides,  lest  when  one  blind  man  leads  another,  they  both  fall 
into  the  ditch  ?  Hath  he  not  declared  that  such  as  these  are  cut  off 
from  the  life  of  the  church  and  the  body  of  Christ,  and  destined  to  the 
fire  ?  How  can  he  be  the  vicegerent  of  Christ,  who  is  not  so  much  as 
a  Christian,  or  a  member  of  the  mystical  body  of  Christ,  but  whom 
he  commands  us  to  avoid  as  a  heathen  and  publican,  so  long  as  he  con- 
tinues incorrigible  ? 

"  The  apostolic  authority,  the  faith  of  Peter,  which  Christ  said 
should  not  fail  the  catholic  church,  and  with  which  church  he  pro- 
miseth  to  abide  for  ever,  is  to  be  found  amongst  us  who  walk  after  the 
example  of  the  apostles,  and  according  to  our  weak  measure,  observe 
the  commands  and  ordinances  they  have  given  us.  We  are  those  of 
whom  the  apostle  Paul  speaks  in  his  Epistle  to  the  Corinthians, 
'  Brethren  consider  your  calling,  that  ye  are  not  many  wise  men  after 
the  flesh,  not  many  mighty,  not  many  noble  ;  but  God  hath  chosen 
the  foolish  things  of  this  world  to  confound  the  wise  ;  and  the  weak 
things  of  this  world  to  confound  the  things  that  are  mighty  ;  and  the 
base  things  of  this  world,  and  things  that  are  despised,  yea,  and  the 
things  that  are  not,  to  bring  to  nought  the  things  that  are.'  And  the 
same  apostle  tells  us,  that  he  was  sent  to  preach  the  gospel,  not  in 
the  mightiness  of  man's  wisdom,  but  in  plainness  and  simplicity ;  al- 
leging to  this  purpose  what  the  Lord  saith  elsewhere,  "  I  will  destroy 
the  wisdom  of  the  wise,  and  will  bring  to  nought  the  prudence  of  the 
prudent.'  " 

Such  is  the  description  given  us,  by  the  archbishop  of  Turin,  of  the 
Waldenses  of  Piedmont,  before  Luther  was  born,  or  Calvin  thought  of, 
or  the  term  of  reformation  even  mentioned.  And  yet  the  Catholics 
have  had  the  effrontery  to  ask  us,  "Where  was  your  religion  before 
Luther?"  But  let  us  further  attend  to  the  account  which  he  gives  us 
of  the  articles  of  their  faith.     On  this  particular  he  thus  writes. 

"  They  receive  only  what  is  written  in  the  Old  and  New  Testa- 
ments. They  say  that  the  popes  of  Rome  and  other  priests  have  cor- 
rupted the  Scriptures  by  their  doctrines  and  glosses — that  they  owe 
neither  tithes  nor  first-fruits  to  the  clergy — that  the  consecration  of 
churches,  indulgences,  and  similar  benedictions,  are  the  inventions  of 
false  priests.  They  do  not  celebrate  the  festivals  of  the  saints.  They 
say  that  men  do  not  stand  in  need  of  the  suffrages  of  the  saints,  Christ 
abundantly  sufficing  in  all  things.  They  affirm  that  marriage  may  be 
contracted  in  any  degree,  excepting  only  one  or  two  at  the  most ;  as 
if  the  popes  had  no  power  to  prohibit  marriage  in  any  other  degree  ! 
They  say  that  whatever  is  done  to  deliver  the  souls  of  the  dead  from 
the  pains  of  purgatory  is  useless,  lost,  and  superstitious — that  our 
priests  have  not  the  power  of  forgiving  sins.  They  say  that  they 
alone  observe  the  evangelic  and  apostolic  doctrine,  on  which  account, 
by  an  intolerable  impudence,  they  usurp  the  name  of  the  catholic 
church  !  Their  barbs  [pastors]  do  greatly  err,"  saith  Seisselius,  "  be- 
cause they  are  neither  sent  of  God,  nor  by  the  pastors  of  the  [catholic] 


Seisselius's  account  of  the  TValdenses.  331 

church,  but  of  the  devil,  as  appears  from  their  damnable  doctrine. 
They  say  that  the  authority  of  hearing  confessions  belongs  to  all 
Christians  that  walk  according  to  the  apostolic  precepts  (which  their 
barbs  attribute  to  themselves)  because  the  apostle  James  saith,  '  Con- 
fess your  faults  one  to  another.'  They  say  that  we  ought  not  to  have 
any  kind  of  [set  form  of]  prayer,  except  it  appear  that  it  was  com- 
posed by  some  certain  [inspired]  author,  and  approved  of  God.  Their 
barbs  have  often  preached  this  doctrine  to  abolish  the  service  of  the 
glorious  "Virgin  and  of  other  saints.  They  do  not  think  that  Chris- 
tians ought  to  say  the  angelical  salutation  to  the  mother  of  God,  al- 
leging that  it  has  not  the  form  of  a  prayer,  but  a  salutation  :  but  that 
they  do  only  that  they  may  rob  the  Virgin  of  this  service,  saying,  that 
it  is  not  lawful  to  worship  or  serve  her  any  more  than  the  rest  of  the 
saints.  They  affirm  that  the  blessings  of  the  priests  are  of  no  virtue 
at  all.  Did  not  Christ  bless  the  bread  in  the  desert  ?  When  the  apos- 
tles sat  down  to  eat  bread,  they  blessed  what  was  set  upon  the  table. 
They  say  there  is  no  need  of  holy  water  in  the  churches,  because 
neither  Christ  nor  his  apostles  either  made  it  or  commanded  it:  as  if 
we  ought  to  say  or  do  nothing  but  what  we  read  was  done  by  them. 
They  say,  that  the  indulgences  allowed  of  by  the  church  are  despica- 
ble, useless  things — that  the  souls  of  the  dead,  without  being  tried  by 
any  purgation,  immediately  on  their  parting  from  the  body,  enter  into 
happiness  or  misery  ;  and  that  the  clergy,  blinded  by  their  covetous- 
ness,  have  invented  purgatory.  They  say  that  the  saints  cannot  take 
notice  of  what  is  done  here  below.  They  detest  and  abhor  all  images, 
and  the  sign  of  the  cross,  much  more  than  we  honour  them.  They 
make  no  distinction  between  the  worship  of  Latria,  which  is  due  to 
God  only,  and  that  of  Bulia,  which  belongs  to  the  saints.  As  to  the 
fasts  which  the  catholic  church  has  instituted  for  the  honour  of  God 
and  the  saints,  they  have  yet  less  reason  to  object  these  to  us.  They 
affirm  that  a  lie  is  always  a  mortal  sin,  because  David  says,  '  God 
shall  destroy  all  liars.'  "  And  as  to  transubstantiation  he  tells  us, 
"  that  the  Waldenses  made  a  mock  of  all  the  artifices  which  the  Catho- 
lics had  recourse  to  with  the  view  of  making  it  appear  to  them  more 
plausible."  Upon  this  part  of  their  conduct,  the  reflections  of  the 
learned  archbishop  are  sufficiently  pertinent  to  be  here  introduced.  "  I 
think,"  saith  he,  "  that  those  took  pains  to  little  purpose,  who,  when 
writing  against  this  sect,  made  it  their  chief  business  to  insist  upon  the 
difficulties  about  the  sacrament  of  the  eucharist,  and  who,  in  order  to 
clear  them,  have  spoken  so  sharply  and  subtilely,  not  to  say  confusedly, 
that  I  have  great  reason  to  doubt  whether  they  ever  understood  the 
thing  themselves.  Yet  I  will  not  say  that  because  I  do  not  myself 
comprehend  it,  (for  that  I  ingenuously  confess,)  I  think  it  also  to  sur- 
pass the  capacity  of  others  ;  but  because  it  has  always  appeared  to 
me  to  be  a  point  of  that  difficulty,  that  the  ablest  have  been  ready  to 
own  that  the  strength  of  human  understanding  must  in  this  case  be 
subject  to  faith." 


332  History  of  the  Christian  Church. 

SECTION  III. 

A  VIEW  OF  THE    DOCTRINAL    SENTIMENTS    AND    RELIGIOUS    PRACTICES    OF 
THE  AVALDENSES,  COLLECTED  FROM  THEIR  OWN  WRITINGS. 

Having  in  the  former  section  laid  before  the  reader  the  sentiments 
imputed  to  the  Waldenses  by  four  of  their  avowed  adversaries,  there 
can  be  no  reasonable  objection  to  our  now  permitting  them  to  make 
their  own  apology.  Their  historian,  John  Paul  Perrin,  in  his  "  His- 
toire  des  Vaudois,"  published  at  Geneva  in  1619,  has  furnished  us 
with  two  of  their  "  Confessions  of  Faith,''  of  which  the  following  are 
faithful  translations.  Sir  Samuel  Morland  has  fixed  the  date  of  the  first 
of  them  in  the  year  1120.* 

THE  CONFESSION  OF  FAITH  OF  THE  WALDENSES. 

1.  We  believe  and  firmly  maintain  all  that  is  contained  in  the 
twelve  articles  of  the  symbol,  commonly  called  the  apostles's  creed, 
and  we  regard  as  heretical  whatever  is  inconsistent  with  the  said 
twelve  articles. 

2.  We  believe  that  there  is  one  God, — the  Father,  Son,  and  Holy 
Spirit. 

3.  We  acknowledge  for  sacred  canonical  scriptures  the  books  of 
the  Holy  Bible.  (Here  follows  the  title  of  each,  exactly  conformable 
to  our  received  canon,  but  which  it  is  deemed,  on  that  account,  quite 
unnecessary  to  particularize.) 

4.  The  books  above-mentioned  teach  us — That  there  is  one  God, 
almighty,  unbounded  in  wisdom,  and  infinite  in  goodness,  and  who, 
in  his  goodness,  has  made  all  things.  For  he  created  Adam  after  his 
own  image  and  likeness.  But  through  the  enmity  of  the  devil,  and 
his  own  disobedience,  Adam  fell,  sin  entered  into  the  world,  and  we 
became  transgressors  in  and  by  Adam. 

5.  That  Christ  had  been  promised  to  the  fathers  who  received  the 
law,  to  the  end  that,  knowing  their  sin  by  the  law,  and  their  unrighte- 
ousness and  insufficiency,  they  might  desire  the  coming  of  Christ  to 
make  satisfaction  for  their  sins,  and  to  accomplish  the  law  by  him- 
self. 

6.  That  at  the  time  appointed  of  the  Father,  Christ  was  born — a 
time  when  iniquity  every  where  abounded,  to  make  it  manifest  that  it 
was  not  for  the  sake  of  any  good  in  ourselves,  for  all  were  sinners, 
but  that  He,  who  is  true,  might  display  his  grace  and  mercy  towards 
us. 

7.  That  Christ  is  our  life,  and  truth,  and  peace,  and  righteousness — 
our  shepherd  and  advocate,  our  sacrifice  and  priest,  who  died  for  the 
salvation  of  all  who  should  believe,  and  rose  again  for  their  justification. 

8.  And  we  also  firmly  believe,  that  there  is  no  other  mediator,  or 
advocate  with  God  the  Father,  but  Jesus  Christ.     And  as  to  the  Vir- 

*  Morland 's  History  of  the  Churches  of  Piedmont,  p.  30. 


Waldensian  Confession  of  Faith.  333 

gin  Mary,  she  was  holy,  humble,  and  full  of  grace;  and  this  we  also 
believe  concerning  all  other  saints,  namely,  that  they  are  waiting  in 
heaven  for  the  resurrection  of  their  bodies  at  the  day  of  judgment. 

9.  We  also  believe,  that,  after  this  life,  there  are  but  two  places — 
one  for  those  that  are  saved,  the  other  for  the  damned,  which  [two]  we 
call  paradise  and  hell,  wholly  denying  that  imaginary  purgatory  of  An- 
tichrist, invented  in  opposition  to  the  truth. 

10.  Moreover,  we  have  ever  regarded  all  the  inventions  of  men  (in 
the  affairs  of  religion)  as  an  unspeakable  abomination  before  God;  such 
as  the  festival  days  and  vigils  of  saints,  and  what  is  called  holy-water, 
the  abstaining  from  flesh  on  certain  days,  and  such  like  things,  but 
above  all,  the  masses. 

11.  We  hold  in  abhorrence  all  human  inventions,  as  proceeding  from 
Antichrist,  which  produce  distress,*  and  are  prejudicial  to  the  liberty 
of  the  mind. 

12.  We  consider  the  Sacraments  as  signs  of  holy  things,  or  as  the 
visible  emblems  of  invisible  blessings.  We  regard  it  as  proper  and 
even  necessary  that  believers  use  these  symbols  or  visible  forms  when 
it  can  be  done.  Notwithstanding  which,  we  maintain  that  believers 
may  be  saved  without  these  signs,  when  they  have  neither  place  nor 
opportunity  of  observing  them. 

13.  We  acknowledge  no  sacraments  (as  of  divine  appointment)  but 
baptism  and  the  Lord's  supper. 

14.  We  honour  the  secular  powers,  with  subjection,  obedience, 
promptitude,  and  payment.! 

ANOTHER  CONFESSION  OF  FAITH. 

The  Centuriators  of  Magdeburgh,  in  their  History  of  the  Christian 
Church,  under  the  ttvelfth  century,  recite  from  an  old  manuscript  the 
following  epitome  of  the  opinions  of  the  Waldenses  of  that  age. 

In  articles  of  faith  the  authority  of  the  Holy  Scriptures  is  the  high- 
est; and  for  that  reason  it  is  the  standard  of  judging;  so  that  whatso- 
ever doth  not  agree  with  the  word  of  God,  is  deservedly  to  be  rejected 
and  avoided. 

The  decrees  of  Fathers  and  Councils  are  [only]  so  far  to  be  approved 
as  they  agree  with  the  word  of  God. 

The  reading  and  knowledge  of  the  Holy  Scriptures  is  open  to,  and  is 
necessary  for  all  men,  the  laity  as  well  as  the  clergy ;  and  moreover 
the  writings  of  the  prophets  and  apostles  are  to  be  read  rather  than  the 
comments  of  men. 

The  sacraments  of  the  church  of  Christ  are  two',  baptism  and  the 
Lord's  supper :  and  in  the  latter,  Christ  has  instituted  the  receiving  in 
both  kinds,  both  for  priests  and  people. 

Masses  are  impious  ;  and  it  is  madness  to  say  masses  for  the  dead. 

*  Alluding'  probably  to  the  voluntary  penances  and  mortification  imposed  by 
the  Catholics  on  themselves. 

f  Perrin's  Hist,  des  Vaudois,  ch.  xii. 


334  History  of  the  Christian  Church. 

Purgatory  is  the  invention  of  men ;  for  they  who  believe  go  into 
eternal  life  ;  they  who  believe  not,  into  eternal  damnation. 

The  invoking  and  worshipping  of  dead  saints  is  idolatry. 

The  church  of  Rome  is  the  whore  of  Babylon. 

We  must  not  obey  the  pope  and  bishops,  because  they  are  the 
wolves  of  the  church  of  Christ. 

The  pope  hath  not  the  primacy  over  all  the  churches  of  Christ ; 
neither  hath  he  the  power  of  both  swords. 

That  is  the  church  of  Christ,  which  hears  the  pure  doctrine  of 
Christ,  and  observes  the  ordinances  instituted  by  him,  in  whatsoever 
place  it  exists. 

Vows  of  celibacy  are  the  inventions  of  men,  and  productive  of  un- 
cleanness. 

So  many  orders  [of  the  clergy,]  so  many  marks  of  the  beast. 

Monkery  is  a  filthy  carcass. 

So  many  superstitious  dedications  of  churches,  commemorations  of 
the  dead,  benedictions  of  creatures,  pilgrimages,  so  many  forced  fast- 
ings, so  many  superfluous  festivals,  those  perpetual  bellowings,  [allud- 
ing to  the  practice  of  chanting]  and  the  observations  of  various  other 
ceremonies,  manifestly  obstructing  the  teaching  and  learning  of  the 
word,  are  diabolical  inventions. 

The  marriage  of  priests  is  both  lawful  and  necessary. 

About  the  time  of  the  Reformation,  the  Waldenses  who  resided  in 
the  South  of  France,  and  who  of  course  were  subjects  of  the  French 
king,  were  persecuted  with  the  most  sanguinary  severity,  particularly 
those  resident  in  the  country  of  Provence.  In  the  year  1540,  the  par- 
liament of  Aix,  the  chief  judicature  of  the  province,  passed  a  law,  that 
"  they  should  all  of  them  promiscuously  be  destroyed,  that  their  houses 
should  be  pulled  down,  the  town  of  Merindole  be  levelled  with  the 
ground,  all  the  trees  cut  down,  and  the  country  adjacent  converted  into 
a  desert."  Voltaire,  speaking  of  this  cruel  decree,  says,  "  The  Wal- 
denses, terrified  at  this  sentence,  sent  a  deputation  to  cardinal  Sadole- 
tus,  bishop  of  Carpentras,  who  at  that  time  was  in  his  diocese.  This 
illustrious  scholar,  this  true  philosopher,  this  humane  and  compassion- 
ate prelate,  received  them  with  great  goodness,  and  interceded  in  their 
behalf,  and  the  execution  of  the  sentence  was  for  a  time  suspended."* 
The  sentence,  nevertheless,  was  executed  in  all  its  rigour  five  years 
afterwards,  as  will  be  related  in  a  future  section.  In  the  preceding  year, 
however,  (1544)  as  we  are  informed  by  Sleiden,  in  his  history  of  the 
Reformation,  p.  347,  the  Waldenses,  to  remove  the  prejudices  that 
were  entertained  against  them,  and  to  manifest  their  innocence,  trans- 
mitted to  the  king,  in  writing,  the  following  confession  of  their  faith. 

THIRD  CONFESSION. 

1.  We  believe  that  there  is  but  one  God,  who  is  a  Spirit — the  Creator 
of  all  things — the  Father  of  all,  who  is  above  all,  and  through  all,  and 

*  Voltaire's  Univ.  Hist.  ch.  cxvi. 


Waldensian  Confession  of  Faith.  335 

in  us  all;  who  is  to  be  worshipped  in  spirit  and  in  truth — upon  whom 
we  are  continually  dependent,  and  to  whom  we  ascribe  praise  for  our 
life,  food,  raiment,  health,  sickness,  prosperity,  and  adversity.  We  love 
him  as  the  source  of  all  goodness ;  and  reverence  him  as  that  sublime 
being,  who  searches  the  reins  and  trieth  the  hearts  of  the  children  of 
men. 

2.  We  believe  that  Jesus  Christ  is  the  Son  and  image  of  the  Father 
— that  in  Him  all  the  fulness  of  the  Godhead  dwells,  and  that  by  Him 
alone  we  know  the  Father.  He  is  our  Mediator  and  advocate ;  nor  is 
there  any  other  name  given  under  heaven  by  which  we  can  be  saved. 
In  His  name  alone  we  call  upon  the  Father,  using  no  other  prayers 
than  those  contained  in  the  Holy  Scriptures,  or  such  as  are  in  substance 
agreeable  thereunto. 

3.  We  believe  in  the  Holy  Spirit  as  the  Comforter,  proceeding  from 
the  Father,  and  from  the  Son;  by  whose  inspiration  we  are  taught  to 
pray  ;  being  by  Him  renewed  in  the  spirit  of  our  minds  ;  who  creates 
us  anew  unto  good  works,  and  from  whom  we  receive  the  knowledge 
of  the  truth. 

4.  We  believe  that  there  is  one  holy  church,  comprising  the  whole 
assembly  of  the  elect  and  faithful,  that  have  existed  from  the  beginning 
of  the  world,  or  that  shall  be  to  the  end  thereof.  Of  this  church  the 
Lord  Jesus  Christ  is  the  head — it  is  governed  by  his  word  and  guided 
by  the  Holy  Spirit.  In  the  church  it  behoves  all  Christians  to  have 
fellowship.  For  her  He  [Christ]  prays  incessantly,  and  his  prayer 
for  it  is  most  acceptable  to  God,  without  which  indeed  there  could  be 
no  salvation. 

5.  We  hold  that  the  ministers  of  the  church  ought  to  be  unblamable 
both  in  life  and  doctrine ;  and  if  found  otherwise,  that  they  ought  to  be 
deposed  from  their  office,  and  others  substituted  in  their  stead  ;  and  that 
no  person  ought  to  presume  to  take  that  honour  unto  himself  but  he 
who  is  called  of  God  as  was  Aaron — that  the  duties  of  such  are  to  feed 
the  flock  of  God,  not  for  filthy  lucre's  sake,  or  as  having  dominion  over 
God's  heritage,  but  as  being  examples  to  the  flock,  in  word,  in  con- 
versation, in  charity,  in  faith,  and  in  chastity. 

6.  We  acknowledge,  that  kings,  princes,  and  governors,  are  the  ap- 
pointed and  established  ministers  of  God,  whom  we  are  bound  to  obey  [in 
all  lawful  and  civil  concerns.]  For  they  bear  the  sword  for  the  defence 
of  the  innocent,  and  the  punishment  of  evil  doers  ;  for  which  reason  we 
are  bound  to  honour  and  pay  them  tribute.  From  this  power  and 
authority,  no  man  can  exempt  himself,  as  is  manifest  from  the  example 
of  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ,  who  voluntarily  paid  tribute,  not  taking  upon 
himself  any  jurisdiction  of  temporal  power. 

7.  We  believe  that  in  the  ordinance  of  baptism  the  water  is  the 
visible  and  external  sign,  which  represents  to  us  that  which,  by  virtue 
of  God's  invisible  operation,  is  within  us — namely,  the  renovation  of 
our  minds,  and  the  mortification  of  our  members  through  [the  faith  of] 
Jesus  Christ.  And  by  this  ordinance  we  are  received  into  the  holy 
congregation  of  God's  people,  previously  professing  and  declaring  our 
faith  and  change  of  life. 

8.  We   hold  that  the  Lord's  supper  is  a  commemoration  of,  and 


336  History  of  the  Christian  Church. 

thanksgiving  for,  the  benefits  which  we  have  received  by  his  sufferings 
and  death — and  that  it  is  to  be  received  in  faith  and  love — examining 
ourselves,  that  so  we  may  eat  of  that  bread  and  drink  of  that  cup,  as  it 
is  written  in  the  Holy  Scriptures. 

9.  We  maintain  that  marriage  was  instituted  of  God — that  it  is  holy 
and  honourable,  and  ought  to  be  forbidden  to  none,  provided  there  be 
no  obstacle  from  the  divine  word. 

10.  We  contend,  that  all  those  in  whom  the  fear  of  God  dwells,  will 
thereby  be  led  to  please  him,  and  to  abound  with  the  good  works  [of 
the  gospel]  which  God  hath  before  ordained  that  we  should  walk  in 
them — which  are  love,  joy,  peace,  patience,  kindness,  goodness,  gen- 
tleness, sobriety,  and  the  other  good  works  enforced  in  the  Holy  Scrip- 
tures. 

11.  On  the  other  hand,  we  confess  that  we  consider  it  to  be  our  duty 
to  beware  of  false  teachers,  whose  object  is  to  divert  the  minds  of  men 
from  the  true  worship  of  God,  and  to  lead  them  to  place  their  confidence 
in  the  creature,  as  well  as  to  depart  from  the  good  works  of  the  gospel, 
and  to  regard  the  inventions  of  men. 

12.  We  take  the  Old  and  the  New  Testament  for  the  rule  of  our  life, 
and  we  agree  with  the  general  confession  of  faith  contained  in  [what 
is  usually  termed]  the  apostles'  creed.* 

Amongst  the  writings  of  the  ancient  Waldenses  that  have  reached 
our  times,  is  "  A  Treatise  concerning  Antichrist,  Purgatory,  the  Invo- 
cation of  Saints,  and  the  Sacraments."!  Their  historian,  John  Paul 
Perrin,  to  whom  we  are  indebted  for  rescuing  it  from  oblivion,  informs 
us  that  the  original  manuscript,  in  which  are  also  many  sermons  by 
their  pastors,  bears  date,  A.  D.  1120;  which  is  nearly  half  a  century 
before  the  time  of  Peter  Waldo,  and  about  the  period  when  Peter  de 
Bruys  was  discharging  his  ministry  in  France.  The  treatise  has  in- 
deed been  attributed,  and  not  without  probability,  to  the  pen  of  Peter 
de  Bruys.  Perrin  says,  it  was  carefully  preserved  among  the  inhabi- 
tants of  the  Alps,  from  whence  he  procured  it.  If  we  could  depend 
with  certainty  upon  the  correctness  of  the  date  of  this  manuscript,  it 
would  be  a  very  important  document  in  the  history  of  the  Waldensian 
churches,  because  it  bears  internal  evidence  of  having  been  written  for 
the  express  purpose  of  exhibiting  a  public  declaration  of  their  reasons 
for  separating  from  the  communion  of  the  church  of  Rome,  and  conse- 
quently it  would  throw  much  light  upon  the  question  of  their  antiquity. 
But  it  is  proper  to  apprize  the  reader  of  one  circumstance  attending  it, 
which  ought  to  excite  a  doubt  upon  the  subject ;  and  that  is,  that  the 
Scriptures  are  quoted  in  it  as  divided  into  chapters  and  verses,  which 
we  know  was  not  done  until  after  the  middle  of  the  thirteenth  century.J 

*   See  Perrin's  Hist,  des  Vaudois,  ch.  xiii. 

-j-  This  is  the  work  to  which  the  late  Bishop  Hurd  refers  us,  in  his  "  Introduc- 
tory Sermons  on  the  Study  of  the  Prophecies,"  vol.  ii.  p.  30.  Ser.  7.  note  (t,) 
where  he  says,  "  In  this  (twelfth  century)  was  composed  a  very  remarkable  tract 
on  the  subject  of  Antichrist,  which  may  be  seen  in  Mede's  Works,  p.  721." 

i  Mr.  Milner  has  overlooked  this  circumstance  altogether,  and  reasons  from 
this  Treatise  in  behalf  of  the  antiquity  of  those  churches,  as  though  the  date  it 
bears  was  unquestionable.     See  his  History,  vol.  iii.  p.  477. 


Waldensian  description  of  Antichrist.  337 

If,  therefore,  the  original  was  written  at  the  period  fixed  hy  Perrin,  the 
chapters  must  have  been  added  by  a  copyist.  The  treatise,  neverthe- 
less, whensoever  written,  is  very  interesting,  and  though  the  whole  of 
it  be  too  long  for  insertion,  I  shall  submit  to  the  reader  a  few  extracts. 
Thus  it  describes  Antichrist : — 

"  Antichrist  is  a  falsehood,  or  deceit  varnished  over  with  the  sem- 
blance of  truth,  and  of  the  righteousness  of  Christ  and  his  spouse,  yet 
in  opposition  to  the  way  of  truth,  righteousness,  faith,  hope,  charity, 
as  well  as  to  moral  life.  It  is  not  any  particular  person  ordained  to 
any  degree,  or  office,  or  ministry,  but  it  is  a  system  of  falsehood,  op- 
posing itself  to  the  truth,  covering  and  adorning  itself  with  a  show  of 
beauty  and  piety,  yet  very  unsuitable  to  the  church  of  Christ,  as  by 
the  names,  and  offices,  the  Scriptures,  and  the  sacraments,  and  various 
other  things,  may  appear.  The  system  of  iniquity  thus  completed 
with  its  ministers,  great  and  small,  supported  by  those  who  are  induced 
to  follow  it  with  an  evil  heart  and  blind-fold — this  is  the  congregation, 
which,  taken  together,  comprises  what  is  called  Antichrist  or  Babylon, 
the  fourth  beast,  the  whore,  the  man  of  sin,  the  son  of  perdition.  His 
ministers  are  called  false  prophets,  lying  teachers,  the  ministers  of  dark- 
ness, the  spirit  of  error,  the  apocalyptic  whore,  the  mother  of  harlots, 
clouds  without  water,  trees  without  leaves,  twice  dead,  plucked  up  by 
the  roots,  wandering  stars,  Balaamites  and  Egyptians. 

"  He  is  termed  Antichrist,  because  being  disguised  under  the  names 
of  Christ  and  of  his  church  and  faithful  members,  he  oppugns  the  sal- 
vation which  Christ  wrought  out,  and  which  is  truly  administered  in 
his  church — and  of  which  salvation  believers  participate  by  faith,  hope, 
and  charity.  Thus  he  opposes  the  truth  by  the  wisdom  of  this  world, 
by  false  religion,  by  counterfeit  holiness,  by  ecclesiastical  power,  by 
secular  tyranny,  and  by  the  riches,  honours,  dignities,  with  the  pleasures 
and  delicacies  of  this  world.  It  should  therefore  be  carefully  observed, 
that  Antichrist  could  not  come,  without  a  concurrence  of  all  these  things, 
making  up  a  system  of  hypocrisy  and  falsehood — these  must  be,  the 
wise  of  this  world,  the  religious  orders,  the  pharisees,  ministers,  and 
doctors;  the  secular  power,  with  the  people  of  the  world,  all  mingled 
together.  For  although  Antichrist  was  conceived  in  the  times  of  the 
apostles,  he  was  then  in  his  infancy,  imperfect  and  unformed,  rude, 
unshapen,  and  wanting  utterance.  He  then  wanted  those  hypocritical 
ministers  and  human  ordinances,  and  the  outward  show  of  religious 
orders  which  he  afterwards  obtained.  As  he  was  destitute  of  riches 
and  other  endowments  necessary  to  allure  to  himself  ministers  for  his 
service,  and  to  enable  him  to  multiply,  defend,  and  protect  his  adherents, 
so  he  also  wanted  the  secular  power  to  force  others  to  forsake  the  truth 
and  embrace  falsehood.  But  growing  up  in  his  members,  that  is,  in 
his  blind  and  dissembling  ministers,  and  in  worldly  subjects,  he  at 
length  arrived  at  full  maturity,  when  men,  whose  hearts  were  set  upon 
this  world,  blind  in  the  faith,  multiplied  in  the  church,  and  by  the  union 
of  church  and  state,  got  the  power  of  both  into  their  hands. 

"  Christ  never  had  an  enemy  like  this ;  so  able  to  pervert  the  way  of 
truth  into  falsehood,  insomuch  that  the  true  church,  with  her  children, 
is  trodden  under  foot.     The  worship  that  belongs  alone  to  God  he 
29 


338  History  of  the  Christian  Church. 

transfers  to  Antichrist  himself — to  the  creature,  male  and  female,  de- 
ceased— -to  images,  carcasses,  and  relics.  The  sacrament  of  the  eucha- 
rist  is  converted  into  an  ohject  of  adoration,  and  the  worshipping  of  God 
alone  is  prohibited.  He  robs  the  Saviour  of  his  merits,  and  the  suffi- 
ciency of  his  grace  in  justification,  regeneration,  remission  of  sins,  sanc- 
tification,  establishment  in  the  faith,  and  spiritual  nourishment ;  ascrib- 
ing all  these  things  to  his  own  authority,  to  a  form  of  words,  to  his  own 
works,  to  the  intercession  of  saints,  and  to  the  fire  of  purgatory.  He 
seduces  the  people  from  Christ,  drawing  off  their  minds  from  seeking 
those  blessings  in  him,  by  a  lively  faith  in  God,  in  Jesus  Christ,  and 
in  the  Holy  Spirit,  and  teaching  his  followers  to  expect  them  by  the 
will  and  pleasure  and  works  of  Antichrist. 

He  teaches  to  baptize  children  into  the  faith,  and  attributes  to  this 
the  work  of  regeneration  ;  thus  confounding  the  work  of  the  Holy  Spi- 
rit in  regeneration,  with  the  external  rite  of  baptism,  and  on  this  foun- 
dation bestows  orders,  and  indeed  grounds  all  his  Christianity.  He 
places  all  religion  and  holiness  in  going  to  mass,  and  has  mingled  toge- 
ther all  description  of  ceremonies,  Jewish,  Heathen,  and  Christian ; 
and  by  means  thereof/the  people  are  deprived  of  spiritual  food,  seduced 
from  the  true  religion  and  the  commandments  of  God,  and  established 
in  vain  and  presumptuous  hopes.  All  his  works  are  done  to  be  seen 
of  men,  that  he  may  glut  himself  with  insatiable  avarice;  and  hence 
every  thing  is  set  to  sale.  He  allows  of  open  sins,  without  ecclesiasti- 
cal censure,  and  even  the  impenitent  are  not  excommunicated.  He 
does  not  govern,  nor  does  he  maintain  his  unity  by  the  Holy  Spirit, 
but  by  means  of  the  secular  power,  making  use  of  the  same  to  effect 
spiritual  matters.  He  hates,  and  persecutes,  and  searches  after,  and 
plunders,  and  destroys  the  members  of  Christ.  These  are  some  of  the 
principal  of  the  works  of  Antichrist  against  the  truth,  but  the  whole  are 
past  numbering  or  recording. 

On  the  other  hand,  he  makes  use  of  an  outward  confession  of  faith; 
and  therein  is  verified  the  saying  of  the  apostle — "  They  profess  in 
words  that  they  know  God,  but  in  works  they  deny  him."  He  covers 
his  iniquity  by  pleading  the  length  of  his  duration,  or  succession  of 
time,  and  the  multitudes  of  his  followers — concerning  whom  it  is  said 
in  the  Revelation,  that  "power  is  given  him  over  every  tribe,  lan- 
guage, and  nation,  and  all  that  dwell  on  the  earth  shall  worship  him." 
He  covers  his  iniquity  by  pleading  the  spiritual  authority  of  the  apos- 
tles, though  the  apostle  expressly  says,  "  We  can  do  nothing  against 
the  truth" — and  "  there  is  no  power  given  us  for  destruction."  He 
boasts  of  numerous  miracles,  even  as  the  apostle  foretold — "Whose 
coming  is  after  the  working  of  Satan,  with  all  miracles  and  signs,  and 
lying  wonders,  and  with  all  deceivableness  of  unrighteousness."  He 
has  an  outward  show  of  holiness,  consisting  in  prayers,  fastings,  watch- 
ings,  and  alms-deeds,  of  which  the  apostle  testified,  when  he  said, 
"  Having  a  form  of  godliness,  but  denying  the  power  thereof." 

Thus  it  is  that  Antichrist  covers  his  lying  wickedness  as  with  a 
cloak  or  garment,  that  he  may  not  be  rejected  as  a  pagan  or  infidel, 
and  under  which  disguise  he  can  go  on  practising  his  villanies  boldly, 
and  like  a  harlot.     But  it  is  plain  from  both  the  Old  and  New  Testa- 


How  the  Waldenses  described  Antichrist.  339 

merits,  that  a  Christian  stands  bound  by  express  command  to  separate 
himself  from  Antichrist.  [Here  the  following  scriptures  are  quoted  at 
large  from  the  Old  Testament,  Isa.  Hi.  11,  12.  Jer.  1.  8.  Numb.  xvi. 
21.  and  ver.6.  Lev.  xx.  24 — 27.  Exod.  xxxiv.  12,  15.  Lev.  xv.  31. 
Ezek.  ii.  Deut.  xx.]  Now  it  is  manifest  from  the  New  Testament, 
John  xii.  that  the  Lord  is  come,  and  hath  suffered  death  that  he  might 
gather  together  in  one  the  children  of  God;  and  it  is  on  account  of  this 
unity  in  the  truth,  and  their  separation  from  others,  that  it  is  said  in 
Matt.  x.  "  I  am  come  to  separate  a  man  from  his  father,  and  to  set  the 
daughter  against  the  mother,  and  the  daughter-in-law  against  her  moth- 
er-in-law, and  those  of  a  man's  own  household  shall  be  his  enemies." 
Christ  hath  enjoined  this  separation  upon  his  disciples,  when  he  said, 
"  Whosoever  doth  not  forsake  father  and  mother,  &c.  cannot  be  my 
disciple."  And  again,  "Beware  of  false  prophets,  which  come  unto 
you  in  sheep's  clothing."  Again,  "  Beware  of  the  leaven  of  the  Pha- 
risees— and  take  heed  lest  any  man  seduce  you,  for  many  shall  come 
in  my  name  and  seduce  many."  And  in  the  book  of  the  Revelation  he 
warns  by  his  own  voice,  and  charges  his  people  to  go  out  of  Babylon, 
saying,  "  Come  out  of  her,  my  people,  and  be  not  partakers  of  her  sins, 
that  ye  receive  not  of  her  plagues  ;  for  her  sins  are  come  up  unto  hea- 
ven, and  the  Lord  remembereth  her  iniquity."  The  apostle  says  the 
same.  "  Have  no  fellowship  with  unbelievers,  for  what  communion 
hath  righteousness  with  iniquity,  or  what  agreement  hath  light  with 
darkness,  or  what  concord  hath  Christ  with  the  devil,  or  what  part  hath 
a  believer  with  an  infidel,  or  the  temple  of  God  with  idols  ?  Where- 
fore, come  out  from  among  them,  and  be  ye  separate,  saith  the  Lord, 
and  touch  no  unclean  thing,  and  I  will  receive  you,  and  be  a  father 
unto  you,  and  ye  shall  be  my  sons  and  daughters,  saith  the  Lord 
Almighty." 

From  what  has  been  said,  we  may  learn  wherein  consist  the  per- 
verseness  and  wickedness  of  Antichrist,  and  that  God  commands  his 
people  to  separate  from  him,  and  to  join  themselves  to  the  holy  city, 
Jerusalem.  And  since  it  hath  pleased  God  to  make  known  these 
things  to  us  by  his  servants,  believing  it  to  be  his  revealed  will,  accord- 
ing to  the  Holy  Scriptures,  and  admonished  thereto  by  the  command 
of  the  Lord,  we  do,  both  inwardly  and  outwardly,  depart  from  Anti- 
christ. We  hold  communion,  and  maintain  unity,  one  with  another, 
freely  and  uprightly,  having  no  other  object  to  propose  herein,  but 
purely  and  singly  to  please  the  Lord,  and  seek  the  salvation  of  our  own 
souls.  Thus,  as  the  Lord  is  pleased  to  enable  us,  and  so  far  as  our 
understandings  are  instructed  into  the  path  of  duty,  we  attach  ourselves 
to  the  truth  of  Christ,  and  to  his  church,  how  mean  soever  she  may 
appear  in  the  eyes  of  men.  We  therefore,  have  thought  it  good  to 
make  this  declaration  of  our  reasons  for  departing  from  Antichrist,  as 
well  as  to  make  known  what  kind  of  fellowship  we  have,  to  the  end 
that,  if  the  Lord  be  pleased  to  impart  the  knowledge  of  the  same  truth 
to  others,  those  that  receive  it  may  love  it  together  with  us.  It  is  our 
desire  also,  that  if  peradventure,  others  are  not  sufficiently  enlightened, 
they  may  receive  assistance  from  this  service,  the  Lord  succeeding  it  by 
his  blessing.   On  the  other  hand,  if  any  have  received  more  abundantly 


340  History  of  the  Christian  Church. 

from  him,  and  in  a  higher  measure,  we  desire  with  all  humility  to  be 
taught,  and  instructed  better,  that  so  we  may  rectify  whatever  is  amiss. 

The  Treatise  then  proceeds  to  sketch  and  succinctly  to  confute  the 
numerous  abominations  of  popery,  and  to  show  how  they  all  tend  to 
subvert  the  faith  of  Christ,  and  destroy  the  souls  of  men ;  but  my  limits 
will  only  allow  of  a  very  abridged  view  of  this  masterly  statement. 
"  Be  it  known,"  they  say,  "  to  all  in  general,  and  to  every  one  in  par- 
ticular, that  these  are  the  reasons  of  our  separation,  viz.  It  is  for  the 
truth's  sake  which  wc  believe — for  the  knowledge  which  we  have  of 
the  only  true  God,  and  the  unity  of  the  divine  essence  in  three  per- 
sons, a  knowledge  which  flesh  and  blood  cannot  communicate — it  is 
for  the  worship  due  to  that  only  true  God — for  the  love  we  owe  him 
above  all  things — for  the  sanctification  and  honour  which  are  due  to 
him  supremely,  and  above  every  name — for  the  lively  hopes  which  we 
have  in  God  through  Christ — for  regeneration  and  the  renewing  of  our 
minds  by  faith,  hope,  and  charity — for  the  worthiness  of  Jesus  Christ, 
with  the  all-sufficiency  of  his  grace  and  righteousness — for  the  commu- 
nion of  saints — the  remission  of  sins — an  holy  conversation — for  the 
sake  of  a  faithful  adherence  to  all  the  commands  in  the  faith  of  Christ 
— for  true  repentance — for  final  perseverance,  and  everlasting  life." 

"  A  various  and  endless  idolatry,  in  opposition  to  the  express  com- 
mand of  God  and  Christ,"  say  they,  "  marks  the  genius  of  Antichrist 
■ — divine  worship  offered,  not  to  the  Creator,  but  to  the  creatures,  visi- 
ble and  invisible,  corporeal  and  spiritual,  male  and  female — unto  which 
creatures,  they  present  the  worship  of  faith  and  hope,  works,  prayers* 
pilgrimages,  and  alms,  oblations  and  sacrifices  of  great  price — honour- 
ing and  adoring  them  in  various  ways,  by  hymns  and  songs,  speeches 
and  solemnities,  and  celebration  of  masses,  vespers  peculiarly  appro- 
priated to  them,  with  vigils  and  feast-days,  hoping  thereby  to  obtain 
that  grace  which  is  essentially  in  God  alone,  which  is  meritoriously  in 
Christ,  and  which  is  obtained  only  by  faith  through  the  Holy  Spirit. 

"  Another  feature  which  characterizes  Antichrist  is  the  excessive 
love  of  the  world,  whence  springs  an  endless  train  of  sin  and  mischief 
in  the  church,  as  well  in  those  that  govern,  as  in  them  that  officiate — 
both  of  whom  sin  without  control.  With  this  is  connected  the  false 
hopes  which  Antichrist  holds  out,  of  pardon,  grace,  justification,  and 
everlasting  life,  as  things  not  to  be  sought  from  and  obtained  in  Christ, 
nor  in  God  through  Christ,  but  in  men,  living  or  dead — not  by  that  true 
and  living  faith  which  workcth  by  love,  producing  repentance,  and  in- 
fluencing the  mind  to  depart  from  evil,  and  give  itself  up  to  God." 

These  extracts  will  give  the  reader  some  notion  of  the  manner  in 
which  the  subject  is  handled  in  this  Treatise;  and  it  is  unnecessary  to 
indulge  in  more  copious  extracts.  The  articles  intituled,  "  The  Dream 
of  Purgatory,"  and  "  The  Invocation  of  Saints,"  are  discussed  with 
equal  judgment;  and  in  the  latter,  especially,  the  doctrine  of  the  medi- 
ation of  Jesus  Christ — the  perfection  and  all-sufficiency  of  his  sacrifice 
for  sin — his  office  as  high  priest,  advocate,  and  intercessor'  of  his 
church,  are  most  clearly  and  nobly  maintained,  in  opposition  to  the  pa- 
pal worship  and  innovation  of  saints.  "  Christ  alone,"  say  they, 
♦'  hath  the  prerogative  of  interceding  for  his  guilty  people,  and  he  ob- 


Apology  of  the  Waldenses.  341 

tains  whatsoever  he  requests  in  behalf  of  those  whom  he  hath  recon- 
ciled by  his  death.  He  is  the  only  and  sole  mediator  between  God 
and  man,  the  advocate  and  intercessor  with  the  Father  for  sinners  ;  and 
so  sufficient  is  he,  that  God  the  Father  denies  nothing  to  any  one  which 
he  asks  in  his  name.  For,  being  near  unto  God,  and  living  of  himself, 
he  prays  to  God  continually  for  us  ;  and  "such  an  high-priest  became 
us,  who  was  holy,  harmless,  separate  from  sinners,  and  exalted  above 
the  heavens."  Hence  they  argue,  that  as  there  is  nothing  attainable  at 
the  hand  of  God  but  through  Jesus  the  mediator,  how  great  is  the  folly 
of  seeking  any  other  intercessor  !  He  having  made  expiation  for  the 
sins  of  his  people,  and  having  approached  unto  God  for  them,  where 
he  ever  lives  to  intercede.  "  No  man  comes  to  the  Father  but  by 
him."  Hence  he  himself  says,  "  Whatsoever  ye  shall  ask  of  the  Fa- 
ther in  my  name,  I  will  do  it." — "  Thou,  O  Lord,  art  worthy  to  re- 
ceive the  book  and  to  unloose  the  seals  thereof,  for  thou  wast  slain,  and 
hast  redeemed  us  to  God  by  thy  blood,  out  of  every  tribe  and  tongue, 
and  hast  made  us  kings  and  priests  unto  our  God."* 

In  the  year  1508,  about  ten  years  before  Luther  began  the  Reforma- 
tion, and  during  the  reign  of  Ladislaus,  king  of  Hungary  and  Bohemia, 
a  dreadful  persecution  broke  out  against  that  class  of  his  subjects,  who 
held  the  principles  of  the  Waldenses.  The  latter,  to  justify  themselves 
from  several  charges  erroneously  imputed  to  them  by  their  adversaries, 
drew  up  an  apology  addressed  to  the  king,  which  was  still  extant  in 
the  time  of  Perrin,  and  as  he  has  handed  down  to  us  the  substance  of 
it,  I  shall  here  extract  a  few  of  the  more  interesting  particulars. 

1.  It  was  said  of  them,  by  their  adversaries,  that  a  man  might  leave 
his  wife  when  he  pleased.  On  which  they  reply,  that  "  matrimony 
is  a  bond  which  nothing  but  death  can  dissolve,  except  the  crime  of 
fornication,  as  saith  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ;"  and  also  the  apostle 
Paul,  1  Cor.  vii.  saith,  "Let  not  the  wife  depart  from  her  husband, 
nor  the  husband  put  away  his  wife." 

2.  A  second  calumny  regards  a  community  of  goods  and  wives — to 
which  they  reply,  "  that  marriage  was  of  old  ordained  by  God  in  Pa- 
radise ;  that  it  was  designed  as  an  antidote  against  adultery  ;  and  that 
it  is  recorded  by  the  apostle,  when  speaking  of  this  subject,  "Let 
every  man  have  his  own  wife,  and  every  woman  her  own  husband." 
Also,  that  "  the  husband  ought  to  love  his  wife  as  Christ  loveth  the 
church,"  and  that  such  as  are  married  ought  to  live  holily  together 
with  their  children  in  the  fear  of  God.  That  as  for  goods,  every  one 
hath  possessed  his  own  at  all  times  and  in  all  places — they  never  hav- 
ing had  any  such  intercommunity  among  them,  as  tended  in  the  small- 
est degree  to  derogate  from  that  lawful  propriety  which  every  one  has 
by  right  to  his  own  estate. 

3.  Another  scandalous  charge  was,  that  they  worshipped  their  barbs 
or  pastors.  The  grossness  of  this  calumny,  indeed,  sufficiently  refuted 
itself.  At  one  time  they  are  represented  as  setting  aside  the  necessity 
of  the  pastoral  office  altogether,  and  making  its  peculiar  duties  common 
to  every  member — at  others  they  are  charged  with  holding  their  pas- 

*  Perrin's  Histoire  des  Vaudois,  part  ii.  book  v.  ch.  8. 
29* 


342  History  of  the  Christian  Church. 

tors  in  such  estimation,  that  they  paid  them  divine  honours.  The 
"Waldenses  refer,  on  this  subject,  to  their  own  writings,  in  which  they 
have  shown  that  God  alone  is  the  object  of  worship,  and  that  they  ne- 
ver intended  to  give  that  to  any  creature.  And  that  as  to  their  pastors, 
regarding  them  as  those  by  whom  they  have  heard  the  word  of  recon- 
ciliation, they  consider  themselves  as  bound  in  conscience  and  duty  to 
treat  them  with  kindness,  and  to  esteem  them  in  love  for  their  work's 
sake. 

4.  They  have  been  accused  of  maintaining  that  it  was  in  no  instance 
lawful  to  swear.  In  reply  to  that,  they  say  that  "  some  oaths  are  cer- 
tainly lawful,  tending  both  to  the  honour  of  God  and  the  edification  of 
their  neighbour,"  instancing  Heb.  vi.  17.  That  "men  swear  by  a 
greater  than  themselves,  and  an  oath  made  for  confirmation  is  an  end 
of  all  strife."  They  also  allege  that  it  was  enjoined  upon  the  people 
of  Israel,  Deut.  vi.  to  swear  by  the  name  of  the  Lord — and  also  the 
oath  made  betwixt  Abimelech  and  Isaac,  Gen.  xxvi.  and  that  of  Jacob, 
Gen.  xxxi. 

5.  Another  calumny  was,  that  they  showed  no  reverence  to  sacred 
places,  maintaining  that  it  is  not  a  more  grievous  sin  to  burn  a  church 
than  to  break  open  another  house.  To  defend  themselves  against  this 
charge  they  say,  "  That  neither  the  place  nor  the  pulpit  makes  a  man 
holy — and  that  those  are  greatly  deceived  who  think  the  better  of 
themselves  because  of  the  dignity  of  the  place.  For  what  was  greater 
than  Paradise,  or  what  more  pure  than  heaven  ?  Notwithstanding 
which,  man  was  driven  out  of  Paradise,  because  he  sinned  there  ;  and 
the  angels  were  expelled  from  heaven,  that  they  might  be  an  example 
to  all  succeeding  ages,  teaching  us  that  it  is  neither  the  place,  nor  its 
grandeur  and  dignity,  but  innocence  of  life  that  makes  a  man  holy." 

6.  Again  ;  they  were  charged  with  holding,  that  the  civil  magistrate 
ought  not  to  sentence  any  one  to  death.  To  which  they  answer, 
"  that  it  is  written,  a  malefactor  shall  not  be  suffered  to  live;  and  that 
without  correction  and  discipline,  doctrine  serves  to  no  purpose,  neither 
would  judgments  be  known  or  wickedness  punished.  That  therefore, 
just  anger  is  the  mother  of  discipline,  and  patience  without  reason  the 
seed  of  vices,  encouraging  the  wicked  to  proceed  in  their  excesses." 
True  it  is,  that  they  complained  of  the  conduct  of  the  magistrates  in 
delivering  them  up  to  death,  without  any  other  knowledge  of  them  than 
they  had  obtained  from  the  priests  and  monks  who  pretended  to  dis- 
cover errors  in  them,  and  then  exclaiming  against  them  as  abuses  which 
they  had  introduced  into  the  church,  condemned  them  as  heretics,  and 
delivered  them  up  to  the  secular  power.  Moreover,  they  regarded  it 
as  both  unwise  and  cruel,  on  the  part  of  the  magistrates,  to  give  credit 
to  men  so  carried  away  with  passion  as  were  the  priests,  and  that  they 
should  put  to  death  so  many  poor  innocent  persons  without  having 
either  heard  or  examined  them. 

7.  Allied  to  the  foregoing  was  another  slander,  tending  to  render 
them  odious  to  kings  and  princes,  namely,  "  that  a  layman  in  a  stats 
of  grace  hath  more  authority  than  a  prince  living  in  mortal  sin."  In 
reply  to  that  imputation,  they  said,  "that  every  one  ought  to  be  sub- 
ject to  those  who  are  placed  in  authority — that  it  is  their  duty  to  obey 


Apology  of  the  Waldenses.  343 

them,  to  honour  them  with  double  honour,  to  be  subject  to  them  with 
allegiance,  and  promptly  paying  them  tribute,"  &c. 

8.  The  next  charge  was,  that  the  Waldenses  affirmed  the  pope  had 
no  authority  over  the  kings  and  princes  of  the  earth,  who  derived  their 
authority  from  God  alone ;  and  on  which  account  they  took,  occasion 
to  call  them  Manichaeans.  They  replied,  "  We  believe  that  the  holy 
Trinity  created  all  things,  both  visible  and  invisible,  and  that  [Jehovah] 
is  Lord  of  all  things  in  heaven,  earth,  and  hell,  as  it  is  written,  '  All 
things  were  created  by  him,  and  without  him  was  not  any  thing  made 
that  was  made.'  " 

9.  It  was  further  alleged  against  them,  that  they  objected  to  the 
payment  of  tithes — that  priests  might  lawfully  be  put  to  death,  or  dis- 
possessed of  their  tithes,  which  any  one  might  retain  without  scruple 
of  conscience.  And  it  is  certain,  says  their  historian,  that  could  the 
Waldenses  have  appropriated  their  tithes  to  any  other  purpose  than 
the  maintenance  of  those  whom  they  regarded  as,  "dumb  dogs,"  drow- 
sy watchmen,  slow  bellies,  deceivers,  and  deceived,  they  would  have 
done  it;  but  as  they  had  not  power  to  detain  them,  none  of  them 
made  any  disturbance  about  the  matter.  It  indeed  appears,  that  in 
what  depended  upon  their  own  voluntary  choice,  they  gave  nothing  to 
such  persons,  nor  cared  for  any  of  their  helps  after  death,  of  which 
the  priests  complained,  and  thence  took  occasion  to  accuse  them  as 
heretics.  But  let  us  hear  thein  upon  the  subject  of  revenge.  "  The 
Lord  knowing  that  we  should  be  delivered  up,  said  '  Beware  of  men.' 
But  he  never  teaches  or  counsels  his  elect  to  slay  any  one,  but  on  the 
contrary,  to  '  love  their  enemies.'  When  the  disciples  said  to  him, 
'  shall  we  call  for  fire  from  heaven  and  consume  them  V  Christ  an- 
swered, •  Ye  know  not  what  spirit  ye  are  of.'  Also  the  Lord  said  to 
Peter,  '  Put  up  thy  sword  into  its  place,'  &c.  Besides,  temporal  dis- 
tresses ought  to  be  despised  and  sustained  with  patience,  for  in  them 
nothing  happens  that  is  new.  Whilst  we  are  here,  we  are  the  Lord's 
threshold,  to  be  beaten  like  corn  when  it  is  separated  from  the  chaff." 

10.  Claude  de  Rubis,  a  virulent  catholic  writer,  who  compiled  the 
history  of  the  city  of  Lyons,  defames  them  by  saying,  that,  having  re- 
tired from  the  city  of  Lyons,  and  taken  refuge  among  the  Alps,  the 
Waldenses,  like  the  rest  of  the  inhabitants  of  the  valleys,  had  become 
sorcerers — and  indeed,  says  he,  there  are  two  things  which  commonly 
accompany  each  other,  that  is  heresy  and  sorcery,  as  hath  been  verified 
in  the  cities  and  provinces  which  have  admitted  heresy  amongst  them. 
To  justify  themselves  against  this  foul  aspersion,  they  say,  "  Those 
act  against  the  first  precept  of  the  decalogue,  who  believe  the  planets 
can  control  the  free-will  of  man.  Such  do,  in  effect,  esteem  the  planets 
to  be  gods;  for  they  attribute  to  the  creature  that  which  is  the  pecu- 
liar province  of  the  Creator.  Against  such  the  prophet  Jeremiah  saith, 
"  Learn  not  the  way  of  the  heathen,  and  be  not  afraid  of  those  thing3 
at  which  the  heathen  are  dismayed."  Paul  also  says  to  the  Galatians, 
"  Ye  observe  days  and  months,  and  times,  and  years.  I  am  afraid  of 
you,  lest  I  have  bestowed  on  you  labour  in  vain."  They  also  act 
against  this  commandment  who  believe  in  sorcerers  and  diviners,  for 
such  believe  the  daemons  to  be  gods.     The  reason  is,  because  they  ask 


3.44  History  of  the  Christian  Church. 

that  of  daemons  which  God  alone  can  grant,  viz.  to  discover  things  that 
are  secret,  and  to  reveal  the  truth  of  things  to  come,  which  is  forbidden 
by  God.  Lev.  xix.  "  Thou  shalt  not  regard  them  that  have  familiar 
spirits,  neither  seek  after  wizards.  Moreover,  thou  shalt  not  divine 
nor  give  any  heed  to  dreams.  Thou  shalt  not  be  an  enchanter,  neither 
take  counsel  with  familiar  sprits,  or  wizards,  nor  inquire  the  truth 
among  the  dead,  for  all  these  things  are  an  abomination  to  the  Lord." 
And  as  to  the  punishment  which  God,  in  a  way  of  vengeance,  inflicts 
upon  such,  we  read  in  the  book  of  Kings,  that  Elijah  demanded  of 
Ahaziah,  saying.  What !  is  there  no  God  in  Israel,  that  ye  go  to  inquire 
of  Baalzebub,  the  god  Ekron  ?  Now,  therefore,  thus  saith  the  Lord, 
Thou  shalt  not  come  down  from  that  bed  on  which  thou  art  gone  up, 
but  shalt  surely  die."  Saul  died,  because  he  had  prevaricated  with  the 
commandment  that  God  had  given  him  :  he  kept  it  not,  neither  put  his 
trust  in  the  Lord,  but  asked  counsel  of  a  witch  :  wherefore  the  Lord 
slew  him,  and  transferred  his  kingdom  to  David  the  son  of  Jesse.  It 
is  also  said,  in  the  book  of  Leviticus,  that,  "  whosoever  shall  turn 
aside  to  enchanters  and  wizards,  I  will  lay  my  hand  upon  him,  and  cut 
him  off  from  the  midst  of  his  people."  Every  one  ought  to  know  that 
all  enchantment,  or  conjuration,  or  charms,  or  spells,  carried  for  a  re- 
medy to  men  or  beasts,  are  of  no  avail,  but  on  the  contrary  a  snare  and 
ambush  of  the  old  adversary  the  devil,  through  which  he  endeavours 
to  deceive  mankind. 

11.  One  more  charge  against  them  is,  that  they  compelled  their  pas- 
tors to  follow  some  trade.  Their  answer  to  this  is  surely  a  very  sa- 
tisfactory one.  "  We  do  not  think  it  necessary,  say  they,  that  our  pas- 
tors should  work  for  their  bread.  They  might  be  better  qualified  to 
instruct  us  if  we  could  maintain  them  without  their  own  labour  ;  but 
our  poverty  has  no  remedy.* 

The  Catholic  writers  frequently  reproach  them  with  making  little  or 
no  account  of  the  pastoral  office — affirming  that  they  made  the  duty  of 
preaching  the  gospel  common  to  every  member  of  the  church,  both 
male  and  female;  and  that  they  allowed  persons  who  had  not  the  suf- 
frages of  the  church,  to  administer  the  ordinances  of  gospel  worship. 
That  this  was  an  unfounded  accusation  has  been  very  satisfactorily 
shown  by  Dr.  Allix,  whose  researches  into  the  history  of  those  churches 
entitle  him  to  the  gratitude  of  posterity.  I  subjoin  the  substance  of  his 
defence  of  them  against  this  charge. 

1.  Bernard,  abbot  of  Foneaud,  in  his  Treatise  against  the  sect  of  the 
Waldenses,  ch.  vi.  accuses  only  some  of  them  of  having  no  pastors]; 
which  shows,  as  he  very  properly  remarks,  that  the  body  of  that 
church  had  a  fixed  ministry  before  the  end  of  the  twelfth  century. 
There  is,  therefore,  nothing  in  this  to  support  the  charge  of  their  mak- 
ing light  of  the  pastoral  office  ;  for  it  is  only  what  has  happened  to  so- 
cieties of  Christians  in  every  age  of  the  world,  to  be  for  a  time  with- 
out presbyters  or  pastors,  until  the  great  Head  of  the  Church  raises  up 
among  them  persons  properly  qualified  by   age,  experience,  and  gifts, 

*  Perrin's  Hist,  des  Vaudois,  b.  ch.  iv.  and  Usher  de  Christ.  Eccles.  succ.  et 
statu. 


Apology  of  the  Waldenses.  345 

to  take  the  oversight  of  their  brethren,  to  labour  in  the  word  and  doctrine, 
and  rule  the  church  of  God.  It  is  plain  that  it  was  so  with  the  first 
churches  for  a  time.     Acts  xiv.  23.     Titus  i.  5. 

2.  Reinerius  Saccho,  who  lived  about  the  year  1250,  acknowledges 
that  in  Lombardy,  where  he  himself  resided,  they  had  their  bishops  or 
pastors  ;  "  Lombardiam  intrantes,  visitant,  episcopos  snos,"  are  his 
words,  chap.  v.  that  is,  "  when  they  come  into  Lombardy  they  visit 
their  elders."  Again  Matthew  Paris  (under  the  year  1243)  speaks  of 
a  bishop  of  the  Paterines  in  Cremona,  who  was  deposed  by  them  for 
fornication.  And,  further,  Pilickdorf,  a  writer  quoted  by  Bossuet  in  his 
history  of  the  Variations,  p.  223,  says,  "they  do  not  approve  of  a  lay - 
marl's  celebrating  the  eucharist,^  ch.i.  which  sufficiently  proves,  says 
Dr.  Allix,  that  they  made  a  signal  difference  between  the  people  and 
their  pastors.* 

3.  Commenius,  who  published  a  Synopsis  of  the  discipline  of  the 
churches  of  Bohemia,  dwells  particularly  upon  this  article;  and  shows 
that  "  a  stated  ministry  was  always  considered  as  a  matter  of  great 
importance  among  the  Waldensian  churches.''''  A  dreadful  persecution 
broke  out  against  the  Bohemian  brethren,  in  the  days  of  Commenius, 
which  produced  such  havoc  among  them,  that  he  himself  was  "  The 
only  surviving  bishop  that  escaped."  The  scattered  brethren,  in  pro- 
cess of  time,  elected  three  persons  as  qualified  for  the  pastoral  office, 
but  "  found  themselves  greatly  perplexed  about  their  ordination." 
Having  understood  that  there  were  some  Waldensian  churches  on  the 
confines  of  Moravia  and  Austria,  to  satisfy  their  own  scruples,  as  well 
as  those  of  others,  they  resolved  to  send  Michael  Zambergius,  one  of 
their  pastors,  with  two  other  persons,  to  find  out  those  Waldenses,  and 
give  them  an  account  of  what  had  passed  among  them,  and  especially 
to  ask  their  advice  upon  the  matter  in  hand.  They  met  with  one 
Stephen,  a  Waldensian  bishop,  who  sent  for  others  also  residing  in  that 
quarter,  with  whom  they  had  a  conference  upon  the  doctrines  of  the 
gospel,  and  the  state  of  their  churches,  and  by  them  the  said  three  pas- 
tors were  ordained  by  the  imposition  of  hands.  "  Hence,"  says  Dr. 
Allix,  "  it  is  abundantly  evident,  that  as  the  Waldenses  have  preserved 
the  faith  that  was  committed  to  them,  so  have  they  been  as  careful  to 
preserve  entire  amongst  them  the  ancient  discipline  of  the  church — and, 
hence  it  will  follow,  that  nothing  can  be  more  false  than  what  is  pre- 
tended, viz.  that  they  had  no  kind  of  lawful  ministry  among  them,  but 
that  laymen  took  upon  themselves  the  power  of  preaching,  of  ordaining 
ministers,  and  administering  ordinances."! 

*  1243.  Dr.  Allix's  Remarks,  p.  239.  f  Allix's  Remarks,  p.  245. 


346  History  of  the  Christian  Church.  ' 

SECTION  IV. 

ADDITIONAL  TESTIMONIES  IN  FAVOUR  OF  THE  PRINCIPLES  AND  PRACTICES 
OF  THE  WALDENSES,  COLLECTED  FROM  THE  WRITINGS  OF  BOTH  FRIENDS 
AND  FOES  ;  WITH  MISCELLANEOUS  REMARKS  IN  ILLUSTRATION  OF  THEIR 
CHARACTER  AND  HISTORY. 

Having,  in  the  two  preceding  sections,  endeavoured  to  lay  before 
the  reader  a  fair  and  impartial  representation  of  the  doctrinal  sentiments, 
and  social  religious  practices  of  the  Waldenses,  and  especially  as  these 
stood  in  opposition  to  the  whole  prevailing  system  of  popery,  I  shall, 
before  proceeding  to  a  detail  of  their  general  history,  adduce  a  few  ad- 
ditional particulars  of  a  more  miscellaneous  nature  than  hath  been  hither- 
to submitted  to  his  consideration. 

The  enemies  of  the  Waldenses,  while  they  stigmatize  them  as  here- 
tics, and  think  no  cruelties  too  hard  to  be  inflicted  upon  them,  on  account 
of  their  opposition  to  the  whole  system  of  the  papal  hierarchy,  are, 
nevertheless,  constrained  by  the  force  of  truth,  to  bear  the  most  honour- 
able testimony  to  the  integrity,  uprightness,  and  exemplary  deportment, 
which  so  conspicuously  characterized  this  denomination  of  Christians. 
In  proof  of  this,  let  us  attend  to  the  testimony  of  their  adversaries. 

An  ancient  inquisitor,  to  whose  writings  against  the  Waldenses,  I 
had  occasion  to  refer  in  a  former  section,  thus  describes  them.  "  These 
heretics  are  known  by  their  manners  and  conversation,  for  they  are 
orderly  and  modest  in  their  behaviour  and  deportment.  They  avoid 
all  appearance  of  pride  in  their  dress ;  they  neither  indulge  in  finery  of 
attire,  nor  are  they  remarkable  for  being  mean  and  ragged.  They  avoid 
commerce,  that  they  may  be  free  from  deceit  and  falsehood.  They  get 
their  livelihood  by  manual  industry,  as  day-labourers  or  mechanics ; 
and  their  teachers  are  weavers  or  tailors.  They  are  not  anxious  about 
amassing  riches,  but  content  themselves  with  the  necessaries  of  life. 
They  are  chaste,  temperate,  and  sober.  They  abstain  from  anger. 
Even  when  they  work,  they  either  learn  or  teach.  In  like  manner  also, 
their  women  are  very  modest,  avoiding  backbiting,  foolish  jesting,  and 
levity  of  speech,  especially  abstaining  from  lies  or  swearing,  not  so 
much  as  making  use  of  the  common  asseverations,  "  in  truth,"  "  for  cer- 
tain," or  the  like,  because  they  regard  these  as  oaths — contenting 
themselves  with  simply  answering  "yes"  or  "no."* 

Claudius  Seisselius,  archbishop  of  Turin,  from  whose  Treatise  against 
the  Waldenses  I  have  quoted  largely  in  a  former  section,  is  pleased  to 
say,  that  "  their  heresy  excepted,  they  generally  live  a  purer  life  than 
other  Christians.  They  never  swear  but  by  compulsion,  and  rarely 
take  the  name  of  God  in  vain.  They  fulfil  their  promises  with  punc- 
tuality ;  and,  living  for  the  most  part  in  poverty,  they  profess  to  pre- 
serve the  apostolic  life  and  doctrine.  They  also  profess  it  to  be  their 
desire  to  overcome  only  by  the  simplicity  of  faith,  by  purity  of  con- 
science, and  integrity  of  life ;  not  by  philosophical  niceties  and  theologi- 

*  AUix's  Remarks,  p.  235 


The  Waldenses  vindicated.  347 

cal  subtleties."  And  he  very  candidly  admits,  that  "  In  their  lives  and 
morals  they  were  perfect,  irreprehensible,  and  without  reproach  among 
men,  addicting  themselves  with  all  their  might  to  observe  the  commands 
of  God."* 

Lielenstenius,  a  Dominican,  speaking  of  the  Waldenses  of  Bohe- 
mia, "  I  say  that  in  morals  and  life  they  are  good  ;  true  in  words, 
unanimous  in  brotherly  love ;  but  their  faith  is  incorrigible  and  vile,  as 
I  have  shown  in  my  Treatise."! 

Samuel  de  Cassini,  a  Franciscan  friar,  speaking  of  them  in  his  "Vic- 
toria Trionfale,"  explicitly  owns  in  Avhat  respect  their  faith  was  incor- 
rigible and  vile,  when  he  says,  "  That  all  the  errors  of  these  Walden- 
ses consisted  in  this,  that  they  denied  the  church  of  Rome  to  be  the 
holv  mother  church,  and  would  not  obey  her  traditions. "J 

Jacobus  de  Riberia,  who  published  a  work  intituled,  "  Collections 
of  the  city  of  Toulouse,"  and  who,  in  his  time,  assisted  in  persecuting 
the  Waldenses,  nevertheless  acknowledges,  that  for  a  long  time  they 
had  obtained  the  highest  esteem  in  Norbonne,§  as  well  as  in  the  dio- 
cese of  Alby,  Rhodes,  Cahors,  and  Agen  ;  and  that  those  who  would  be 
styled  priests  and  bishops  [in  the  Catholic  church]  were  then  but  little 
accounted  of,  which  he  resolves  into  their  ignorance  and  unworthy 
conduct,  by  reason  of  which,  says  he,  it  was  an  easy  matter  for  the 
Waldenses  to  obtain  the  preference  among  the  people  for  the  excellen- 
cy of  their  doctrine.  He  acknowledges  that  they  were  so  well  instruct- 
ed in  the  Holy  Scriptures,  that  he  had  seen  peasants  who  could  recite 
the  book  of  Job  verbatim,  and  several  others  who  could  perfectly  re- 
peat all  the  New  Testament. 

Cardinal  Baronius,  in  his  Ecclesiastical  Annals,  torn.  xiii.  styles  the 
Waldenses  of  Toulouse  "  good  men,"  and  acknowledges  that  they 
were  "  peaceable  persons,"  though  he  elsewhere  falsely  lays  to  their 
account  many  heinous  accusations.  || 

In  the  time  of  a  great  persecution  of  the  Waldenses  of  Merindol  and 
Provence,  a  certain  monk  was  deputed  by  the  bishop  of  Cavaillon,  to 
hold  a  conference  with  them,  that  they  might  be  convinced  of  their 
errors,  and  the  effusion  of  blood  prevented.  But  the  monk  returned  in 
confusion,  owning  that  in  his  whole  life  he  had  never  known  so  much 
of  the  Scriptures,  as  he  had  learned  during  those  few  days  that  he  had 
been  conversing  with  the  heretics.  The  bishop,  however,  sent  among 
them  a  number  of  doctors,  young  men,  who  had  lately  come  from  the 
Sorbonne,  which,  at  that  time,  was  the  very  centre  of  theological  sub- 
tlety at  Paris.  One  of  these  publicly  owned,  that  he  had  understood 
more  of  the  doctrine  of  salvation  from  the  answers  of  the  little  children 
in  their  catechisms,  than  by  all  the  disputations  which  he  had  ever  be- 
fore heard. ^ 

Francis  I.  king  of  France,  being  informed  that  the  parliament  of 

*  Usher  de  Christ.  Eccles.  success,  et  statu. — Pen-in,  b.  i.  ch.  v. 
f  Usher,  ubi  supra.  t  History  of  Popery,  Vol.  I.  p.  421. 

§  A  city  and  provtnce  in  the  south  of  France. 
S  Perrin's  Hist,  des  Vaudois,  ch.  v. 

U  Vesembecius's  Oration  on  the  Waldenses,  quoted  by  Perrin,  in  his  Hist,  des 
Vaudois,  ch.  v. 


348  History  of  the  Christian  Church. 

Provence  brought  very  heavy  charges  against  the  Waldenses,  whom 
they  were  then  severely  persecuting  at  Merindol,  Cabriers,  and  other 
neighbouring  places,  was  desirous  of  ascertaining  the  truth  of  those  ac- 
cusations. With  a  view  to  this,  he  commanded  one  of  his  nobles,  the 
Lord  of  Langeai,  who  was  at  that  time  his  lieutenant  in  Piedmont,  to 
investigate  this  matter,  and  report  to  him  the  true  state  of  things.  His 
lordship  consequently  sent  into  Provence  two  clergymen,  giving  them 
a  strict  charge  to  inquire  into  the  lives  and  religious  principles  of  the 
Waldenses,  and  of  the  proceedings  of  the  parliament  against  them.  On 
their  return,  they  reported  that  "  they  were  a  laborious  race  of  people, 
who,  about  two  hundred  years  ago,  had  emigrated  from  Piedmont,  to 
dwell  in  Provence, — that  betaking  themselves  to  husbandry  and  feed- 
ing of  cattle,  they  had  restored  many  villages  destroyed  by  the  wars, 
and  rendered  other  desert  and  uncultivated  places  extremely  fertile  by 
their  industry.  That  by  the  information  given  them  in  the  said  coun- 
try of  Provence,  they  found  they  were  a  very  peaceable  people,  be- 
loved by  their  neighbours — men  of  good  behaviour,  of  godly  conversa- 
tion, faithful  to  their  promises,  and  punctual  in  paying  their  debts. 
That  they  were  a  charitable  people,  not  permitting  any  among  them  to 
fall  into  want.  That  they  were  moreover,  liberal  to  strangers  and  the 
travelling  poor,  as  far  as  their  ability  extended.  And  that  the  inhabi- 
tants of  Provence  affirmed,  they  were  a  people  who  could  not  en- 
dure to  blaspheme,  or  name  the  devil,  or  swear  at  all,  unless  in  making 
some  solemn  contracts,  or  in  judgment.  Finally,  that  they  were  well 
known  by  this,  that  if  they  happened  to  be  cast  into  any  company, 
where  the  conversation  was  lascivious  or  blasphemous,  to  the  dishon- 
our of  God,  they  instantly  withdrew.* 

Louis  XII.  king  of  France,  being  informed  by  the  enemies  of  the 
Waldenses,  inhabiting  a  part  of  the  province  of  Provence,  that  several 
heinous  crimes  were  laid  to  their  account,  sent  the  master  of  requests, 
and  a  certain  doctor  of  the  Sorbonne,  who  was  confessor  to  his  majes- 
ty, to  make  inquiry  into  this  matter.  On  their  return,  they  reported 
that  they  had  visited  all  the  parishes  where  they  dwelt,  had  inspected 
their  places  of  worship,  but  that  they  had  found  there  no  images,  nor 
signs  of  the  ornaments  belonging  to  the  mass,  nor  any  of  the  ceremo- 
nies of  the  Romish  church ;  much  less  could  they  discover  any  traces 
of  those  crimes  with  which  they  were  charged.  On  the  contrary,  they 
kept  the  sabbath-day,  observed  the  ordinance  of  baptism,  according  to 
the  primitive  church,  instructed  their  children  in  the  articles  of  the 
Christian  faith,  and  the  commandments  of  God.  The  king  having 
heard  the  report  of  his  commissioners,  said  with  an  oath  that  they  were 
better  men  than  himself  or  his  people.! 

The  same  monarch  having  been  told  that  in  the  valley  of  Frissiniere, 
in  the  diocese  of  Ambrun,  and  province  of  Dauphiny,  there  was  a  class 
of  people  who  lived  like  beasts,  without  religion,  and  strongly  opposed 
to  the  Romish  worship,  deputed  one  of  his  confessors  and  the  official  of 
Orleans  to  investigate  the  truth  or  falsehood  of  this  report.     The  con- 

»  Joachim  Camerarius,  in  his  History,  p.  352,  quoted  by  Perrin,  book  i. 
chap.  v. 

f  Vesembecius's  Oration  on  the  Waldenses,  in  Pernn,  ch.  5. 


Testimonies  in  favour  of  the  Waldenses.  349 

fessor,  with  his  colleague,  accordingly  repaired  to  the  place,  where  he 
examined  the  Waldenses  who  inhabited  the  valley,  respecting  their 
faith  and  conversation.  The  archbishop  of  Ambrun,  well  knowing  that 
the  goods  of  the  Waldenses  were  liable  to  confiscation  for  the  crime  of 
heresy,  and  that  they  would  be  annexed  to  the  domains  of  his  arch- 
bishopric, strongly  pressed  the  commissioners  to  condemn  them  as 
heretics.  They,  however,  not  only  resisted  his  application,  but  even 
expressed  their  admiration  of  the  Waldenses,  insomuch  that  the  king's 
confessor  publicly  declared,  in  the  presence  of  a  number  of  his  friends, 
who  were  with  him  at  his  lodgings  at  the  Angel  in  Ambrun,  that  he 
wished  he  was  as  good  a  Christian  as  the  worst  of  the  valley  of  Frais- 
siniere.* 

These  are,  unquestionably,  very  important  testimonies  to  the  Wal- 
denses who  resided  in  France  ;  but  I  shall  now  lay  before  the  reader  a 
still  more  interesting  document ;  it  is  the  testimony  which  is  borne  to 
these  people,  by  that  eminent  historian  Thuanus — an  enemy  indeed  to 
the  Waldenses,  himself  being  a  Catholic ;  but  he  was,  nevertheless,  a 
fair  and  candid  one.  Quoting  the  words  of  Guy  de  Perpignan,  bishop 
of  Elna,  in  Roussillon,  who  exercised  the  office  of  inquisitor  against  the 
Waldenses,  he  informs  us  that  "  their  fixed  opinions  are  said  to  be 
these — that  the  church  of  Rome,  because  she  hath  renounced  the  true 
faith  of  Christ,  is  the  whore  of  Babylon,  and  that  barren  tree  which 
Christ  himself  hath  cursed  and  commanded  to  be  rooted  up ;  therefore 
we  must  by  no  means  obey  the  pope  and  the  bishops  who  cherish  his 
errors — that  the  monastic  life  is  the  sink  of  the  church,  and  a  hellish 
institution ;  its  vows  are  vain,  and  subservient  only  to  the  filthy  love  ol 
boys — the  orders  of  the  presbytery  are  the  marks  of  the  great  beast 
mentioned  in  the  Apocalypse — the  fire  of  purgatory,  the  sacrifice  of  the 
mass,  the  feast  of  the  dedications  of  churches,  the  worship  of  saints, 
and  propitiations  for  the  dead,  are  the  inventions  of  Satan.  To  these 
the  principal  and  certain  heads  of  their  doctrine,  others  were  fictitious- 
ly added  concerning  marriage,  the  resurrection,  the  state  of  the  soul 
after  death,  and  concerning  meats."  Again,  describing  the  inhabitants 
of  the  valley  of  Fraissiniere,  he  thus  proceeds — "  Their  clothing  is  of 
the  skins  of  sheep — they  have  no  linen.  They  inhabit  seven  villages, 
their  houses  are  constructed  of  flint  stone,  having  a  flat  roof  covered  with 
mud,  which,  when  spoiled  or  loosened  by  the  rain,  they  again  smooth 
with  a  roller.  In  these  they  live  with  their  cattle,  separated  from  them, 
however,  by  a  fence.  They  have  also  two  caves  set  apart  for  particu- 
lar purposes,  in  one  of  which  they  conceal  their  cattle,  in  the  other 
themselves  when  hunted  by  their  enemies.  They  live  on  milk  and 
venison,  being,  through  constant  practice,  excellent  marksmen.  Poor 
as  they  are,  they  are  content,  and  live  in  a  state  of  seclusion  from  the 
rest  of  mankind.  One  thing  is  very  remarkable,  that  persons  external- 
ly so  savage,  and  rude,  should  have  so  much  moral  cultivation.  They 
can  all  read  and  write.  They  know  French  sufficiently  for  the  under- 
standing of  the  Bible  and  the  singing  of  Psalms.  You  can  scarcely 
find  a  boy  among  them,  who  cannot  give  you  an  intelligible  account  of 

*  Memorials  of  Rostain,  Archbishop  of  Ambrun,  quoted  in  Perrin,  ch.-v. 
30 


350  History  of  the  Christian  Church. 

the  faith  which  they  profess.  In  this,  indeed,  they  resemble  their 
brethren  of  the  other  valleys.  They  pay  tribute  with  a  good  conscience, 
and  the  obligation  of  this  duty  is  peculiarly  noted  in  their  confession  of 
faith.  If,  by  reason  of  the  civil  wars,  they  are  prevented  from  doing 
this,  they  carefully  set  apart  the  sum,  and  at  the  first  opportunity  pay 
it  to  the  king's  tax-gatherers."* 

But  of  all  the  Catholic  writers,  who  have  treated  of  the  Waldenses, 
there  is  none  whose  testimony  is  more  important  than  that  of  Reinerius 
Saccho.  He  had  himself  been  one  of  their  number,  and  consequently 
could  speak  of  them  from  personal  knowledge.  He  had  apostatized 
from  their  profession;  was  "by  merit  raised  to  the  bad  eminence"  of 
an  inquisitor  in  the  Catholic  church;  and  of  course  was  become  one  of 
their  bitterest  persecutors.  He  wrote  a  book  against  them,  (A.  J). 
1258)  from  which  I  have  already  quoted  largely  in  a  former  section. 
But  that  extract  is  almost  wholly  confined  to  an  enumeration  of  the  ar- 
ticles on  which  they  did  not  agree  with  the  Catholic  church.  Let  the 
reader  now  remark  his  unbought  testimony  in  their  favour.  "  Of  all 
the  sects  that  have  risen  up  against  the  church  of  Rome,"  says  he, 
"  the  Waldenses  have  been  the  most  prejudicial  and  pernicious,  inas- 
much as  their  opposition  has  been  of  very  long  continuance.  Add  to 
which,  that  this  sect  is  become  very  general,  for  there  is  scarcely  a 
country  to  be  found  in  which  this  heresy  is  not  planted.  And,  in  the 
third  place,  because  while  all  other  sects  beget  in  people  a  dread  and 
horror  of  them  on  account  of  their  blasphemies  against  God,  this,  on 
the  contrary,  hath  a  great  appearance  of  godliness  ;  for,  they  live  right- 
eously before  men,  believe  rightly  concerning  God  in  every  particular, 
holding  all  the  articles  contained  in  the  [apostles']  creed — but  hating 
and  reviling  the  church  of  Rome,  and  on  this  subject  they  are  readily 
believed  by  the  people."! 

"The  first  lesson,"  says  he,  in  another  place,  "  that  the  Waldenses 
teach  those  whom  they  bring  over  to  their  party,  is  to  instruct  them 
what  kind  of  persons  the  disciples  of  Christ  ought  to  be  ;  and  this  they 
do  by  the  doctrine  of  the  evangelists  and  apostles,  saying,  that  those 
only  are  the  followers  of  the  apostles  who  imitate  their  manner  of  life. 
Inferring  from  thence,"  says  he,  "  that  the  pope,  the  bishops,  and  the 
clergy,  who  possess  the  riches  of  this  world,  and  make  them  the  ob- 
ject of  their  pursuit,  do  not  tread  in  the  footsteps  of  the  apostles,  and 
therefore  are  not  the  true  guides  of  the  church;  it  never  having  been 
the  design  of  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ  to  commit  his  chaste  and  well-be- 
loved spouse  to  those  who  would  rather  prostitute  her  by  their  bad  ex- 
ample and  abominable  works,  than  preserve  her  in  the  same  state  of 
purity  in  which  they  at  first  received  her,  a  virgin  chaste  and  without 
spot."f 

The  same  author  has  furnished  us  with  an  interesting  account  of 
the  manner  in  which  the  Waldenses  privately  disseminated  their  prin- 
ciples among  the  gentry  ;  and  a  proper  attention  to  it  will  sufficiently 

*  Thuani  Hist,  sui  temporis,  lib.  vi.  sect.  16.  and  lib.  xxvii. 

j-  Reinerius  contra  Waldenses,  in  Perrin,  b.  ii.  ch.  i. 

}Idem.  cap.  de  studio  pervertendi  alios  et  modo  docendi,  fol.  98. 


The  TValdenses  propagate  their  sentiments.  351 

explain  to  the  reader  the  amount  of  various  charges  brought  against 
them,  from  time  to  time,  by  the  Catholic  writers,  viz.  that  they  allowed 
their  women  to  teach.  It  seems  to  have  been  a  common  practice  with 
their  teachers,  the  more  readily  to  gain  access  for  their  doctrine  among 
persons  in  the  higher  ranks  of  life,  to  carry  with  them  a  small  box  of 
trinkets,  or  articles  of  dress,  something  like  the  hawkers  or  pedlars  of 
our  day,  and  Reinerius  thus  describes  the  manner  in  which  they  were 
wont  to  introduce  themselves. 

"  Sir,  Will  you  please  to  buy  any  rings,  or  seals,  or  trinkets  ? 
Madam,  will  you  look  at  any  handkerchiefs,  or  pieces  of  needlework 
for  veils  ?  I  can  afford  them  cheap."  If  after  a  purchase  the  company 
ask,  "  Have  you  any  thing  more  ?"'  the  salesman  would  reply,  "  O 
yes,  I  have  commodities  far  more  valuable  than  these,  and  I  will  make 
you  a  present  of  them,  if  you  will  protect  me  from  the  clergy."  Se- 
curity being  promised,  on  he  would  go.  "  The  inestimable  jewel  I 
spoke  of,  is  the  word  of  God,  by  which  he  communicates  his  mind  to 
men,  and  which  inflames  their  hearts  with  love  to  him."  "  In  the 
sixth  month  the  angel  Gabriel  was  sent  from  God  unto  a  city  of  Ga- 
lilee named  Nazareth" — and  so  he  would  proceed  to  repeat  the  remain- 
ing part  of  the  first  chapter  of  Luke.*  Or,  he  would  begin  with  the 
thirteenth  of  John,  and  repeat  the  last  discourse  of  Jesus  to  his  disci- 
ples. If  the  company  should  seem  pleased,  he  would  proceed  to  re- 
peat the  twenty-third  of  Matthew.     "  The  Scribes  and  Pharisees  sit  in 

Moses's  seat Wo  unto  you ;  ye  shut  up  the  kingdom   of  heaven 

against  men ;  for  ye  neither  go  in  yourselves,  neither  suffer  ye  them 
that  are  entering  to  go  in.  Wo  unto  you,  ye  devour  widows' 
houses." — "And  pray,"  should  one  of  the  company  say,  "against 
whom  are  these  woes  pronounced  think  you  ?"  he  would  reply, 
"  Against  the  clergy  and  the  monks.  The  doctors  of  the  Roman  church 
are  pompous,  both  in  their  habits  and  their  manners — they  love  the 
uppermost  rooms,  and  the  chief  seats  in  the  synagogues,  and  to  be 
called  Rabbi,  Rabbi.  For  our  parts,  we  desire  no  such  Rabbies.  They 
are  incontinent;  we  live  each  in  chastity  with  his  own  wife.  They  are 
the  rich  and  avaricious,  of  whom  the  Lord  says,  '  Wo  unto  you,  ye 
rich,  for  ye  have  received  your  consolation;'  but  we,  'having  food 
and  raiment  are  therewith  content.'  They  are  voluptuous  and  devour 
widows'  houses — we  only  eat  to  be  refreshed  and  supported.  They 
fight  and  encourage  wars,  and  command  the  poor  to  be  killed  and  burnt, 
in  defiance  of  the  saying,  '  he  that  taketh  the  sword  shall  perish  by  the 
sword.'  For  our  parts,  they  persecute  us  for  righteousness'  sake. 
They  do  nothing,  but  eat  the  bread  of  idleness.  We  work  with  our 
hands.  They  monopolize  the  giving  of  instruction,  and  '  wo  be  to 
them  that  take  away  the  key  of  knowledge.'  But  among  us,  women 
teach  as  well  as  men,  and  one  disciple,  as  soon  as  he  is  informed  him- 
self, teaches  another.  Among  them,  you  can  hardly  find  a  doctor  who 
can  repeat  three  chapters  of  the  New  Testament  by  heart — but  of  us 

*  The  reader  should  keep  in  mind,  that  at  this  time  the  use  of  the  Bible  was 
not  allowed  by  the  pope  to  the  laity,  and  indeed  very  few  of  the  clergy  knew 
any  thing  about  its  contents. 


352  History  of  the  Christian  Church. 

there  is  scarcely  man  or  woman  who  doth  not  retain  the  whole.  And 
because  we  are  sincere  believers  in  Christ,  and  all  teach  and  enforce  a 
holy  life  and  conversation,  these  Scribes  and  Pharisees  persecute  us  to 
death,  as  their  predecessors  did  Jesus  Christ."* 

The  plan  adopted  by  the  Waldenses,  for  engaging  the  attention  of 
others  to  the  word  of  God,  as  described  by  Reinerius  in  the  foregoing 
extract,  is  both  simple  and  striking,  and  deserves  the  attention  of  mis- 
sionaries in  the  present  day.  It  seems  to  have  been  prosecuted  for 
several  centuries,  even  beyond  the  times  of  the  Reformation,  as  appears 
from  the  following  circumstance : — The  first  editor  of  the  complete 
book  of  Reinerius,  was  Father  Gretzer,  who  published  it  in  the  year 
1613.  In  the  margin  of  that  work,  opposite  to  the  passage  above 
quoted,  he  has  placed  these  words :  "  This  is  a  true  picture  of  the  he- 
retics of  our  age,  particularly  of  the  Anabaptists."!  There  are  few  of 
the  Baptists  of  the  present  day,  it  is  to  be  hoped,  who  would  blush  to 
own  an  alliance  with  either  the  old  Waldensian  preachers,  or  the  here- 
tical Baptists  referred  to  by  this  father  of  the  Catholic  church,  at  least 
in  this  part  of  their  conduct;  and,  indeed,  it  woidd  be  well  if  all  our 
Missionaries  and  private  Christians  of  the  present  day  were  as  conver- 
sant with  the  word  of  God  as  the  Waldenses  even  in  that  dark  age  ap- 
pear, from  the  testimony  of  their  very  enemies,  to  have  been.  But  not 
to  enlarge,  I  close  this  section  by  laying  before  the  reader  a  few  of  the 
testimonies  that  were  borne  to  the  Waldenses,  by  our  first  Protestant 
reformers  and  earlier  historians,  who,  as  most  of  them  lived  about  three 
hundred  years  nearer  to  their  times  than  we  do,  may  reasonably  be 
supposed  so  much  better  qualified  for  appreciating  their  true  character. 

In  the  year  1530,  Ecolampadius,  one  of  the  reformers,  then  resident 
at  Basle,  in  Switzerland,  was  visited  by  George  Morell,  one  of  the 
pastors  among  the  Waldenses,  by  whom,  on  his  return  to  Provence, 
he  addressed  a  letter  "  to  his  well-beloved  brethren  in  Christ,  called 
Waldenses,"  and  it  is  as  follows: — 

"  We  have  learned  with  great  satisfaction,  by  your  faithful  pastor, 
George  Morell,  the  nature  of  your  faith  and  religious  profession,  and 
in  what  terms  you  declare  it.  Therefore,  we  thank  our  most  merciful 
Father,  who  hath  called  you  to  so  great  light  in  this  age,  amidst  the 
dark  clouds  of  ignorance  which  have  spread  themselves  over  the  world, 
and  notwithstanding  the  extravagant  power  of  Antichrist.  Wherefore 
we  acknowledge  that  Christ  is  in  you:  for  which  cause  we  love  you 
as  brethren  ;  and  would  to  God  we  were  able  to  make  you  sensible  in 
effect  of  that  which  we  shall  be  ready  to  do  for  you,  although  it  were 
to  be  done  with  the  utmost  difficulty.  Finally,  we  desire  that  what  we 
write  may  not  be  regarded  as  though  through  pride  we  arrogated  to 
ourselves  any  superiority  over  you,  but  consider  it  as  proceeding  from 
that  brotherly  love  and  charity  which  we  bear  towards  you.  The 
Father  of  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ  hath  imparted  to  you  an  excellent 
knowledge  of  his  truth,  beyond  that  of  many  other  people,  and  hath 
blessed  you  with  spiritual  blessings.     So  that  if  you  persevere  .'in  his 

•  Reinehi.  cap.  viii.  Quomodo  se  ingerant  familiuritati  mgnorum. 

•j-  Vera  effigies  hereticorum  nostrse  xtatis  [1613]  prxsertim  Anabaptistarum. 


Testimonies  in  jav our  of  the  Waldenses.  353 

grace,  he  hath  much  greater  treasures  wherewith  to  enrich  you,  and 
make  you  perfect,  according  to  your  advancement  in  the  measure  of  the 
inheritance  of  Christ." 

Luther,  in  the  year  1533,  published  the  Confessions  of  the  Wal- 
denses, to  which  he  wrote  a  preface.  In  that  preface  he  candidly  ac- 
knowledges that,  in  the  days  of  his  popery  he  had  hated  the  Wal- 
denses, as  persons  who  were  consigned  over  to  perdition.  But  having 
understood  from  their  confessions  and  writings  the  piety  of  their  faith, 
he  perceived  that  those  good  men  had  been  greatly  wronged  whom  the 
Pope  had  condemned  as  heretics ;  for  that,  on  the  contrary,  they  were 
rather  entitled  to  the  praise  due  to  holy  martyrs.  He  adds,  that 
among  them  he  had  found  one  thing  worthy  of  admiration,  a  thing  un- 
heard of  in  the  Popish  church,  that,  laying  aside  the  doctrines  of  men, 
they  meditated  in  the  law  of  God,  day  and  night ;  and  that  they  were 
expert,  and  even  well  versed  in  the  knowledge  of  the  Scriptures; 
whereas,  in  the  papacy,  those  who  are  called  masters  wholly  neglected 
the  Scriptures,  and  some  of  them  had  not  so  much  as  seen  the  Bible 
at  any  time.  Moreover,  having  read  the  Waldensian  Confessions,  he 
said  he  returned  thanks  to  God  for  the  great  light  which  it  had  pleased 
him  to  bestow  upon  that  people ;  rejoicing  that  all  cause  of  suspicion 
being  removed  which  had  existed  between  them  and  the  reformed, 
they  were  now  brought  together  into  one  sheepfold  under  the  Chief 
Shepherd  and  Bishop  of  souls.* 

Theodore  Beza,  the  cotemporary  and  colleague  of  Calvin,  in  his 
"Treatise  of  the  famous  pillars  of  learning  and  religion,"  says,  "As 
for  the  Waldenses,  I  may  be  permitted  to  call  them  the  very  seed  of 
the  primitive  and  purer  Christian  Church,  since  they  are  those  that 
have  been  upheld,  as  is  abundantly  manifest,  by  the  wonderful  provi- 
dence of  God,  so  that  neither  those  endless  storms  and  tempests  by 
which  the  whole  Christian  world  has  been  shaken  for  so  many  suc- 
ceeding ages,  and  the  western  parts  at  length  so  miserably  oppressed 
by  the  bishop  of  Rome,  falsely  so  called ;  nor  those  horrible  persecu- 
tions which  have  been  expressly  raised  against  them,  were  ever  able  so 
far  to  prevail  as  to  make  them  bend,  or  yield  a  voluntary  subjection  to 
the  Roman  tyranny  and  idolatry."! 

On  another  occasion  the  same  writer  remarks  that  "  The  Wal- 
denses, time  out  of  mind,  have  opposed  the  abuses  of  the  Church  of 
Rome,  and  have  been  persecuted  after  such  a  manner,  not  by  the  sword 
of  the  word  of  God,  but  by  every  species  of  cruelty,  added  to  a  million 
of  calumnies  and  false  accusations,  that  they  have  been  compelled  to 
disperse  themselves  wherever  they  could,  wandering  through  the  de- 
serts like  wild  beasts.  The  Lord,  nevertheless,  has  so  preserved  the 
residue  of  them,  that,  notwithstanding  the  rage  of  the  whole  world, 
they  still  inhabit  three  countries  at  a  great  distance  from  each  other, 
viz.  Calabria,  Bohemia,  and  Piedmont,  and  the  countries  adjoining, 
where  they  dispersed  themselves  from  the  quarters  of  Provence  about 

*  Morland's  History  of  the  Churches  of  Piedmont,  p.  58. — Perrin's  Vaudois, 
ch.  vi. 

f  Preface  to  Morland's  History,  p."  7. 

30* 


354  History  of  the  Christian  Church. 

two  hundred  and  seventy  years  ago.  And  as  to  their  religion,  they 
never  adhered  to  papal  superstitions  ;  for  which  reason  they  have  been 
continually  harassed  by  the  bishops  and  inquisitors  abusing  the  arm 
of  secular  justice,  so  that  their  continuance  to  the  present  time  is  evi- 
dently miraculous."* 

Bullinger,  in  his  preface  to  his  Sermons  on  the  Book  of  the  Reve- 
lation, (1530)  writes  thus  concerning  the  Waldenses.  "What  shall 
we  say,  that  for  four  hundred  years  and  more,  in  France,  Italv,  Ger- 
many, Poland,  Bohemia,  and  other  countries  throughout  the  world,  the 
Waldenses  have  sustained  their  profession  of  the  gospel  of  Christ; 
and  in  several  of  their  writings,  as  well  as  by  continual  preaching,  they 
have  accused  the  pope  as  the  real  Antichrist  foretold  by  the  apostle 
John,  and  whom  therefore  we  ought  to  avoid.  These  people  have  un- 
dergone divers  and  cruel  torments,  yet  have  they  constantly  and  openly 
given  testimony  to  their  faith  by  glorious  martyrdoms,  and  still  do  so 
even  to  this  day.  Although  it  has  often  been  attempted  by  the  most 
powerful  kings  and  princes,  instigated  by  the  pope,  it  hath  been  found 
impossible  to  extirpate  them,  for  God  hath  frustrated  their  efforts. "t 

Monsieur  de  Vignaux,  who  was  forty  years  pastor  of  one  of  the 
churches  of  the  Waldenses,  in  the  valleys  of  Piedmont,  and  died  at  the 
age  of  eighty,  wrote  a  treatise  concerning  their  life,  manners,  and  re- 
ligion, in  which  he  says;  "We  live  in  peace  and  harmony  one  with 
another,  have  intercourse  and  dealings  chiefly  among  ourselves,  having 
never  mingled  ourselves  with  the  members  of  the  church  of  Rome  by 
marrying  our  sons  to  their  daughters,  nor  our  daughters  to  their  sons. 
Yet  they  are  so  pleased  with  our  manners  and  customs,  that  Catholics, 
both  lords  and  others,  would  rather  have  men  and  maid  servants  from 
among  us,  than  from  those  of  their  own  religion ;  and  they  actually 
come  from  distant  parts  to  seek  nurses  among  us  for  their  little  chil- 
dren, finding,  as  they  say,  more  fidelity  among  our  people  than  their 
own."  He  then  gives  a  summary  of  their  doctrinal  principles,  for  the 
sake  of  which  they  have  been  persecuted ;  such  as  "  that  the  Holy 
Scriptures  contain  all  things  necessary  to  our  salvation,  and  that  we 
are  called  to  believe  only  what  they  teach,  without  any  regard  to  the 
authority  of  man — that  nothing  else  ought  to  be  received  by  us  except 
what  God  hath  commanded — that  there  is  only  one  mediator  between 
God  and  man,  and  consequently  that  it  is  wrong  to  invoke  the  saints. 
That  baptism  and  the  Lord's  supper  are  the  only  standing  ordinances  in 
the  church  of  Christ — that  all  masses  are  damnable,  and  ought  to  be 
abolished — that  all  human  traditions  are  to  be  rejected.  That  the  say- 
ing and  recital  of  the  office,  fasts  confined  to  particular  days,  super- 
fluous holy-days,  differences  of  meats,  so  many  degrees  and  orders  of 
priests,  monks,  and  nuns,  so  many  benedictions  and  consecrations  of 
creatures,  vows,  pilgrimages,  and  the  whole  vast  and  confused  mass 
of  ceremonies,  formerly  invented,  ought  to  be  abolished.  They  deny 
the  supremacy  of  the  pope,  and  more  especially  the  power  that  he  has 

*  History  of  the  reformed  Churches  in  France,  torn.  i.  b.  i.  p.  35.  in  Perrin, 
b.  i.  cli.  vi. 

j  Preface  to  his  Sermons,  quoted  by  Perrin,  ch.  vi. 


Milton's  testimony  to  the  Waldenses.  355 

usurped  over  the  civil  government,  and  admit  of  no  other  degrees  than 
bishops  and  deacons.  They  contend  that  the  See  of  Rome  is  the  true 
Babylon — the  marriage  of  the  clergy  lawful,  and  that  the  true  church  of 
Christ  consists  of  those  who  hear  the  word  of  God  and  believe  it.'** 

John  Chassagnon,  who  wrote  a  History  of  the  Albigenses,  says, 
"  It  is  recorded  of  the  Waldenses,  that  they  rejected  all  the  traditions 
and  ordinances  of  the  church  of  Rome  as  being  superstitious  and  unpro- 
fitable, and  that  they  made  light  of  the  whole  body  of  the  clergy  and 
prelates.  On  which  account,  having  been  excommunicated  and  ex- 
pelled their  country,  they  dispersed  themselves  in  different  places,  viz. 
into  Dauphiny,  Provence,  Languedoc,  Piedmont,  Calabria,  Bohemia, 
England,  and  elsewhere.  Some  siy,  that  a  part  of  the  Waldenses  re- 
tired into  Lombardy  (in  Italy)  where  fhey  multiplied  to  scuh  an  extent 
that  their  doctrine  spread  itself  through  Italy,  and  reached  even  into 
Sicily.  Nevertheless,  in  all  their  dispersions  they  maintained  among 
themselves  some  union  and  fraternity,  during  the  space  of  four  hun- 
dred years,  living  in  great  simplicity  and  the  fear  of  God."t 

To  these  numerous  testimonies,  I  shall  now  add  that  of  our  great 
poet  Milton,  who  seems  to" have  diligently  studied  the  character  of  the 
Waldenses,  and  to  have  well  understood  their  principles  and  the  con- 
stitution of  their  churches.  Of  this  the  reader  will  find  abundant 
evidence  hereafter,  in  the  numerous  letters  which  he  wrote  in  their  be- 
half to  the  Protestant  princes  of  Europe,  pleading  their  cause  against 
their  popish  persecutors.  What  I  have  at  present  in  view  is,  the  ac- 
count given  by  him  of  the  constitution  of  their  churches,  and  the  sim- 
plicity of  their  worship.  He  wrote  a  tract,  entitled,  "  Considerations 
touching  the  likeliest  means  to  remove  hirelings  out  of  the  church," 
addressed  to  the  Parliament  of  England  ;  in  which  he  shows  the  per- 
nicious effects  arising  from  the  endowing  of  churches  with  tithes ;  re- 
futes, in  the  most  convincing  manner,  the  various  pleas  which  were 
urged  by  Episcopalians  in  favour  of  that  practice  as  founded  on  the 
Jewish  law ;  and  frequently  adduces  the  happy  poverty  and  purity  of 
the  Waldenses,  as  forming  a  striking  contrast  to  the  corruptions  that 
abound  in  national  churches.  "  For  the  first  three  hundred  years  and 
upwards,"  says  he,  "in  all  the  ecclesiastical  story,  I  find  no  such  doc- 
trine or  example,  [as  that  of  supporting  the  pastors  of  Christian 
churches  by  the  imposition  of  tithes]  though  error  by  that  time  had 
brought  back  again  priests,  altars,  and  oblations  ;  and  in  many  other 
points  of  religion  had  miserably  Judaized  the  church." — "  The  first 
Christian  emperors,  who  did  all  things  as  bishops  advised  them,  sup- 
plied what  was  wanting  to  the  clergy,  not  out  of  tithes,  which  were 
never  mentioned,  but  out  of  their  own  imperial  revenues  ;  as  is  manifest 
inEusebius,  Theodoret,  and  Sozomen,  from  [the  times  of]  Constantine 
to  Arcadius.  Hence,  those  most  ancient  reformed  churches  of  the  Wal- 
denses, if  they  rather  continued  not  pure  since  the  apostles'  days,  de- 
nied that  tithes  were  to  be  given,  or  that  they  were  ever  given  in  the 
primitive  church,  as  appears  by  an  ancient  Tractate  inserted  in  the  Bo- 
hemian history.     The  [pastors  of  the]  poor  Waldenses,  the  ancient 

*  Perrin's  History,  b.  i.  cb.  vi.  f  Ibid, 


356  History  of  the  Christian  Church. 

stock  of  our  reformation,  without  the  help  (of  tithes)  bred  up  them- 
selves in  trades,  and  especially  in  physic  and  surgery,  as  well  as  in  the 
study  of  scripture,  which  is  the  only  true  theology,  that  they  might  be 
no  burden  to  the  church ;  and  after  the  example  of  Christ  might  cure 
both  soul  and  body,  through  industry  adding  that  to  their  ministry 
which  he  joined  to  his  by  the  gift  of  the  Spirit.  So  Peter  Gilles  re- 
lates, in  his  history  of  the  Waldenses  of  Piedmont.  But  our  ministers 
scorn  to  use  a  trade,  and  count  it  the  reproach  of  this  age  that  trades- 
men preach  the  gospel.  It  were  to  be  wished  they  were  all  tradesmen; 
they  would  not  then  for  want  of  another  trade  make  a  trade  of  their 
preaching:  and  yet  they  clamour  that  tradesmen  preach,  though  they 
preach  while  themselves  are  the  worst  tradesmen  of  all." — "  Seeing 
the  Christian  church  is  not  national,  but  consists  of  many  particular 
congregations,  not  determined  by  any  outward  judge  in  matters  of  con- 
science, those  pretended  church  revenues,  as  they  have  ever  been,  so 
they  are  likely  to  continue,  matters  of  endless  dissension  between  the 
church  and  the  magistrate,  and  the  churches  among  themselves  ;  there 
will,  therefore,  be  found  no  better  remedy  for  these  evils,  otherwise  in- 
curable, than  (after  the  example  of)  the  most  incorrupt  counsel  of  those 
Waldenses,  our  first  reformers,  to  remove  them  as  a  pest — an  apple  of 
discord  in  the  church  ;  for  what  else  can  the  effect  of  riches  be,  and  the 
snare  of  money  in  religion  ?  and  to  convert  them  to  more  profitable 
uses ;  considering  that  the  church  of  Christ  was  founded  in  poverty 
rather  than  in  revenues,  stood  purest,  and  prospered  most  without  them, 
received  them  unlawfully  from  those  who  both  erroneously  and  un- 
justly, sometimes  impiously,  given  them,  and  so  was  justly  ensnared 
and  corrupted  by  them." — "  The  Waldenses,  our  first  reformers,  both 
from  the  Scriptures  and  primitive  example,  maintained  those  among 
them  who  bore  the  office  of  ministers  by  alms  alone.  Take  their  very 
words  :  '  Our  food  and  clothing  are  sufficiently  administered  and  given 
to  us  by  way  of  gratuity  and  alms,  by  the  good  people  whom  we 
teach.'  As  for  church  endowments  and  possessions,  I  meet  with  none 
considerable  before  Constantine,  but  the  houses  and  gardens  where 
they  met,  and  their  places  of  burial :  and  I  persuade  myself,  that  from 
thence  the  ancient  Waldenses,  whom  I  deservedly  cite  so  often,  held 
that,  '  to  endow  churches  is  an  evil  thing,'  and  that  the  church  then  fell 
off  and  became  the  whore  sitting  on  that  beast  mentioned  in  the  book 
of  the  Revelation  when,  under  pope  Sylvester,  she  received  those  tem- 
poral donations.  So  the  forecited  Tractate  of  their  doctrine  testifies." 
Thus  far  Milton;  on  which  it  may  be  observed,  that  to  such  as  have 
studied  the  annals  of  the  Christian  church,  and  are  in  any  tolerable 
degree  aware  how  much  the  avarice,  pride,  and  ambition  of  the  clergy, 
have  in  all  ages  contributed  to  promote  the  corruptions  that  have  pre- 
vailed in  it,  both  in  doctrine,  discipline,  and  worship;  the  view  that 
he  gives  us  of  the  humble  and  self-denied  deportment  of  the  Waldensian 
pastors,  must  be  considered  as  one  of  the  strongest  evidences  that  can 
be  afforded  of  the  purity  of  the  communion  of  their  churches,  and  of 
their  close  adherence  to  the  pattern  left  them  for  imitation  in  the  ap- 
proved examples  of  the  New  Testament.  ButMilton  was  not  singular 
in  the  commendation  that  he  has  given  to  the  confessors  of  Piedmont ; 


Dr.  Jortin's  Testimony.  357 

for  thus  writes  the  candid  Jortin,  in  perfect  consistency  with  our  great 
poet.  "  The  Waldenses  taught  that  the  Roman  church  departed  from 
its  former  sanctity  and  purity  in  the  time  of  Constantine  the  Great ; 
they  therefore  refused  to  submit  to  the  usurped  powers  of  its  pontiff. 
They  said  that  the  prelates  and  doctors  ought  to  imitate  the  poverty  of 
the  apostles,  and  earn  their  bread  by  the  labour  of  their  hands.  They 
contended  that  the  office  of  teaching,  confirming,  and  admonishing 
the  brethren,  belonged  in  some  measure  to  all  Christians,  Sfc.  Their 
discipline  was  extremely  strict  and  austere  ;  for  they  interpreted  Christ's 
discourse  on  the  Mount  according  to  the  literal  sense  of  the  words,  and 
they  condemned  war,  law-suits,  the  acquisition  of  riches,  capital  punish- 
ments, oaths,  and  [even]  self-defence."  Again,  the  same  writer  re- 
marks, that  "  the  honest  Waldenses  very  plainly  discerned  that  the 
powers  usurped  by  the  popes  and  ecclesiastics  were  tyrannical  and  anti- 
christian ;  and  consequently  that  the  decretals  which  established  some 
of  those  notions  must  have  been  impudent  forgeries.  Why  could  not 
the  popes  discern  the  same  ?  Because  profaneness,  pride,  ambition, 
and  avarice,  hardened  their  hearts,  and  blinded  their  eyes ;  because  they 
would  neither  examine,  nor  let  other  people  examine."*  But  not  to 
enlarge  further  on  this  particular,  I  shall  close  this  section  with  a  few 
general  remarks. 

An  impartial  review  of  the  doctrinal  sentiments  maintained  by  the 
Waldenses ;  the  discipline,  order,  and  worship  of  their  churches,  as 
well  as  their  general  deportment  and  manner  of  life,  not  to  mention  their 
determined  and  uniform  opposition  to  the  church  of  Rome,  affords 
abundant  evidence  of  the  similarity  of  their  views  and  practices  to  those 
held  by  Luther,  Calvin,  and  the  other  illustrious  characters,  whose 
labours,  in  the  sixteenth  century,  contributed  so  eminently  to  effect  the 
glorious  Reformation.  Most  of  the  catholic  writers,  who  lived  about 
the  time  of  the  Reformation,  and  the  age  which  succeeded  it,  clearly 
saw  this  coincidence  between  the  principles  of  the  Waldenses,  and- 
those  of  the  reformers,  and  remarked  it  in  their  works.  The  following  ' 
are  instances  of  this. 

Cardinal  Hosius,  a  learned  and  zealous  champion  for  the  papacy, 
who  presided  at  the  council  of  Trent,  lived  during  the  Lutheran  refor- 
mation, and  wrote  a  history  of  the  heresies  of  his  own  times,  in  which 
he  says,  "the  leprosy  of  the  Waldenses  spread  its  infection  throughout 
all  Bohemia — and  following  the  doctrine  of  Waldo,  the  greatest  part  of 
that  kingdom  separated  itself  from  the  church  of  Rome." 

Lindanus,  a  catholic  bishop  of  the  see  of  Ghent,  who  wrote  in  de- 
fence of  the  tenets  of  the  church  of  Rome,  about  1550,  terms  Calvin  the 
inheritor  of  the  doctrine  of  the  Waldenses." 

Mezeray,  the  celebrated  historiographer  of  France,  in  his  Abridge- 
ment of  Chronology,  speaking  of  the  Waldenses,  says,  "They  held 
nearly  the  same  opinions  as  those  who  are  now  called  Calvinists." 

Gualtier,  a  Jesuitical  monk,  in  his  chronographical  tables,  drew  up 
a  catalogue  consisting  of  seven  and  twenty  particulars,  in  which  he 
shows  that  the  principles  of  the  Waldenses,  and  those  of  the  Calvinists 
coincided  with  each  other. 

*  Remarks  on  Eccles.  Hist.  vol.  iii.  p.  303. 


358  History  of  the  Christian  Church. 

Thomas  Walden,  who  wrote  against  Wickliff,  says,  that  the  doc- 
trine of  Peter  Waldo  was  conveyed  from  France  into  England — and  that 
among  others  Wickliff  received  it.  In  this  opinion  he  is  joined  by 
Alphonsus  de  Castro,  who  says  that  Wickliff  only  brought  to  light 
again  the  errors  of  the  Waldenses.  Cardinal  Bcllarmine,  also,  is  pleased 
to  say  that  "  Wickliff  could  add  nothing  to  the  heresy  of  the  Walden- 
ses." 

Eccmus  reproached  Luther,  that  he  only  renewed  the  heresies  of  the 
Waldenses  and  Albigenses,  of  Wickliff  and  of  Huss, which  had  long 
ago  been  condemned.  With  him  may  also  be  classed  Claude  Rubis, 
who  wrote  the  History  of  the  city  of  Lyons,  in  which,  adverting  to  the 
principles  of  Luther,  he  says,  "the  heresies  that  have  been  current  in 
our  time  are  founded  upon  those  of  the  Waldenses,"  and  he  calls  them 
"  the  relics  of  Waldo." 

iENEAS  Sylvius  (afterwards  Pope  Pius  II.)  declares  the  doctrine 
taught  by  Calvin  to  be  the  same  as  that  of  the  Waldenses.  In  this 
opinion  he  was  followed  by  John  de  Cardonne,  who,  in  his  life  of  the 
Monk  of  the  Valleys  of  Sernay,  thus  quaintly  expresses  himself, 

"  What  the  sect  of  Geneva  doth  admit, 
The  Albigenses  did  commit."* 

To  these  impartial  testimonies,  which  are  more  than  sufficient  to  set- 
tle the  question  of  family  likeness,  I  shall  only  add  that  of  the  learned 
Limborch,  professor  of  divinity  in  the  university  of  Amsterdam,  and 
that  of  Dr.  Mosheim,  the  ecclesiastical  historian.  The  former,  com- 
paring them  with  the  Christians  of  his  own  time,  says,  "  To  speak 
candidly  what  I  think,  of  all  the  modem  sects  of  Christians,  the  Dutch 
Baptists,  most  resemble  both  the  Albigenses  and  Waldenses. "t  The 
latter,  notwithstanding  the  flimsy,  confused,  and,  in  many  instances, 
the' erroneous  account  which  he  has  given  of  the  Waldenses,  yet  has 
expressly  owned,  that  "  before  the  rise  of  Luther  and  Calvin,  there  lay 
concealed,  in  almost  all  the  countries  of  Europe,  persons  who  adhered 
tenaciously  to  the  principles  of  the  modern  Dutch  Baptists. "% 


SECTION  V. 

SOME    ACCOUNT    OF    THE    RISE    AND  ESTABLISHMENT  OF  THE  INQUISITION, 
WITH  REFLECTIONS  ON  ITS  GENERAL  SPIRIT  AND  OPERATION. 

The  preceding  sections  will  have  enabled  the  reader  to  form  a  toler- 
ably correct  judgment  concerning  the  religious  principles  and  general 
character  of  that  denomination  of  Christians  called  Catharists,  Paterines, 

*  Perrin's  Hist,  des  Vaudois,  b.  i.  ch.  viii.  where  the  references  to  these  authors 
are  given. 

f  Limborch's  History  of  the  Inquisition,  Vol.  I.  ch.  viii. 

i  Mosheim's  Eccles.  History,  cent.  xvi.  sect.  iii.  part.  ii.  ch.  iii. 


Origin  of  the  Inquisition.  359 

Albigenses,  or  Waldenses  ;  and  I  should  now  proceed  to  a  more  detailed 
account  of  their  history,  subsequent  to  the  times  of  Peter  Waldo,  and 
especially  of  the  dreadful  persecutions  and  complicated  sufferings  which 
came  upon  them  in  consequence  of  their  adherence  "  to  the  command- 
ments of  God  and  the  faith  of  Jesus ;"  but  it  will  be  proper,  in  this 
place,  to  take  a  glance  at  the  origin,  the  establishment,  and  the  opera- 
tion of  that  monstrous  system  of  cruelty  and  oppression,  gently  called 
by  the  Catholics  "  the  holy  office,"  though  better  known  among  Pro- 
testants by  the  name  of  the  Inquisition.* 

It  was  not  until  about  the  year  1200,  the  papal  chair  being  then  fill- 
ed by  Innocent  III.  that  the  terms  "  Inquisition  into  heresy,"  and 
"  Inquisitor,"  were  much,  if  at  all,  neard  of.  The  bishops,  and  their 
vicars,  being,  in  the  pope's  apprehension,  neither  so  fit  nor  so  diligent 
in  the  discharge  of  their  duty  respecting  the  extirpation  of  heresy  as  he 
thought  necessary,  two  new  orders  of  regulars  were  at  this  time  insti- 
tuted, viz.  those  of  St.  Dominic  and  St.  Francis,  both  zealously  devoted 
to  the  church,  and  consisting  of  persons  with  whom  the  advancement 
of  Christianity,  and  the  exaltation  of  the  pontifical  power,  were  always 
synonymous  terms.  To  St.  Dominic,  indeed,  the  honour  of  first  sug- 
gesting the  erection  of  this  extraordinary  court  is  commonly  ascribed. 
It  was  not,  however,  at  first,  on  the  same  footing  on  which  it  after- 
wards settled,  and  on  which  it  has  since  continued.  The  first  inquisi- 
tors were  vested  with  a  double  capacity,  not  very  happily  conjoined  in 
the  same  persons  ;  one  was  that  of  preachers,  to  convince  the  heretics 
by'argument;  the  other  that  of  persecutors,  to  instigate  magistrates  to 
employ  every  possible  method  of  extirpating  the  refractory — that  is,  all 
who  were  so  unreasonable  as  not  to  be  convinced  by  the  profound  rea- 
soning of  those  merciless  fanatics  and  wretched  sophisters. 

Dominic  descended  from  an  illustrious  Spanish  family  of  the  name 
of  Guzman,  was  the  son  of  Felix  and  Joanna,  and  born  at  the  village 
of  Cabaroga,  in  the  year  1170,  in  the  diocese  of  Osma.  His  mother 
during  her  pregnancy,  is  said  to  have  dreamed  that  she  was  with  child 
of  a  pup,  carrying  in  its  mouth  a  lighted  torch  ;  that  after  its  birth,  it 

*  As  I  shall  have  occasion,  in  the  subsequent  pages  of  this  work  to  make  fre- 
quent references  to  "  Limborch's  History  of  the  Inquisition,"  it  is  proper  the 
reader  should  be  apprized  of  the  degree  of  credit  which  is  due  to  that  author's 
statements.  He  was  a  native  of  Amsterdam,  born  1633,  a  person  of  great  learn- 
ing and  talents,  which  raised  him  to  the  rank  of  professor  of  divinity  in  that  city. 
When  his  History  of  the  Inquisition  first  came  over  to  England,  it  was  received 
with  the  highest  approbation  by  many  of  the  principal  nobility  and  clergy.  In 
particular,  Mr.  Locke,  that  incomparable  judge  of  men  and  books,  bestowed  the 
highest  eulogiums  upon  it, — commended  it  for  its  method  and  perspicuity,  and 
the  authorities  by  which  it  is  so  abundantly  confirmed, — and  pronounced  it  to  be 
a  work  of  its  kind  absolutely  perfect.  In  a  letter  to  Limborch  himself,  he  tells 
him,  that  he  had  so  fully  exposed  their  secret  acts  of  wickedness  and  cruelty, 
that  if  the  Papists  had  any  remains  of  humanity  in  them  they  must  be  ashamed  of 
their  horrid  tribunals,  in  which  every  thing  that  was  just  and  righteous  was  so 
monstrously  perverted;  and  that  it  was  proper  it  should  be  translated  into  the 
vulgar  language  of  every  nation,  that  the  meanest  people  might  understand  the 
antichristian  practices  of  that  execrable  court.  The  Papists  became  so  alarmed 
at  its  publication,  that  the  cardinals,  inquisitors  general  at  Rome,  condemned  it 
by  an  edict,  and  forbade  the  reading  of  it,  under  the  severest  penalties. 


360  History  of  the  Christian  Church. 

put  the  world  in  an  uproar  by  its  fierce  barkings,  and  at  length  set  it 
on  fire  by  the  torch  which  it  carried  in  its  mouth.  His  followers  have 
interpreted  this  dream,  of  his  doctrine,  by  which  he  enlightened  the 
world ;  while  others,  if  dreams  presage  any  thing,  think  that  the  torch 
was  an  emblem  of  that  fire  and  faggot  by  which  an  infinite  multitude  of 
persons  were  burnt  to  ashes.*  He  was  educated  for  the  priesthood, 
and  grew  up  the  most  fiery  and  the  most  sanguinary  of  mortals.  Be- 
fore his  time  every  bishop  was  a  sort  of  inquisitor  in  his  own  diocese; 
but  Dominic  contrived  to  incorporate  a  body  of  men,  independent  of 
every  human  being  except  the  pope,  for  the  express  purpose  of  ensnar- 
ing and  destroying  Christians.  He  was  well  aware,  that  however 
loudly  the  priests  declaimed  against  heresy,  the  lords  of  the  soil  would 
not  suffer  them  to  butcher  their  tenants  under  any  such  vain  pretences. 
In  Biscay,  the  priesthood  was  at  a  very  low  ebb,  in  the  eleventh  cen- 
tury, and  the  clergy  complained  to  the  king  of  Navarre  that  the  nobi- 
lity and  gentry  treated  them  very  little  better  than  their  slaves,  employ- 
ing them  chiefly  only  to  breed  up  and  feed  their  hogs.  Nearly  a  cen- 
tury after  that  time,  in  a  neighbouring  state,  when  the  renowned  St. 
Bernard  began,  in  a  sermon  to  a  crowded  auditory,  to  inveigh  against 
heresy,  the  nobility  and  gentry  all  rose  up  and  left  the  church,  and  the 
people  followed  them.  The  preacher  came  down  and  proceeded  to  the 
market  place,  where  he  attempted  to  harangue  on  the  same  subject ; 
but  the  populace,  wiser  than  the  preacher,  refused  to  hear  him,  and 
raised  such  a  clamour  as  drowned  his  voice,  and  compelled  him  to  de- 
sist. Only  one  expedient  remained, — Bernard  recollected  that  Jesus  had 
ordered  his  apostles,  in  certain  cases,  to  shake  off  the  dust  of  their  feet, 
and  as  though  he  were  an  apostle  and  had  received  the  same  command, 
he  affected  to  imitate  the  example.  He  left  the  city,  shook  his  feet, 
and  cursed  the  inhabitants  by  exclaiming,  "  May  the  Almighty  punish 
this  city  with  a  draught."  Thus  far  went  the  rage  of  Catholicism  at 
the  beginning  of  the  twelfth  century,  and  here  its  proud  waves  were 
stayed ;  but  at  the  commencement  of  the  thirteenth,  about  the  year 
1215,  Dominic  broke  down  the  dam,  and  covered  Toulouse  with  a  tide 
of  despotism  stained  with  human  blood.  Posterity  will  scarcely  be- 
lieve that  this  enemy  of  mankind,  after  forming  a  race  like  himself, 
first  called  preaching,  and  then  Dominican  friars,  died  in  his  bed,  was 
canonized  for  a:  saint,  worshipped  as  a  divinity,  and  proposed  as  a  mo- 
del of  piety  and  virtue  to  succeeding  generations.!  Never,  says  Dr. 
Geddes,  was  there  such  a  rabble  in  the  world  as  a  Spanish  saint-roll. 
The  first  class  of  them  are  ideal  beings,  or  pagans,  or  enthusiastics ; 
but  the  last  are  saints  with  a  vengeance,  for  all  their  steps  to  Paradise 
are  marked  with  human  blood.J 

The  inquisitors,  at  first  had  no  tribunals  ;  they  merely  inquired  after 
heretics,  their  number,  strength,  and  riches.  When  they  had  detected 
them,  they  informed  the  bishops,  who  at  that  time,  had  the  sole  power 
of  judging  in  ecclesiastical  affairs,  urging  them  to  anathematize,  banish, 
or  otherwise  chastise  such  heretical  persons  as  they  brought  before 

•  Limborch's  History  of  the  Inquisition,  Vol.  I.  ch.  x. 
f  Robinson's  Ecclesiastical  Researches,  p.  321. 
i  Miscellaneous  Tracts,  vol.  i. 


Sanguinary  edicts  of  Frederick  II.  361 

them.  It  is  true,  says  bishop  Burnet,  adverting  to  these  times,  the 
church  pretended  that  she  would  shed  no  blood ;  but  all  this  was  in- 
sufferable juggling.  For  the  churchmen  declared  who  were  heretics, 
and  the  secular  arm  was  required  to  be  always  in  readiness  to  execute 
their  sentence.  This  was  not  only  claimed  by  the  bishops,  but  it  was 
made  a  part  of  their  oath  at  their  consecration,  "  that  they  should  op- 
pose and  persecute  heretics  to  the  utmost  of  their  power."  Nor  were 
they  contented  to  proceed  by  the  common  rules  of  justice,  upon  accu- 
sations and  witnesses  ;  but  all  forms  were  superseded,  and  by  virtue 
of  their  pastoral  authority,  as  if  that  had  been  given  them  to  worry 
their  sheep  and  not  to  feed  them,  they  objected  articles  to  their  prison- 
ers upon  suspicion,  requiring  them  to  purge  themselves  of  them  by 
oath.  And  because  bishops  were  not  perhaps  all  equally  zealous  and 
cruel,  that  bloody  man  Dominic,  took  this  work  to  task,  and  his  order 
has  ever  since  furnished  the  world  with  a  set  of  inquisitors,  compared 
to  whom  all  that  had  ever  dealt  in  tortures,  in  any  former  times,  were 
mere  bunglers.* 

Sometimes  they  excited  princes  to  arm  their  subjects  against  them, 
and  at  other  times  they  inflamed  tiie  rabble,  whom  they  themselves 
headed,  to  take  up  arms  and  unite  in  extirpating  them.  Such  as  they 
could  prevail  upon  to  devote  themselves  to  this  service,  obtained  the 
title  of  crusaders,  and  were  distinguished  by  a  cross  of  cloth  affixed  to 
their  garments.  This  badge  operated  like  a  charm  upon  the  deluded 
populace,  who,  if  they  were  inflamed  before,  now  became  infuriate, 
and,  as  one  happily  expresses  it,  were  raised  to  a  super-celestial  sort  of 
virtue,  which  defies  all  the  restraints  of  reason  and  humanity.  Things 
remained  pretty  much  in  this  state  till  about  the  year  1250 ;  that  is,  for 
half  a  century. 

During  this  period  the  efforts  of  the  inquisitors  were  greatly  assisted 
by  the  emperor  of  the  Romans,  Frederick  II.  who  in  the  year  1224, 
promulgated,  from  Padua,  four  edicts  against  heretics,  of  the  most  fero- 
cious and  sanguinary  description,  addressed  to  his  beloved  princes,  the 
venerable  archbishops,  bishops,  and  other  prelates  of  the  church  ;  to  the 
dukes,  marquises,  earls,  barons,  governors,  judges,  ministers,  officials, 
and  all  other  his  faithful  subjects  throughout  the  empire.  In  these  edicts 
he  takes  the  inquisitors  under  his  protection,  imposes  on  obstinate  here- 
tics the  punishment  of  being  burnt  to  death,  and  of  perpetual  imprison- 
ment on  the  penitent,  committing  the  cognizance  of  the  crime  to  the 
ecclesiastical,  and  the  condemnation  of  the  criminals,  as  well  as  the  in- 
fliction of  the  punishment,  to  the  secular  judges.  As  the  object  of  all 
these  bloody  edicts  was  chiefly  to  destroy  the  Waldenses  or  Albigenses, 
it  may  not  be  foreign  to  our  purpose  to  give  a  specimen  of  the  spirit 
that  breathes  throughout  the  whole  of  them. 

"  The  care  of  the  imperial  government,"  says  his  Majesty,  "com- 
mitted to  us  from  heaven,  and  over  which  we  preside,  demands  the 
material  sword,  which  is  given  to  us  separately  from  the  priesthood, 
against  the  enemies  of  the  faith,  and  for  the  extirpation  of  heretical  pra- 

•  Bishop  Burnet's  Remarks  concerning  Persecution,  prefixed  to  his  Transla- 
tion of  Lactantius'  Relation  of  the  Deaths  of  the  Primitive  Persecutors.  Amst. 
1687.  p.  34,  &c. 

31 


362  History  of  the  Christian  Church. 

vity,  that  we  should  pursue  with  judgment  and  justice  those  vipers  and 
perfidious  children  who  insult  the  Lord  and  his  church,  as  though  they 
would  tear  out  the  very  bowels  of  their  mother.  We  shall  not  sufTec 
these  wretches  to  live  who  infect  the  world  by  their  seducing  doct-ines, 
and  who,  being  themselves  corrupted,  more  grievously  taint  the  flock 
of  the  faithful."  He  then  proceeds  to  pronounce  the  most  dreadful  sen- 
tence against  all  persons  convicted  of  heresy,  against  all  who  may  be 
employed  as  advocates  for  them,  and  against  all  who  may  be  detected 
in  receiving  and  abetting  them,  condemning  their  persons,  disinheriting 
their  children,  and  confiscating  their  property. 

The  second  edict,  though  not  less  sanguinary,  was  more  definite  in 
its  object,  since  it  professes  to  have  directly  in  view  the  destruction  of 
the  sect  of  the  Paterines,  of  whom,  it  will  be  recollected,  a  particular 
account  has  been  given  in  a  former  section.  The  reader  shall  have  a 
specimen.  "  The  heretics  are  endeavouring  to  rend  the  seamless  co;ir. 
of  our  God,  and  raging  with  deceitful  words,  strive  to  divide  the  unity 
of  the  invisible  faith  itself,  and  to  separate  the  sheep  from  the  care  of 
St.  Peter,  to  whom  they  were  committed  by  the  Good  Shepherd,  to  be 
fed.  These  are  the  ravenous  wolves  within,  who  put  on  the  meekness 
of  the  sheep,  that  they  may  the  better  enter  into  the  Lord's  sheepfolc1. 
These  are  the  worst  angels — the  sons  of  naughtiness,  of  the  father  of 
wickedness — appointed  to  deceive  simple  souls.  These  are  adders  who 
deceive  the  doves — serpents  which  crawl  in  private,  and  under  the 
sweetness  of  honey,  vomit  poison;  so  that  whilst  they  pretend  to  ad- 
minister the  food  of  life,  they  sting  with  their  tail,  and  mingle  the  most 
bitter  poison  into  the  cup  of  death. — They  call  themselves  Paterines, 
after  the  example  of  the  martyrs.*  These  miserable  Paterines,  who 
do  not  believe  the  eternal  Trinity,  by  their  complicated  wickedness 
offend  against  three,  viz.  God,  their  neighbour,  and  themselves. 
Against  God,  because  they  do  not  acknowledge  the  Son  and  the  true 
faith — they  deceive  their  neighbours,  whilst  under  the  pretence  of  spi- 
ritual food,  they  minister  the  delights  of  heretical  pravity — but  their 
cruelty  to  themselves  is  yet  more  savage,  since,  besides  the  loss  of  their 
immortal  souls,  they  expose  their  bodies  to  a  cruel  death,  being  prodigal 
of  their  lives  and  fearless  of  destruction,  which  by  acknowledging  the 
true  faith  they  might  escape,  and,  which  is  horrible  to  express,  their 
survivors  are  not  terrified  by  their  example.  Against  such  enemies  to 
God  and  man  we  cannot  contain  our  indignation,  nor  refuse  to  punish 
them  with  the  sword  of  just  vengeance,  but  shall  pursue  them  with  so 
much  the  greater  vigour,  as  they  appear  to  spread  wider  the  crimes  of 
their  superstition,  to  the  most  evident  injury  of  the  Christian  faith,  and 
of  the  church  of  Rome,  which  is  adjudged  to  be  the  head  of  all  other 
churches."  The  edict  then  proceeds  to  denounce  every  one  convicted 
of  belonging  to  the  sect  of  the  Paterines,  as  guilty  of  the  crime  of  high 
treason — to  be  punished  with  the  loss  of  life  and  of  goods,  and  their 

*  "Paterines,  after  the  example  of  the  martyrs."  Notwithstanding'  the  ob- 
scurity which  rests  upon  the  etymology  of  this  name,  does  it  not  appear  evident 
from  this  Imperial  Edict,  that  it  was  "then  understood  to  have  been  conferred  on 
•'hese  people  on  account  of  the  sufferings  to  which  they  were  exposed — and  if  so, 
nay  it  not  be  derived  from  the  Latin  verb  Pati,   "  to  suffer  ?" 


Sanguinary  Edicts  of  Frederick  II.  363 

memory  rendered  infamous.  It  enjoins  that  strict  inquiry  be  made  by 
the  officials,  after  all  such  as  commit  those  crimes,  and  wherever  the 
smallest  suspicion  exists,  that  such  be  examined  by  the  ecclesiastics 
and  prelates,  and  if  found  to  err  in  one  point  from  the  Catholic  faith, 
they  are,  in  case  of  obstinacy,  by  that  edict  condemned  to  suffer  death, 
— t'o  be  committed  to  the  punishment  of  the  flames,  and  to  be  burned 
alive  in  public  view — forbidding  any,  on  pain  of  incurring  the  imperial 
indignation,  to  intercede  for  such  persons. 

The  third  law  is  as  follows — "  We  condemn  the  receivers,  accom- 
plices, and  abettors  of  the  Paterines,  to  forfeiture  of  their  goods,  and. 
perpetual  banishment,  who  by  their  care  to  save  others,  have  no  fear  or 
regard  for  themselves.  Let  not  their  children  be  in  any  wise  admitted 
to  honours,  but  always  accounted  infamous,  nor  let  them  be  allowed  as 
witnesses  in  any  causes  in  which  infamous  persons  are  refused.  But 
if  the  children  of  those  who  favour  the  Paterines  shall  discover  any  one 
of  them,  so  that  he  shall  be  convicted,  let  them,  as  the  reward  of  their 
acknowledgment  of  the  faith,  be  entirely  restored  by  our  imperial  fa- 
vour, to  their  forfeited  honour  and  estate." 

In  the  fourth  edict  his  Imperial  Majesty  is  pleased  thus  to  proceed, 
— "  We  condemn  to  perpetual  infamy,  withdraw  our  protection  from, 
and  put  under  our  ban,*  the  Puritans,  Paterines,  Leonists,  Arnoldists, 
Passignes,  Josephines,  Albigenses,  Waldenses,  &c.  and  all  other  here- 
tics of  both  sexes,  and  of  whatsoever  name;  and  ordain  that  their 
goods  may  be  so  confiscated  as  that  their  children  may  never  inherit 
them,  since  it  is  much  more  heinous  to  offend  the  eternal  than  the  tem- 
poral majesty."  It  then  proceeds  to  condemn  all  suspected  persons,  as 
Heretics,  if  they  do  not  purge  themselves  within  a  year — commands  the 
officials  to  exterminate  heretics  from  all  places  subject  to  them — orders 
that  the  lands  of  the  barons  shall  be  seized  by  the  Catholics,  if  they  do 
not  purge  them  from  heretics,  within  a  year  after  proper  admonition, 
and  ordains  various  punishments  against  all  the  favourers  of  heretics — 
thus  closing  the  dreadful  catalogue  :  "  Furthermore,  we  put  under  our 
ban  those  who  believe,  receive,  defend,  and  favour  heretics ;  ordaining 
that  if  any  person  shall  refuse  to  give  satisfaction  within  a  year  after 
his  excommunication,  he  shall  be,  ipso  jure,  infamous,  and  not  admitted 
to  any  kind  of  public  offices — let  him  be  intestable,  and  let  him  not 
have  the  power  of  making  a  will,  nor  of  receiving  any  thing  by  succes- 
sion or  inheritance.  Moreover,  let  no  one  answer  for  him  in  any  af- 
fair, but  let  him  be  obliged  to  answer  others.  If  he  should  be  a  judge, 
let  his  sentence  be  of  no  effect,  nor  any  causes  be  heard  before  him.  If 
an  advocate,  let  him  never  be  admitted  to  plead  in  any  one's  defence. 
If  a  notary,  let  no  instruments  made  by  him  be  valid.  We  add,  that 
an  heretic  may  be  convicted  by  an  heretic,  and  that  the  houses  of  the 
Paterines  their  abettors  and  favourers,  either  where  they  have  taught, 
or  where  they  have  laid  hands  on  others,  shall  be  destroyed,  never  to 
be  rebuilt."t— Bated  at  Padua,  Feb.  22,  1224. 

*  For  the  meaning  of  this,  the  reader  may  revert  to  vol.  i.  ch.  iv. 
f  The  reader  will  find  these  Edicts  entire  in  the  first  vol.  of  Limborch's  His- 
tory of  the  Inquisition,  ch.  xii. 


364  History  of  the  Christian  Church. 

Any  thing  more  infamous  than  these  edicts,  in  the  way  of  spiritual 
tyranny,  it  would  be  difficult  to  imagine ;  and  although,  by  reason  of 
the  circumstances  of  the  times,  and  the  differences  which  soon  arose 
between  the  pope  and  the  emperor,  they  had  not  all  that  effect  which 
might  have  been  expected,  it  is,  nevertheless,  certain  that  the  inquisi- 
tion was  greatly  promoted  by  them.  They  were  approved  and  con- 
firmed by  the  pope,  and  inserted  in  his  bulls,  and  in  process  of  time, 
the  persecuting  spirit  which  pervades  them,  came  gradually  to  be  in- 
corporated into  the  laws  of  almost  every  country  in  Europe. 

After  the  death  of  Frederick,  which  happened  about  the  middle  of 
the  century,  pope  Innocent  IV.  remaining  sole  arbiter  of  the  affairs  of 
Lombardy  and  other  parts  of  Italy,  set  himself  diligently  to  extirpate 
heresy,  which  of  late  had  exceedingly  increased  ;  and  considering  the 
labour  which  had  been  employed  in  his  service  by  the  Franciscan  and 
Dominican  friars,  whose  zeal,  unrestrained  by  either  respect  of  persons 
or  the  fear  of  dangers — by  any  regard  to  justice  or  the  feelings  of  hu- 
manity, had  recommended  them  highly  to  the  pontiff,  he  cheerfully 
availed  himself  of  their  ardour  to  second  his  efforts.  Preaching  was 
found  of  little  avail,  and  even  the  enlisting  of  crusaders  and  inflicting 
military  execution  was  suspended  for  the  sake  of  erecting  in  different 
countries  standing  tribunals  armed  with  tremendous  authority,  but 
charged  solely  with  the  purgation  of  heretical  pravity.* 

To  the  establishment  of  these  novel  tribunals  there  were,  however, 
two  objections  started.  The  first,  that  it  was  an  encroachment  on  the 
authority  of  the  ordinary  bishop  of  the  place,  and  the  second,  that  it 
was  unprecedented  to  exclude  the  civil  magistrate  from  the  trial  and 
punishment  of  heretics,  on  whom  it  had  hitherto  devolved.  To  remove 
the  first  of  these  difficulties,  an  expedient  was  soon  devised — the  pope 
enacted  that  the  tribunal  should  consist  of  the  inquisitor,  with  the  bishop 
of  the  place  also,  but  so  managing  the  affair,  at  the  same  time,  that  the 
inquisitor  was  not  only  to  be  the  principal,  but,  in  reality,  every  thing, 
and  leaving  the  bishop  little  more  than  the  name  of  a  judge.  To  re- 
medy the  second  inconvenience,  and  to  give  at  least  the  appearance  of 
authority  to  the  secular  powers,  they  were  allowed  to  appoint  the  sub- 
ordinate officers  to  the  inquisition,  yet  still  subject  to  the  approbation  of 
the  inquisitors ;  they  were  also  allowed  to  send  with  the  inquisitor, 
when  he  should  go  into  the  country,  one  of  their  assessors,  whom  the 
inquisitors  should  choose.  Of  all  the  property  belonging  to  the  heretics 
which  they  should  be  enabled  to  confiscate,  a  third  part  was  to  go  to 
the  community,  in  return  for  which,  the  community  was  to  defray  the 
whole  expense  of  keeping  the  prisons,  and  supporting  the  prisoners. 
The  infliction  of  the  legal  punishment  was  also  vested  in  the  magis- 
trate, after  trial  and  condemnation  by  the  inquisitors ;  but  that  was  a 
matter  so  much  of  course,  and  which  he  well  knew  he  could  not  avoid 
executing,  without  incurring  the  vengeance  of  the  church,  that,  in  fact, 

•  The  phrase  "heretical  pravity,"  will  sound  rather  uncouth  to  modern  ears 
that  have  not  been  accustomed  to  the  jargon  of  the  catholic  writers,  but  the 
reader  should  be  told  that  it  is  the  usual  slang  of  those  writers  for  denoting  the 
Wickedness  of  thinking  differently  from  the  church  of  Home. 


Progress  of  the  Inquisition.  365 

it  only  converted  him  into  a  spiritual  judge's  executioner:  and  thus,  to 
use  the  language  of  Dr.  Jortin,  "  the  priest  was  the  judge,  and  the  king 
was  the  hangman."* 

Such  was  the  footing  on  which  "  the  holy  office"  was  placed  in 
the  year  1251,  in  the  ecclesiastical  states  of  Italy,  which  were  under 
the  pope's  immediate  inspection.  It  was  afterwards  extended  to  more 
distant  provinces,  and  every  where  entrusted  to  the  management  of  Do- 
minican friars.  Thirty-one  rules  or  articles,  defining  their  jurisdiction 
and  powers,  and  regulating  the  procedure  of  this  spiritual  court  of  judi- 
cature, were  devised;  and  all  rulers  and  magistrates  were  commanded, 
by  a  papal  bull,  issued  for  the  purpose,  to  give,  under  pain  of  excom- 
munication, the  most  punctual  obedience,  and  every  possible  assistance 
to  this  holy  court. 

It  should,  however,  be  remarked,  that  the  attempts  which  were  made 
to  introduce  the  inquisition,  did  not  prove  equally  successful  in  all  Ro- 
man Catholic  states,  nor  even  in  the  greater  part  of  them.  It  was  never 
in  the  power  of  the  pope  to  obtain  the  establishment  of  this  tribunal  in 
many  of  the  most  populous  countries  that  were  subject  to  the  See  of 
Rome.  In  France  it  was  early  introduced,  but  soon  afterwards  ex- 
pelled, in  such  a  manner,  as  effectually  to  preclude  a  renewal  of  the 
attempt.  The  difficulties  arose  partly  from  the  conduct  of  the  inqui- 
sitors— their  inordinate  severity,  their  unbounded  extortion  and  avarice, 
and  the  propensity  they  showed,  on  every  occasion,  to  extend  beyond 
measure,  their  own  authority  ;  insomuch  that  they  were  making  rapid 
strides  to  engross,  under  one  pretext  or  another,  all  the  criminal  juris- 
diction of  the  magistrate ;  for  under  the  head  of  heresy,  they  insisted, 
were  included,  infidelity,  blasphemy,  perjury,  sorcery,  poisoning,  bi- 
gamy, usury  !  Another  reason  was,  that  the  tribunal  was  found  to  be 
so  expensive,  that  the  community  refused  to  sustain  the  burden  of  it. 
Nor  has  it  been  alike  severe  in  every  place  into  which  it  has  been  in- 
troduced. In  Spain  and  Portugal  this  scourge  and  disgrace  to  humanity 
has  for  centuries  glared,  monster  like,  with  its  most  frightful  aspect— 
in  Rome  it  has  been  much  more  tolerable.  Papal  avarice  has  served  to 
counterbalance  papal  tyranny.  The  wealth  of  modern  Rome  has  arisen 
very  much  from  the  constant  resort  of  strangers  from  all  countries  and 
of  all  denominations,  and  chiefly  those  of  the  higher  ranks.  Nothing 
could  have  more  effectually  checked  that  resort,  and  of  course  the  in- 
flux of  riches  into  that  capital,  than  such  a  horrid  tribunal  as  that 
which  existed  at  Lisbon  and  Madrid,  and  which  diffused  a  terror  that 
was  felt  to  the  utmost  confines  of  those  unhappy  kingdoms. 

Exclusive  of  the  cruel  punishments  inflicted  by  the  holy  office,  says 
a  late  writer,  it  may  be  truly  affirmed,  that  the  inquisition  is  a  school 
of  vice.  There  the  artful  judge,  grown  old  in  the  habits  of  subtlety, 
along  with  the  sly  secretary,  practises  his  cunning  in  interrogating  a 
prisoner  to  fix  a  charge  of  heresy.  Now  he  fawns,  and  then  he  frowns; 
now  soothes,  and  then  looks  dark  and  angry ;  sometimes  affects  to 
pity  and  to  pray,  at  other  times  insults  and  bullies,  and  talks  of  racks 
and  dungeons,  flames,  and  the  damnation  of  hell.     One  while  he  lays 

*  Remarks,  vol.  iii.  p.  303. 
31* 


366  History  of  the  Christian  Church. 

his  hand  upon  his  heart,  and  sheds  tears,  and  promises  and  protests  he 
desires  not  the  death  of  a  sinner,  but  would  rather  that  he  would  turn 
and  live ;  and  all  that  he  can  do  he  will  do  for  the  discharge,  aye,  for 
the  preferment  of  his  imprisoned  brother.  Another  while  he  discovers 
himself  deaf  as  a  rock,  false  as  the  wind,  and  cruel  as  the  poison  of 
asps.* 

In  no  country  has  the  operation  of  this  dreadful  court  of  spiritual 
despotism  been  more  strikingly  exemplified  than  in  Spain.  The  sub- 
ject has  been  placed  in  the  most  instructive  point  of  view  by  two  ac- 
curate and  elegant  modern  historians,!  and  their  reflections  upon  it  are 
so  just  and  natural,  that  as  it  cannot  be  unacceptable  to  the  reader,  I  shall 
give  the  substance  of  what  they  have  said. 

The  court  of  inquisition,  which  although  it  was  not  the  parent,  has 
been  the  nurse  and  guardian  of  ignorance  and  superstition  in  every  king- 
dom into  which  it  has  been  admitted,  was  introduced  into  Spain  by 
Ferdinand  and  Isabella,  and  was  principally  intended  to  prevent  the 
relapse  of  the  Jews  and  Moors,  who  had  been  converted,  or  who  pre- 
tended to  be  converted,  to  the  faith  of  the  Church  of  Rome.  Its  juris- 
diction, however,  was  not  confined  to  the  Jews  and  Moors,  but  extended 
to  all  those  who  in  their  practice  or  opinions  differed  from  the  estab- 
lished church.  In  the  united  kingdoms  of  Castile  and  Arragon,  there 
were  eighteen  different  inquisitorial  courts,  having  each  of  them  its 
counsellors,  termed  apostolical  inquisitors  ;  its  secretaries,  Serjeants, 
and  other  officers  ;  and  besides  these  there  were  twenty  thousand 
familiars  dispersed  throughout  the  kingdom,  who  acted  as  spies  and 
informers,  and  were  employed  to  apprehend  all  suspected  persons,  and 
commit  them  for  trial,  to  the  prisons  which  belonged  to  the  inquisition. 
By  these  familiars,  persons  were  seized  on  bare  suspicion,  and  in  con- 
tradiction to  the  established  rules  of  equity,  they  were  put  to  the  torture, 
tried  and  condemned  by  the  inquisitors,  without  being  confronted,  either 
with  their  accusers,  or  with  the  witnesses  on  whose  evidence  they  were 
condemned.  The  punishments  inflicted  were  more  or  less  dreadful, 
according  to  the  caprice  and  humour  of  the  judges.  The  unhappy 
victims  were  either  strangled  or  committed  to  the  flames,  or  loaded  with 
chains,  and  shut  up  in  dungeons  during  life — their  effects  confiscated, 
and  their  families  stigmatized  with  infamy. 

This  institution  was,  no  doubt,  well  calculated  to  produce  an  uni- 
formity of  religious  profession,  but  it  had  a  tendency  also  to  destroy 
the  sweets  of  social  life ;  to  banish  all  freedom  of  thought  and  speech  ; 
to  disturb  men's  minds  with  the  most  disquieting  apprehensions,  and  to 
produce  the  most  intolerable  slavery,  by  reducing  persons  of  all  ranks 
in  life  to  a  state  of  abject  dependence  upon  priests  ;  whose  integrity, 
were  it  even  greater  than  that  of  other  men,  as  in  every  false  profession 
of  religion  it  is  less,  must  have  been  corrupted  by  the  uncontrolled  au- 
thority which  they  were  allowed  to  exercise.  By  this  tribunal  a  visible 
change  was  wrought  in  the  temper  of  the  people,  and  reserve,  distrust, 

•  Robinson's  Ecclesiastical  Researches,  p.  277. 

f  Watson's  History  of  Philip  II.  king  of  Spain,  and  in  Robertson's  History  of 
Charles  V. 


Dreadful  effects  of  the  Inquisition.  367 

and  jealousy  became  the  distinguishing  characteristics  of  a  Spaniard. 
It  confirmed  and  perpetuated  the  reign  of  ignorance  and  superstition ; 
inflamed  the  rage  of  religious  bigotry,  and  by  the  cruel  spectacles  to 
which,  in  the  execution  of  its  decrees,  it  familiarized  the  people,  it 
nourished  in  them  that  ferocious  spirit,  which  in  the  Netherlands  and 
America  they  manifested  by  deeds  that  have  fixed  an  indelible  reproach 
upon  the  Spanish  name. 

Authors  of  undoubted  credit  affirm,  and  without  the  least  exaggera- 
tion, that  millions  of  persons  have  been  ruined  by  this  horrible  court. 
Moors  were  banished,  a  million  at  a  time.  Six  or  eight  hundred  thou- 
sand Jews  were  driven  away  at  once,  and  their  immense  riches  seized 
by  their  accusers,  and  distributed  among  their  persecutors,  while  thou- 
sands dissembled,  and  professed  themselves  Christians  only  to  be  ha- 
rassed in  future.  Heretics  of  all  ranks  and  of  various  denominations 
were  imprisoned  and  burnt,  or  fled  into  other  countries.  The  gloom 
of  despotism  overshadowed  all  Spain.  The  people  at  first  reasoned, 
and  rebelled,  and  murdered  the  inquisitors — the  aged  murmured  and 
died — the  next  generation  fluttered  and  complained,  but  their  successors 
were  completely  tamed  by  education  ;  and  the  Spaniards  are  now  trained 
up  by  the  priests  to  shudder  at  the  thought  of  thinking  for  themselves. 
That  honour  to  his  country  and  of  human  nature,  the  late  Mr.  Howard, 
says,  when  he  saw  the  inquisition  at  Valladolid,  "I  could  not  but  ob- 
serve, that  even  the  sight  of  it  struck  terror  into  the  common  people  as 
they  passed."  "  It  is  styled,"  he  adds,  by  a  monstrous  abuse  of  words, 
"the  holy  apostolical  court  of  inquisition." 

A  simple  narrative  of  the  proceedings  of  the  inquisition  has  shocked 
the  world,  and  the  cruelty  of  it  has  become  proverbial.  Nothing  ever 
displayed  so  fully  to  the  eyes  of  mankind  the  spirit  and  temper  of  the 
papal  religion.  "•  Christians,"  says  Tertullian,  "  were  often  called,  not 
Christiani,  but  Chrestiani,  from  the  gentleness  of  their  manners,  and 
the  sweetness  of  their  tempers.  Jesus  himself  was  the  essence  of 
mildness.  His  apostles  were  gentle,  even  as  a  nurse  that  cherisheth 
her  children.  But  what  an  awful  contrast  is  exhibited  in  this  horrid 
court  of  papal  inquisition."  Let  us  hear  the  description  which  Voltaire, 
a  very  competent  witness,  gives  of  it.  "  Their  form  of  proceeding," 
says  he,  "is  an  infallible  way  to  destroy  whomsoever  the  inquisitors 
wish.  The  prisoners  are  not  confronted  with  the  accuser  or  informer. 
Nor  is  there  any  informer  or  witness  who  is  not  listened  to.  A  public 
convict,  a  notorious  malefactor,  an  infamous  person,  a  common  prosti- 
tute, a  child,  are  in  the  holy  office,  though  no  where  else,  credible 
accusers,  and  witnesses.  Even  the  son  may  depose  against  his  father, 
the  wife  against  her  husband."  The  wretched  prisoner  is  no  more 
made  acquainted  with  his  crime  than  with  his  accusers.  His  being 
told  the  one  might  possibly  lead  him  to  guess  the  other.  To  avoid  this, 
he  is  compelled,  by  tedious  confinement  in  a  noisome  dungeon,  where 
he  never  sees  a  face  but  the  jailor's,  and  is  not  permitted  the  use  of 
either  books  or  pen  and  ink — or  should  confinement  alone  not  be  suf- 
ficient, he  is  compelled,  by  the  most  excruciating  torture,  to  inform 
against  himself,  to  discover  and  confess  the  crime  laid  to  his  charge,  of 
which  he  is  often  ignorant.     "  This  procedure,"  says  our  historian, 


368  History  of  the  Christian  Church. 

"unheard  of  till  the  institution  of  this  court,  makes  the  whole  kingdom 
tremble.  Suspicion  reigns  in  every  breast.  Friendship  and  quietness 
are  at  an  end.  The  brother  dreads  his  brother,  the  father  his  son. 
Hence  taciturnity  is  become  the  characteristic  of  a  nation,  endued  with 
all  the  vivacity  natural  to  the  inhabitants  of  a  warm  and  fruitful  climate. 
To  this  tribunal  we  must  likewise  impute  that  profound  ignorance  of 
sound  philosophy  in  which  Spain  lies  buried,  whilst  Germany,  England, 
France,  and  even  Italy,  have  discovered  so  many  truths,  and  enlarged 
the  sphere  of  our  knowledge.  Never  is  human  nature  so  debased,  as 
where  ignorance  is  armed  with  power."* 

But  these  melancholy  effects  of  the  Inquisition  are  a  trifle  when 
compared  with  those  public  sacrifices,  called  Auto  da  Fe,  or  Acts  of 
Faith,  and  to  the  shocking  barbarities  that  precede  them.  A  priest  in 
a  white  surplice,  or  a  monk  who  has  vowed  meekness  and  humility, 
causes  his  fellow  creatures  to  be  put  to  the  torture  in  a  dismal  dun- 
geon. A  stage  is  erected  in  the  public  market-place,  where  the  con- 
demned prisoners  are  conducted  to  the  stake,  attended  with  a  train  of 
monks  and  religious  con-fraternities.  They  sing  psalms,  say  mass,  and 
butcher  mankind.  Were  a  native  of  Asia  to  come  to  Madrid  upon  a 
day  of  an  execution  of  this  sort,  it  would  be  impossible  for  him  to  tell 
whether  it  were  a  rejoicing,  a  religious  feast,  a  sacrifice,  or  a  massacre  ; 
and  yet  it  is  all  this  together !  The  kings,  whose  presence  alone  in 
other  cases  is  the  harbinger  of  mercy,  assist  at  this  spectacle  uncover- 
ed, seated  lower  than  the  inquisitors,  and  are  spectators  of  their  sub- 
jects expiring  in  the  flames.  The  Spaniards  reproached  Montezuma 
with  immolating  his  captives  to  his  gods ;  what  would  he  have  said, 
had  he  beheld  an  "Auto  da  Fe?" 

It  is  but  doing  justice,  however,  to  many  Roman  Catholic  states, 
and  to  thousands  of  individuals  belonging  to  that  church,  to  say,  that 
they  abhor  this  infernal  tribunal,  almost  as  much  as  protestants  them- 
selves do.  This  is  sufficiently  evinced  by  the  tumults  which  were  ex- 
cited in  several  parts  of  Italy,  Milan,  and  Naples  in  particular,  and  af- 
terwards in  France,  as  well  as  in  other  Catholic  countries,  by  the 
attempts  that  were  made  to  introduce  it  at  first,  and  by  its  actual  expul- 
sion from  some  places,  where,  to  all  appearance,  it  was  firmly  esta- 
blished. It  is,  indeed,  matter  of  regret  that  any  among  the  members  of 
that  church  should  have  their  minds  so  enslaved  by  prejudice,  as  to 
imagine,  for  a  moment,  that  a  despotism  which  required  for  its  support 
such  diabolical  engines,  could  possibly  be  of  heavenly  origin.  There 
is  something  in  the  very  constitution  of  this  tribunal  so  monstrously 
unjust,  so  exorbitantly  cruel,  that  it  must  ever  excite  one's  astonish- 
ment, that  the  people  of  any  country  should  have  permitted  its  exist- 
ence among  them.  How  they  could  have  the  inconsistency  to  acknow- 
ledge a  power  to  be  from  God,  which  has  found  it  necessary  to  recur 
to  expedients  so  manifestly  from  hell,  so  subversive  of  every  principle 
of  sound  morality  and  religion,  can  be  regarded  only  as  one  of  those 
contradictions,  for  which  human  characters,  both  in  individuals,  and 
nations,  are  often  so  remarkable.     The  wisdom  that  is  from  above  is 

*  Voltaire's  Univ.  Hist.  vol.   ii.  ch.  cxviii. 


Persecution  of  the  Albigenses.  369 

pure,  peaceable,  gentle,  and  easy  to  be  entreated,  full  of  mercy  and 
good  fruits,  without  partiality  and  without  hypocrisy.  But  the  policy 
of  Rome,  as  displayed  in  the  Inquisition,  is  so  strikingly  characterized 
by  that  wisdom  which  is  earthly,  sensual,  and  devilish,  that  the  person 
who  needs  to  be  convinced  of  it,  seems  to  be  altogether  beyond  the 
power  of  argument.  Never  were  two  systems  more  diametrically  op- 
posed in  their  spirit,  their  maxims,  and  effects,  than  primitive  Chris- 
tianity, and  the  religion  of  modern  Rome ;  nor  do  heaven  and  hell, 
Christ  and  Belial,  exhibit  to  our  view  a  more  glaring  contrast.* 


SECTION  VI. 


HISTORY    OF    THE    PERSECUTION    OF    THE  ALBIGENSES  IN  FRANCE,  DURING 
THE  THIRTEENTH  CENTURY. 

"  The  flight  of  Peter  Waldo  from  Lyons,  and  the  consequent  disper- 
sion of  his  flock  throughout  the  south  of  France,  took  place  in  the  year 
1163.  As  nothing  lay  nearer  the  hearts  of  the  popes,  than  an  anxious 
desire  to  crush  in  its  infancy  every  doctrine  that  opposed  their  exorbi- 
tant power,  they  were  seldom  remiss  in  adopting  such  measures  as  ap- 
peared to  them  best  calculated  for  promoting  that  favourite  object.  Ac- 
cordingly we  find  that  in  the  same  year  (1163)  a  synod  was  convened 
at  Tours,  a  city  of  France,  at  which  all  the  bishops  and  priests  in  the 
country  of  Toulouse,  were  strictly  enjoined  "  to  take  care,  and  to  for- 
bid, under  pain  of  excommunication,  every  person  from  presuming  to 
give  reception,  or  the  least  assistance  to  the  followers  of  this  heresy  ; 
to  have  no  dealings  with  them  in  buying  and  selling,  that  thus  being 
deprived  of  the  common  necessaries  of  life,  they  might  be  compelled  to 
repent  of  the  evil  of  their  way."  And,  further,  that  "  whosoever  should 
dare  to  contravene  this  order,  should  be  excommunicated  as  a  partner 
with  them  in  their  guilt."  And,  lastly,  that  "  as  many  of  them  as 
could  be  found,  should  be  imprisoned  by  the  Catholic  princes,  and 
punished  with  the  forfeiture  of  all  their  substance. "t 

It  is  very  natural  to  suppose  that  these  cruel  precautionary  proceed- 
ings, if  followed  up  with  much  rigour,  must  drive  the  friends  of  Waldo 
to  seek  an  asylum  in  more  hospitable  climes  ;  and  of  course,  many  of 
them  took  refuge  in  the  valleys  of  Piedmont,  while  others  proceeded  to 
Bohemia,  and  not  a  few  migrated  into  Spain.  Hence,  in  the  year 
1194,  in  consequence  of  some  of  the  Waldenses  coming  into  the  pro- 
vince of  Arragon,  king  Ildefonsus  issued  a  severe  and  bloody  edict,  by 
which  "he  banished  them  from  his  kingdom  and  all  his  dominions,  as 
enemies  of  the  cross  of  Christ,  profaners  of  the  Christian  religion,  and 
public  enemies  to  himself  and  kingdom. "J 

•  See  Father  Paul  Sarpi's  History  of  the  Council  of  Trent;  and  Dr.  G.  Camp- 
bell's Lectures  on  Ecclesiastical  History. 

f  Baronius's  Annals,  sect.  18.  n.  4.  quoted  in  Limborch,  ch.  be. 
i  Bzovius.  A.  1199.  sect.  38.  in  Limborch,  ch.  ix. 


370  History  of  the  Christian  Church. 

Yet,  notwithstanding  these  inhuman  proceedings,  both  in  France  and 
Spain,  "  so  mightily  grew  the  word  of  God  and  prevailed,"  that  in  the 
year  1200,  both  the  city  of  Toulouse,  and  eighteen  other  principal 
towns  in  Languedoc,  Provence,  and  Dauphene,  were  filled  with  Wal- 
denses  and  Albigenses.  This,  no  doubt,  was  owing,  under  God,  to 
the  protection  that  was  afforded  them  by  the  Counts  of  Toulouse  and 
Foix,  the  Viscount  of  Beziers,  and  several  other  of  the  French  nobility. 
It  can  excite  no  surprise,  therefore,  that  their  numbers  and  growing  in- 
fluence should  spread  universal  alarm  at  Rome,  and  that  the  most  spi- 
rited exertions  should  be  determined  on  for  subduing  them. 

The  first  measures  resorted  to  were  the  issuing  of  papal  canons  and 
sentences  of  excommunication.  Not  only  was  the  whole  sect  anathe- 
matized, but  also  everyone  who  should  receive  them  into  their  houses, 
and  protect  them,  or  hold  any  intercourse  with  them.  The  archbishops 
and  bishops  of  Guienne  and  other  provinces  of  France,  as  well  as  the 
clergy  throughout  the  different  dioceses,  were  enjoined  to  banish  the 
Waldenses,  Puritans,  and  Paterines  from  their  territories;  to  mark 
them,  and  take  care  that  they  should  neither  enjoy  Christian  privileges 
while  living,  nor  burial  when  dead.  Kings,  princes,  and  magistrates, 
were  called  upon  to  support  and  assist  the  Catholic  clergy  with  the 
power  of  the  sword ;  to  confiscate  the  property,  and  raze  to  the  foun- 
dation the  houses  of  these  heretics,  and  of  all  that  countenanced  them.* 

To  give  efficacy  to  these  measures,  pope  Innocent  III.  sent  two  of 
his  legates  into  France,  viz.  the  famous  Reinerius,  (whom  we  have 
already  had  frequent  occasion  to  mention)  and  Guido,  the  founder  of 
the  order  of  Hospitallers,  to  stimulate  the  clergy  to  greater  diligence, 
to  watch  the  conduct  of  the  nobles,  and  on  the  detection  of  any  of  the 
heretics,  to  demand  the  most  summary  proceedings  against  them — en- 
joining his  legates  to  transmit  him  by  messenger  or  letter,  the  fullest 
information  they  could  procure ;  that  thus,  being  more  particularly  in- 
formed, he  might  the  better  know  how  to  proceed  against  them. 

Our  learned  countryman,  Archbishop  Usher,  to  whom  we  are  under 
great  obligations  for  the  pains  he  took  to  explore  the  affairs  of  this  dark 
period,  and  to  illustrate  the  history  of  the  Waldensian  churches,  gives 
■us  a  very  amusing  account  of  the  strain  of  preaching  which  prevailed 
throughout  those  Catholic  countries  at  that  period.  The  preachers  had 
one  favourite  text,  viz.  Psalm  xciv.  16.  "  Who  will  rise  zip  for  me 
against  the  evil  doers  ?  or  who  will  stand  up  for  me  against  the 
zcorkcrs  of  iniquity  P"  and  it  is  probable  that  the  sermon  was  as  uni- 
form as  the  text ;  for  we  are  told  they  generally  concluded  thus  :  "  You 
see,  mest  dear  brethren,  how  great  the  wickedness  of  the  heretics  is, 
and  how  much  mischief  they  do  in  the  world.  You  see  also,  how 
tenderly,  and  by  how  many  pious  methods  the  church  labours  to  re- 
claim them.  But  with  them  they  all  prove  ineffectual,  and  they  fly  to 
the  secular  power  for  their  defence.  Therefore  our  holy  mother,  the 
church,  though  with  reluctance  and  grief,  calls  together  against  them 
the  Christian  army.     If  then  you  have  any  zeal  for  the  faith ;  if  you 

*  Rankin's  Hist,  of  France,  vol.  iii.  and  Limborch's  History  of  the  Inquisition, 
di.  ix. 


Inquisition  introduced  into  France.  371 

are  touched  with  any  concern  for  the  honour  of  God;  if  you  would 
reap  the  benefit  of  this  great  indulgence,  come  and  receive  the  sign  of 
the  cross,  and  join  yourselves  to  the  army  of  the  crucified  Saviour." 

As  the  country  of  Toulouse  was  the  principal  place  of  rendezvous 
for  the  Albigenses,  and  as  they  abounded  there  in  immense  numbers, 
the  pope  evinced  the  utmost  solicitude  to  prevail  upon  Count  Ray- 
mond to  expel  them  from  his  dominions.  But  all  his  entreaties  to  in- 
duce the  latter,  either  to  banish  so  large  a  number  of  his  peaceable 
subjects,  or  even  to  persecute  them,  proving  fruitless,  he  ordered  him 
to  be  excommunicated  as  a  favourer  of  heretics.  He  sent  his  legate 
with  letters  to  many  of  the  prelates,  commanding  them  to  make  in- 
quisition against  the  heretical  Albigenses  in  France,  to  destroy  them 
and  convert  their  protectors.  He  also  wrote  to  Philip,  king  of  France, 
reminding  him  that  it  was  his  duty  to  take  arms  against  those  heretics, 
and  to  use  all  his  power  to  suppress  them,  that  by  thus  labouring  to 
stem  the  progress  of  heresy,  he  might  purge  himself  from  all  suspicion 
of  being  tainted  therewith  in  his  own  person.  Twelve  abbots  of  the 
Cistercian  order,  accompanied  by  the  pope's  legate,  went  preaching 
the  cross  against  the  Albigenses,  and  promising,  by  the  authority  of 
his  holiness,  a  plenary  remission  of  their  sins,  to  all  who  took  on  them 
the  crusade.  The  famous,  or,  more  properly  speaking,  the  infamous 
Dominic,  the  founder  of  the  Inquisition,  joined  himself  to  this  asso- 
ciation, and,  while  engaged  on  this  murderous  expedition,  he  is  said  to 
have  digested  the  plan  of  that  iniquitous  court. 

The  efforts  of  Reinerius  and  his  associates,  not  answering  the  san- 
guine expectations  of  the  pope,  and  the  scheme  of  Dominic  for  estab- 
lishing the  Inquisition  being  communicated  to  him,  the  latter,  in  the 
year  1216,  transmitted  his  letters  patent,  creating  Dominic  inquisitor 
general,  which  was  confirmed  by  the  council  of  Lateran  in  the  same 
year.  Having  received  these  letters,  and  being  thus  armed  with  au- 
thority, Dominic,  on  a  certain  day,  in  the  midst  of  a  large  concourse  of 
people  in  the  church  of  St.  Prullian,  announced,  in  one  of  his  sermons, 
that  "  he  was  raised  by  the  pope  to  a  new  office ;  adding,  that  he  was 
resolved  to  defend,  with  his  utmost  vigour,  the  doctrines  of  the  faith ; 
and  that  if  the  spiritual  and  ecclesiastical  arms  were  not  sufficient  for 
this  end,  it  was  his  fixed  determination  to  call  in  the  aid  of  the  civil 
magistrate,  to  excite  and  compel  the  Catholic  princes  to  take  arms 
against  heretics,  that  the  very  memory  of  them  might  be  entirely  de- 
stroyed." 

A  nobleman  in  the  vicinity  of  Narbonne,  having  about  this  time  been 
converted  to  the  Catholic  faith,  the  inquisitors  obtained  possession  of 
his  house  or  castle,  where  they  fixed  their  court,  and  commenced  the 
operations  of  that  iniquitous  system.  On  the  one  hand,  they  offered 
to  their  converts  the  remission  of  their  sins,  plenary  indulgences,  and 
various  other  privileges  ;  and  on  the  other,  the  obstinate  were  branded, 
imprisoned,  and  tortured.  Multitudes  were  allured  by  these  deceitful 
pretexts  to  enrol  themselves  under  the  banners  of  St.  Dominic,  vainly 
imagining,  that  they  could  thus  make  compensation  for  their  crimes. 

Dominic  framed  a  code  of  regulations  for  the  preservation  and  pro- 
per government  of  this,  crusading  fraternity.     One  was,  that  such  as 


372  History  of  the  Christian  Church. 

entered  upon  this  warfare  should  take  an  oath,  that  they  would  endea- 
vour with  all  their  might  to  recover,  defend,  and  protect  the  rights  of 
the  church,  against  all  who  should  presume  to  usurp  them ;  and  that 
they  would  expose  themselves  and  their  estates  in  defence  of  the  eccle- 
siastical immunities,  by  taking  up  arms  as  often  as  they  should  be 
called  upon  to  do  it,  by  the  prelate  of  the  war, — an  honour  at  that  time 
vested  in  Dominic  himself,  and  subsequently  in  the  masters  general  of 
the  Dominican  order.  If  any  of  them  were  married,  an  oath  was  re- 
quired from  their  wives,  that  they  would  not  persuade  their  husbands 
to  forsake  the  war  for  the  support  of  the  ecclesiastical  privileges,  pro- 
mising them  eternal  life  as  the  reward  of  so  pious  a  service.  To  dis- 
tinguish them  from  laics,  a  peculiar  dress  was  devised  for  both  the  men 
and  their  wives,  consisting  of  white  and  black  colours,  but  of  different 
formation.  No  one  was  to  be  admitted  to  this  sacred  warfare,  without 
a  previous  rigorous  examination  of  his  life,  manners,  and  faith — whe- 
ther he  had  paid  his  debts,  forgiven  his  enemies,  and  made  his  will, 
that  he  might  be  the  more  ready  for  the  battle,  and  also  whether  he 
had  obtained  leave  from  his  wife  before  a  notary  and  proper  witnesses. 
The  wives  of  those  that  were  slain  in  the  expedition  promised  that 
they  would  never  marry  again.  All  this,  no  doubt,  was  highly  ridicu- 
lous ;  but  it  imposed  an  air  of  sacredness  upon  the  thing  which  took 
with  the  vulgar,  and  rendered  the  crusade  so  popular,  that  numbers  en- 
tered into  it  with  avidity,  hoping  by  the  slaughter  of  heretics,  and  the 
plunder  of  their  goods,  to  ensure  their  admission  into  heaven.* 

With  all  this,  however,  the  cause  proceeded  but  slowly.  The  pope 
was  dissatisfied.  The  measures  of  Dominic  and  his  adherents  seemed 
to  him  but  as  the  sprinkling  of  water,  which  only  aggravated  and  ex- 
tended the  flame  of  heresy.  He,  therefore,  denounced  open  and  more 
violent  war ;  invited  the  catholic  princes  and  nobles  to  take  up  arms, 
and  commissioned  his  ministers  to  preach  the  same  indulgences,  and 
to  offer  terms  of  every  kind,  as  advantageous  as  those  that  were  granted 
when  levies  were  made  for  crusading  to  Asia.t 

The  court  of  Rome,  however,  with  a  view  to  preserve  at  least  the 
semblance  of  decency,  thought  it  expedient,  before  proceeding  to  compul- 
sory measures  with  the  Albigenses,  to  try  to  reclaim  them  to  the  church 
by  the  more  gentle  and  reasonable  methods  of  persuasion,  and  the  latter 
formed  the  resolution  of  defending  their  own  principles.  They  conse- 
quently gave  the  bishops  to  understand  that  some  of  their  pastors  were 
ready  to  discuss  the  subject  with  them  in  open  conference,  provided  the 
thing  could  be  conducted  with  propriety.  They  explained  their  notions 
of  propriety  by  proposing  that  there  should  be  moderators  on  each  side, 
vested  with  authority  to  prevent  tumult  and  preserve  order  and  regula- 
rity— that  the  conference  should  be  held  in  some  place  to  which  all 
parties  concerned  might  have  free  and  safe  access ;  and  lastly,  that  a 
particular  subject  should  be  agreed  upon  between  the  disputants,  which 
should  be  steadily  prosecuted  until  it  was  fully  discussed  and  deter- 
mined, and  that  the  party  which  could  not  maintain  it  by  an  appeal  to 
the  Scriptures,  the  only  standard  of  faith  to  Christians,  should  own 
themselves  vanquished. 

•  Limbroch's  Inquisition,  chap.  xi.  \  See  vol.  i.  ch.  iv.  sect.  4. 


Massacre  of  the  Albigenses.  373 

The  proposal  was  so  reasonable  that  it  could  not  with  decency  be  re- 
jected :  it  was  therefore   accepted  by  the  bishops  and   monks.     The 
place  of  conference  agreed  upon  was  Montreal,  near  Carcassone,  in  the 
year  1206.     The  umpires  on  the  Catholic  side  were  the  bishops  of 
Villeneuse  and  Auxere — and  on  that  of  the  Albigenses,  R.  de  Bot,  and 
Anthony  Riviere.     On  the  part  of  the  latter,  several  pastors  were  ap- 
pointed to  manage  the  debate,  of  whom  Arnold  Hot  was  the  principal. 
He  arrived  first  at  the  appointed  place.     A  bishop  of  the  name  of  Eusus 
met  him  on  behalf  of  the  papacy,  accompanied  by  the  renowned  Domi- 
nic, two  of  the  pope's  legates,  and  several  other  of  the  catholic  clergy. 
The  points  which  Arnold  undertook  to  prove  were,  that  the  mass  and 
transubstantiation  are  idolatrous  and  unscriptural — that  the  church  of 
Rome  is  not  the  spouse  of  Christ — and  that  its  polity  is  of  a  pernicious 
and  wicked  tendency.     Arnold  drew  up  certain  propositions  upon  these 
points,  which  he  transmitted  to  the  bishop,  who  required  fifteen  days 
to  answer  them,  which  was  granted.     On  the  appointed  day,  the  bishop 
appeared,  and  produced  a  large  manuscript,  which  was  read  in  the  pub- 
lic assembly.     Arnold  requested  that  he  might  be  permitted  to  reply  by 
word  of  mouth,  only  entreating  their  patience  if  he  took  a  considerable 
time  in  answering  so  prolix  a  writing,  and  fair  promises  were  made  him 
of  a  patient  hearing.     He  then  discoursed  for  the  space  of  four  days 
upon  the  subject,  with  such  fluency  and  readiness,  such  order,  perspi- 
cuity, and  forcible  reasoning,  that  a  strong  impression  was  produced  on 
the  "audience.     Arnold,  at  length,  called  upon  his  opponents  to  defend 
themselves.     What  they  said  on  the  occasion  we  are  not  informed,  but 
the  cause  of  the  abrupt  termination  of  the  conference  is  a  fact  allowed 
on  all  hands,  and  may  possibly  suggest  what  was  the  real  state  of  the 
controversy.     For,  while  the  pope's  legates  were  disputing  with  Ar- 
nold, the  umpire  of  the  papal  party,  the  bishop  of  Villeneuse,  declared 
that  nothing  could  be  determined,  because  the  army  of  the  crusaders 
was  at  hand.*     What  he  asserted,  alas,  was  but  too  true ;   the  papal 
armies  advanced,  and,  by  fire  and  faggot  instantly  decided  all  the  points 
of  controversy ;  and  if  we  may  place  any  reliance  upon  writers  of  un- 
impeachable veracity,  "  the  armies  employed  by  pope  Innocent  III. 
destroyed  above  two  hundred  thousand  of  them  in  the  short  space  of  a 
few  months. "t  Arnold  and  his  brethren,  indeed,  might  have  been  fully 
assured  that  it  never  was  the  intention  of  the  pope  to  submit  to  any  de- 
cision of  the  controversy  by  argument,  which  might  happen  to  be  un- 
favourable to  his  party.     The  acquiescence  of  his  holiness  in  the  pro- 
posal to  discuss  the  differences  between  the  parties  in  a  public  disputa- 
tion, was  in  all  probability,  a  mere  manoeuvre,  intended  only  to  amuse 
the  Albigenses  and  gain  time,  till  the  armies  that  were  preparing  with 
a  view  to  destroy  them  might  be  in  readiness.     Platina,  one  of  their 
own  writers,  in  his  Life  of  Innocent  XIII.  seems  to  insinuate  as  much, 
when  he  tells  us,  that  there  was  need,  not  only  of  disputations,  but  of 
arms  also;  to  such  a  pitch  was  the  heresy  grown."     The  bull  which 
the  pope  had  already  issued,  in  consequence  of  the  death  of  Peter  de 

*  Perrin's  History  of  the  Albigenses,  b.  iii.  ch.  ii. 
f  Dr.  Grosvenor's  Sermon  aguinst  Popery,  at  Salter's  Hall,  1735. 
32 


374  History  of  the  Christian  Church. 

Chatineau,  had  also  made  that  sufficiently  apparent.  He  had  despatch- 
ed preachers  throughout  all  Europe,  to  collect  an  army  which  should 
revenge  the  blood  of  that  man,  promising  paradise,  and  the  remission  of 
all  their  sins,  to  those  who  should  bear  arms  forty  days  in  that  holy 
warfare  ;  and,  after  telling  them  that  "they  were  not  to  keep  faith  with 
those  who  do  not  keep  faith  with  God,"  he  thus  proceeds,  "  We  ex- 
hort you,  that  you  would  endeavour  to  destroy  the  wicked  heresy  of  the 
Albigenses,  and  do  this  with  more  rigour  than  you  would  towards  the 
Saracens  themselves ;  persecute  them  with  a  strong  hand ;  deprive  them 
of  their  lands  and  possessions ;  banish  them  and  put  Roman  Catholics 
in  their  room."* 

Raymond,  the  sixth  count  of  Toulouse,  in  whose  territories  the  Albi- 
genses chiefly  abounded,  still  humanely  extended  to  them  his  protection 
and  patronage.  Pope  Innocent,  by  a  bull,  had  excommunicated  him  as 
a  favourer  of  heretics — he  was  prohibited  the  communion  of  holy 
things  and  of  the  faithful — all  his  subjects  were  absolved  from  their  oath 
of  allegiance,  and  power  was  dispensed  to  any  Catholic  man  not  only 
to  act  against  his  person,  but  to  seize  his  dominions,  and  dispossess 
him  of  them,  under  the  pretext  that  by  the  prudence  of  the  one,  they 
might  be  effectually  purged  from  heresy,  as  they  had  been  grievously 
defiled  by  the  wickedness  of  the  other.  Yet  he  does  not  appear  to  have 
been  in  the  least  diverted  from  his  purpose  by  these  horrid  proceedings. 
His  character  is  variously  represented  by  the  friends  and  enemies  of  his 
party.  The  former  describe  him,  not  only  as  generous  and  brave,  but 
as  pious  and  virtuous ;  while  the  latter  revile  him  as  a  hypocrite.  The 
true  account  of  him  seems  to  be,  that  whether  he  had  adopted  the  sen- 
timents of  the  Albigenses  or  not,  he  humanely  sympathized  with  them 
— that  he  understood  the  spirit  of  true  religion  to  be  a  spirit  of  toler- 
ance; that  he  studied  to  promote  the  real  interests  of  his  country;  and 
with  these  views,  at  least,  that  he  was  desirous  to  protect  all  such  as 
were  useful  members  of  society,  whatever  might  be  their  peculiar  reli- 
gious tenets.  Under  such  patronage  their  numbers  rapidly  increased, 
but  it  proportionally  inflamed  the  indignation  of  the  fierce  and  bloody 
inquisitors. t 

While  affairs  remained  in  this  critical  posture,  it  unfortunately  hap* 
pened  that  Peter  de  Chatineau,  one  of  the  inquisitors,  was  assassinated, 
and  Count  Raymond  was  suspected  of  being,  at  least,  privy  to  the  mur- 
der. The  Catholics  loudly  inveighed  against  the  crime  as  of  the  deep- 
est dye.  The  Count  protested  his  innocence,  affirming  that  he  was  in 
no  respect  guilty  of  the  death  of  that  friar — that  he  had  been  killed  at 
St.  Giles's  by  a  certain  gentleman  whom  Peter  had  pursued,  and  who 
immediately  afterwards  retired  to  his  friends  at  Beaucaire — that  he  had 
done  every  thing  in  his  power  to  apprehend  the  manslayer ;  and  in 
fine,  that  even  were  it  true  that  he  had  been  in  any  respect  accessary 
to  the  murder,  the  ordinary  course  of  justice  ought  to  be  pursued,  and 
not  to  revenge  it  upon  his  subjects  who  were  innocent.  To  all  this  the 
Catholic  party  were  deaf;  Raymond  was  loaded  with  infamy,  and  with 

*  Clarke's  Martyrology,  ch.  xxiv. 
^  Kankin's  History  of  France,  vol.  iii. 


Submission  of  Count  Raymond.  375 

the  highest  censures  of  the  church  ;  and,  in  a  little  time,  an  expedition 
of  more  than  one  hundred  thousand  cross-bearers  (crusaders)  was  ac- 
tually equipped  against  him.  Raymond  was  justly  alarmed — he  offer- 
ed to  submit,  promised  obedience,  and  as  a  proof  of  his  sincerity,  deli- 
vered up  into  the  hands  of  the  pope  seven  fortified  places  in  Provence. 
But  that  was  not  a  sufficient  sacrifice  to  ecclesiastical  pride  and  malig- 
nity. He  was  required  to  present  himself  before  the  gates  of  the  church 
of  St.  Agde,  in  the  town  of  that  name.  Upwards  of  twenty  bishops 
and  archbishops  were  present,  convened  for  the  purpose  of  receiving 
his  submission.  He  was  required  to  swear  upon  the  holy  solemnities 
of  the  eucharist  and  the  relics  of  the  saints,  which  were  exposed  with 
great  reverence  before  the  gates  of  the  church,  and  held  by  several  pre- 
lates, that  he  would  obey  the  commands  of  the  holy  Roman  church. 
When  he  had  thus  bound  himself  by  an  oath,  the  legate  ordered  one  of 
the  sacred  vestments  to  be  thrown  over  his  neck,  and,  drawing  him  by 
means  of  it,  he  was  brought  into  the  church,  where  after  scourging  him 
with  a  whip,  he  was  absolved.  It  is  added,  "  that  he  was  so  grievous- 
ly torn  by  the  stripes  in  scourging,  that  he  was  unable  to  go  out  by  the 
way  in  which  he  had  entered  the  church,  but  was  forced  to  pass  quite 
naked  as  he  was,  through  the  lower  gate.  He  was  also  compelled  to 
undergo  the  same  degrading  process  at  the  sepulchre  of  St.  Peter  the 
martyr,  at  New  Castres."* 

The  immense  army  of  crusaders,  however,  being  now  in  motion,  it 
was  not  to  be  reduced  to  a  state  of  inactivity  because  the  Earl  of  Tou- 
louse had  effected  his  reconciliation  with  the  see  of  Rome.  On  the 
contrary,  they  every  where  attacked  the  Albigenses,  took  possession 
of  the  cities  in  which  they  were  known  to  be,  filled  the  streets  with 
slaughter  and  blood,  and  committed  to  the  flames  numbers  whom  they 
had  taken  prisoners.  Raymond  had  a  nephew  of  the  name  of  Roger, 
who  was  more  bold  and  determined  than  his  uncle.  He  was  at  the 
head  of  seven  fiefs,  or  baronies,  dependent,  however,  upon  the  Earl  of 
Toulouse,  and  he  evinced  no  disposition  to  yield  an  implicit  obedience 
to  the  orders  of  Rome,  nor  abandon  the  people  who  had  put  themselves 
under  his  protection.  Among  the  humiliating  stipulations  imposed 
upon  the  Earl  of  Toulouse,  the  one  most  repugnant  to  his  feelings 
was,  that  he  himself  should  lead  the  crusading  army  against  Beziers, 
the  capital  of  his  own  nephew's  dominions  ;  which  was  in  effect  now 
to  make  him  the  instrument  of  the  destruction  of  the  Albigenses,  as  he 
had  hitherto  been  their  protector,  and  indeed  the  destruction  of  his  ne- 
phew also.  This  has  ever  been  the  detestable  policy  of  the  court  of 
Rome,  never  to  be  satisfied  with  reasonable  offers  of  submission,  with- 
out degrading  the  wretched  suppliant,  even  in  his  own  eyes.  The 
Earl  continued  with  the  army  a  few  days  and  then  took  his  leave  of 
the  legate,  choosing  rather  to  take  a  journey  to  Rome,  in  order  to  hum- 
ble himself  before  the  pope,  a  privilege  which  could  not  be  denied  him, 
than  continue  with  it  to  be  a  spectator  of  the  murder  of  thousands  of 
peaceable  and  virtuous  men,  and  the  ruin  of  his  own  nephew. 

When  the  army  advanced  towards  the  neighbourhood  of  Beziers,  the 
fate  of  the  city  was  easily  foreseen,  and  the  nephew  of  Raymond,  fully 

*  Limborch's  Inquisition,  cb.  xi. 


376  History  of  the  Christian  Church. 

sensible  that  it  could  not  be  defended  against  an  hundred  thousand 
men,  went  out  of  the  city,  threw  himself  at  the  feet  of  the  pope's 
legate,  and  supplicated  his  mercy  in  favour  of  his  capital,  beseeching 
him  not  to  involve  the  innocent  with  the  guilty,  which  must  be  the 
case  if  Beziers  were  taken  by  storm — that  there  were  many  Roman 
Catholics  in  the  city,  who  would  be  involved  in  one  indiscriminate 
scene  of  ruin  contrary  to  the  intentions  of  the  pope,  whose  object  was 
understood  to  be,  solely  the  punishment  of  the  Albigenses.  Numerous 
other  topics  of  entreaty  were  urged  by  the  young  prince ;  but  the  an- 
swer of  the  legate  to  all  he  could  plead  was,  that  "  all  his  apologies  and 
excuses  would  avail  him  nothing,  and  that  he  must  do  the  best  he  could 
for  himself."  Thus  foiled  in  his  object,  the  Earl  of  Beziers  returned 
into  the  city,  convened  the  inhabitants,  to  whom  he  explained  the  ill 
success  that  had  attended  his  mission ;  and  particularly,  that  the  only 
condition  upon  which  pardon  would  be  granted  by  the  pope's  legate 
was,  that  the  Albigenses  should  abjure  their  religion,  and  promise  to 
live  according  to  the  laws  of  the  Roman  church. 

The  Catholic  inhabitants  of  Beziers  now  interposed,  using  every  en- 
treaty with  the  Albigenses  to  comply  with  that  stipulation,  and  not  be 
the  occasion  of  their  death,  since  the  legate  was  resolved  to  pardon 
none,  unless  they  all  consented  to  live  in  subjection  to  one  rule  of 
faith. 

The  Albigenses  replied,  that  they  never  could  consent  to  purchase  a 
prolongation  of  this  perishing  life  at  the  price  of  renouncing  their  faith 
—that  they  were  fully  persuaded  God  could,  if  he  pleased,  protect  and 
defend  them  : — but  they  were  as  fully  persuaded,  that  if  it  were  his 
good  pleasure  to  be  glorified  by  the  confession  of  their  faith,  it  would 
be  an  high  honour  conferred  upon  them  to  sacrifice  their  lives  for  righ- 
teousness' sake — that  they  much  preferred  displeasing  the  pope,  who 
could  only  destroy  their  bodies,  to  incurring  the  displeasure  of  God, 
who  is  able  to  destroy  both  soul  and  body  together — that  they  hoped 
never  to  be  ashamed  of,  nor  forsake  a  faith  by  which  they  had  been 
taught  the  knowledge  of  Christ  and  righteousness,  and  at  the  hazard  of 
eternal  death,  barter  it  for  a  religion  which  annihilated  the  merits  of  the 
Saviour,  and  rendered  his  righteousness  of  none  effect.  They,  there- 
fore, left  it  to  the  Catholics  and  the  Earl  of  Beziers  to  make  the  best 
terms  they  could  for  themselves,  but  entreated  that  they  would  not  pro- 
mise any  thing  on  their  behalf  inconsistent  with  their  duty  as  Chris- 
tians. 

Finding  the  Albigenses  inflexible,  the  Catholic  party  next  sent  their 
own  bishop  to  the  legate,  to  entreat  him  not  to  comprehend  in  the  pun- 
ishment of  the  Albigenses,  those  that  had  always  been  constant  and 
uniform  in  their  adherence  to  the  church  of  Rome.  In  this  interview 
the  bishop  explained  to  him  that  he  was  their  prelate ;  that  he  knew 
them  well ;  and  that  as  to  the  Albigenses,  he  did  not  think  them  so  ir- 
recoverable as  to  be  past  all  hopes  of  repentance — that,  on  the  contra- 
ry, he  trusted  a  becoming  mildness  on  the  part  of  the  church,  which 
does  not  delight  in  blood,  might  yet  reclaim  them. 

The  sanguinary  ecclesiastic,  however,  was  wholly  deaf  to  the  voice 
of  humanity.     Transported  with  rage,  he  gave  vent  to  the  most  terri- 


Horrid  Massacre  at  Beziers.  377 

ble  threatenings ;  and  swore  that  unless  all  who  were  in  the  city  ac- 
knowledged their  guilt,  and  submitted  to  the  church  of  Rome,  they 
should  every  individual  be  put  to  the  sword,  without  regard  to  religious 
profession,  age,  or  sex — giving  instant  orders  for  the  city  to  be  sum- 
moned to  surrender  at  discretion.  Under  these  circumstances  resist- 
ance was  vain ;  the  assailants  were  immediately  in  possession  of  it, 
and  its  inhabitants,  to  the  number  of  three  and  twenty  thousand,  were 
indiscriminately  massacred,  and  the  city  itself  destroyed  by  fire.  Cae- 
sarius  informs  us,  that  when  the  crusaders  were  about  to  enter  the 
city,  knowing  that  there  were  many  Catholics  mixed  with  the  heretics, 
and  hesitating  how  they  should  act  in  regard  to  the  former,  application 
was  made  to  Arnold,  the  Abbe  of  Cisteaux,  for  advice,  who  instantly 
replied,  "  Kill  them  all — the  Lord  knoweth  them  that  are  his."* 

The  earl  of  Beziers,  foreseeing  the  ruin  which  threatened  his  capi- 
tal, made  his  escape,  and  withdrew  to  the  neighbouring  city  of  Carcas- 
sone.  This  place  was  much  more  strongly  fortified,  both  by  nature 
and  art,  than  Beziers,  and  consequently  more  defensible.  The  city,  or 
upper  town,  stands  upon  a  hill,  surrounded  by  a  double  wall ;  the 
lower  town  or  borough  is  in  the  plain,  about  two  miles  distant  from 
the  city.  Numbers  of  the  Albigenses  resided  there,  and  many  more 
fled  to  it  for  security.  The  young  earl,  who  had  now  been  fully  in- 
structed, by  the  horrible  proceedings  at  Beziers,  into  the  motives  and 
determination  of  the  Catholics,  resolved,  as  far  as  was  practicable,  to 
defend  Carcassone.  He,  therefore,  convened  his  subjects,  reminded 
them  of  the  treatment  which  the  inhabitants  of  Beziers  had  received, 
and  that  they  had  to  do  with  the  same  enemies,  who  had  indeed  chang- 
ed the  place  of  siege,  but  not  the  cruelty  of  their  disposition,  nor  their- 
wish  to  destroy  them  if  they  could  effect  it.  He  therefore  gave  it  as 
his  opinion,  that  it  was  preferable  to  die  in  defence  of  their  city  and 
privileges,  rather  than  fall  into  the  hands  of  such  cruel  and  relentless 
enemies.  That  for  his  own  part,  he  professed  the  Roman  Catholic  re- 
ligion, but  he  was  fully  aware  that  the  present  was  not  a  war  of  reli- 
gion, but  a  system  of  robbery,  contrived  for  the  purpose  of  getting  pos- 
session of  the  dominions  of  his  uncle,  the  Earl  of  Raymond,  and  all 
that  were  related  to  him.  He  therefore  urged  the  inhabitants  to  defend 
themselves  like  men,  and  to  recollect  that  both  their  lives  and  the  free 
exercise  of  their  religion  were  at  stake,  pledging  himself  that  he  would 
never  forsake  them  in  so  honourable  a  cause  as  that  of  defending  them- 
selves against  their  common  enemies,  who,  under  the  mask  of  dissem- 
bled piety,  were,  in  effect,  nothing  better  than  thieves  and  robbers.  This 
manly  address  infused  courage  into  the  hearts  of  his  subjects — they 
pledged  themselves  to  defend  their  sovereign  and  the  city  of  Carcas- 
sone with  whatever  concerned  them. 

In  the  mean  time  the  army  of  the  crusaders  had  been  augmented  by 
the  arrival  of  fresh  levies  from  every  part  of  France,  as  well  as  from 
Italy  and  Germany,  to  upwards  of  three  hundred  thousand  men,  (some 

•  Perrin's  History  of  the  Albigenses,  book  iii.  chap.  iv.  Bzovius,  A.  1209, 
sect.  1,  and  Ranaklus,  A.  1209,  sect.  22,  in  Limborch's  History  of  the  Inquisi. 
tion,  vol.  i.  ch.  xi. 

32* 


378  History  of  the  Christian  Church. 

writers  make  them  five  hundred  thousand)  and  had  advanced  to  the 
walls  of  the  town,  where  they  rushed  furiously  upon  the  first  rampire, 
filling  the  ditch  with  fascines,  and  making  themselves  sure  of  an  easy 
conquest  of  the  place.  But  they  met  with  so  valiant  a  repulse,  that  the 
ground  was  covered  with  the  dead  bodies  of  the  pilgrims  (as  they  call- 
ed themselves)  round  about  the  city.  The  following  day  the  legate  or- 
dered the  scaling  ladders  to  be  applied,  and  a  general  assault  to  be 
made  on  the  town,  but  the  inhabitants  made  a  resolute  defence.  They 
were,  however,  at  length  overpowered  with  numbers,  and  beat  back 
from  the  walls,  when  the  enemy  entered  and  gave  the  inhabitants  of 
the  Borough  much  the  same  treatment  they  had  lately  done  to  those  of 
Beziers,  putting  them  all  to  the  sword. 

The  city,  or  upper  town,  however,  was  yet  secure,  but  the  besieg- 
ing army  lost  no  time  in  proceeding  to  its  reduction.  The  legate  com- 
manded them  to  play  all  their  engines  of  war  upon  it,  and  to  take  it  by 
assault.  But  he  had  the  mortification  to  see  his  soldiers  of  the  cross 
fall  by  thousands — the  ground  covered,  and.  the  ditches  filled,  with  the 
dead  bodies  of  his  pilgrims.  This  immense  army,  in  a  little  time,  be- 
gan to  experience  the  want  of  forage,  which  the  soldiers  were  driven 
to  the  necessity  of  seeking  about  the  fields— add  to  which,  that  the 
term  of  forty  days,  for  which  they  had  originally  enlisted,  and  in  which 
time  they  were  to  purchase  the  bliss  of  paradise,  was  now  accomplish- 
ed ;  contenting  themselves  therefore  with  that  great  object,  they  re- 
fused to  enter  upon  any  further  conquest,  and  withdrew  by  thousands 
from  the  legate's  standard.  The  latter,  alarmed  at  the  reduction  of  his 
army,  and  not  finding  the  conquest  of  the  city  so  practicable  as  he  at 
first  apprehended,  had  recourse  next  to  stratagem  for  effecting  his  pur- 
pose. Amongst  those  who  had  joined  his  army  with  fresh  auxiliaries 
under  the  walls  of  Carcassone,  was  the  king  of  Arragon,  in  Spain.  A 
plot  was  formed  between  this  monarch  and  the  legate  to  try  the  effect 
of  a  negotiation  with  the  Earl  of  Beziers,  and  the  former  was  deputed 
to  solicit  an  interview  and  manage  the  whole  affair. 

An  interview  accordingly  took  place,  at  which  the  King  of  Arragon 
expressed  his  wish  to  know  what  could  induce  the  Earl  to  shut  him- 
self up  in  the  city  of  Carcassone  against  so  vast  an  army  of  the  pil- 
grims. The  latter  replied,  It  was  the  justice  of  his  cause — that  he  was 
fully  persuaded  the  pope,  under  the  pretext  of  religion,  had  formed  the 
design  of  ruining  both  his  uncle,  the  Earl  of  Raymond,  and  himself — 
of  this  he  had  had  the  most  convincing  proof  when  he  undertook  to  in- 
tercede for  his  subjects,  the  inhabitants  of  Beziers.  The  pope's  legate 
had  refused  to  spare  such  of  them  as  were  Catholics,  and  had  even  but- 
chered the  priests  themselves,  though  clothed  in  their  sacerdotal  vest- 
ments, and  though  they  had  ranged  themselves  under  the  banner  of  the 
cross.  That  that  horrible  instance  of  cruelty  and  wickedness,  added 
to  their  proceedings  in  the  borough  of  Carcassone,  where  his  unoffend- 
ing subjects  had  been  exposed  to  fire  and  sword  without  regard  to  age 
or  sex,  had  taught  him  the  folly  of  looking  for  any  mercy  at  the 
hands  of  the  legate  or  his  army  of  pilgrims  ;  that  consequently  he  pre- 
ferred to  die  in  his  own  defence  rather  than  be  exposed  to  the  mercy 
of  so  relentless  and  inexorable  an  enemy.      He  acknowledged  to  the 


Proposals  sent  to  the  Earl  of  Beziers.  379 

King,  that  many  of  his  subjects  in  the  city  of  Carcassone  professed  a 
faith  very  different  from  that  of  the  church  of  Rome,  but  they  were 
persons  who  never  did  wrong  or  injury  to  any  one,  and  that  in  requital 
of  their  good  services  to  himself,  he  was  resolved  never  to  desert  them. 
He  also  expressed  his  hope  that  God,  who  is  the  protector  and  de- 
fender ef  the  innocent,  would  support  them  against  that  misinformed 
multitude,  who,  under  the  mistaken  notion  of  meriting  heaven,  had  left 
their  own  houses  to  plunder,  burn,  and  destroy  the  houses  of  other 
men,  and  to  murder  without  reason,  mercy,  or  discretion. 

The  King  of  Arragon  returned  from  this  parley,  and,  in  an  assem- 
bly, consisting  of  the  legate,  the  lords  and  prelates,  reported  the  parti- 
culars of  what  had  passed  between  himself  and  the  Earl  of  Beziers. 
He  declared  that  he  had  found  his  good  ally,  the  Earl  of  Beziers,  ex- 
tremely scandalized  at  their  inhuman  proceedings  against  his  subjects 
both  of  Beziers  and  Carcassone  ;  and  that  he  was  now  fully  persuaded, 
seeing  that  they  had  not  spared  the  Roman  Catholics,  nor  even  the 
priests  themselves,  that  it  was  not  a  religious  war,  as  was  pretended, 
but  a  system  of  plunder  under  the  pretext  of  religion :  that  the  Earl 
hoped  God  would  be  so  favourable  to  him  as  to  make  his  innocence 
and  the  justice  of  his  cause,  which  was  purely  that  of  self-defence, 
sufficiently  apparent:  that  it  was  in  vain  to  expect  them  to  surrender  at 
discretion,  since  they  had  found  by  experience  they  had  nothing  to  ex- 
pect at  their  hands  but  an  indiscriminate  slaughter.  He  then  apprized 
the  pope's  legate,  that  it  had  alway  proved  bad  policy  to  drive  an  enemy 
to  despair ;  wherefore  if  he  would  condescend  to  propose  any  terms  of 
compromise  that  were  tolerable  to  the  Earl  of  Beziers  and  his  subjects, 
mildness  would  be  found  a  much  more  effectual  means  of  reducing  the 
Albigenses,  than  extreme  severity ;  and  that  it  should  not  be  overlooked 
that  the  Earl  of  Beziers  was  still  a  young  man,  possessing  much  of  the 
confidence  of  his  subjects ;  and,  consequently,  had  it  in  his  power  to 
render  essential  services  in  reducing  them  to  the  communion  of  the 
church  of  Rome,  to  which  he  was  himself  attached. 

When  the  king  of  Arragon  had  delivered  this  address,  he  was  re- 
quested by  the  legate  to  withdraw  a  little  while,  on  which  a  consulta- 
tion took  place ;  and  being  again  called  in,  he  was  commissioned  to 
return  to  the  Earl  and  propose  to  him,  that,  at  his  intercession,  the  le- 
gate had  consented  to  receive  him  into  mercy,  upon  the  following  terms  : 
He  should  be  permitted  to  come  out  of  the  city,  and  to  bring  with  him 
eleven  others,  with  their  bag  and  baggage,.  But  with  regard  to  the  rest 
of  the  inhabitants,  they  should  not  leave  the  city  except  at  his  discre- 
tion, of  which  they  ought  to  entertain  the  most  favourable  opinion, 
because  he  ivas  the  pope's  legate.  That  all  the  inhabitants,  both  men, 
women,  maidens,  and  children,  should  come  forth  without  so  much  as 
their  shirts  or  shifts  on,  or  the  smallest  covering  to  hide  their  naked- 
ness ;  and  that  finally,  the  Earl  of  Beziers  should  be  kept  in  strict 
custody  and  confinement,  and  that  all  his  possessions  should  remain  in 
the  hands  of  such  a  successor  as  should  be  chosen  for  the  preservation 
of  the  country. 

The  Spanish  monarch  was  fully  persuaded,  that  propositions  so  de- 
grading as  these,  it  was  needless  to  offer  to  the  Earl  of  Beziers ;  he, 


380  History  of  the  Christian  Church. 

nevertheless,  complied  with  the  legate's  request,  and  submitted  them  to 
the  Earl,  who  gave  an  immediate  reply  that  he  would  never  quit  the 
city  upon  conditions  so  dishonourable  and  unjust,  and  that  he  was  re- 
solved to  defend  both  himself  and  his  subjects  by  every  means  that  God 
had  put  within  his  power. 

Finding  himself  thus  foiled  in  his  attempt  to  move  the  Earl  of  Beziers, 
the  legate  soon  had  recourse  to  a  less  honourable,  and  much  more 
deeply  laid  plot.  He  insinuated  himself  into  the  graces  of  one  of  the 
officers  of  his  army,  telling  him  that  it  lay  in  his  power  to  render  to  the 
church  a  signal  instance  of  kindness,  and  that  if  he  would  undertake  it, 
besides  the  rewards  which  he  should  receive  in  heaven,  he  should  be 
amply  recompensed  on  earth.  The  object  was  to  get  access  to  the 
Earl  of  Beziers,  professing  himself  to  be  his  kinsman  and  friend,  as- 
suring him  that  he  had  something  to  communicate  of  the  last  import- 
ance to  his  interests ;  and  having  thus  far  succeeded,  he  was  to  prevail 
upon  him  to  accompany  him  to  the  legate,  for  the  purpose  of  negotiating 
a  peace,  under  a  pledge  that  he  should  be  safely  conducted  back  again 
to  the  city.  The  officer  played  his  part  so  dextrously,  that  the  Earl 
imprudently  consented  to  accompany  him.  At  their  interview,  the  latter 
submitted  to  the  legate  the  propriety  of  exercising  a  little  more  lenity 
and  moderation  towards  his  subjects,  as  a  procedure  that  might  have 
the  happiest  tendency  in  reclaiming  the  Albigenses  into  the  pale  of  the 
church  of  Rome ;  he  also  stated  to  him  that  the  conditions  which  had 
been  formerly  proposed  to  him  were  dishonourable  and  shameful,  and 
highly  indecorous  in  those  whose  eyes  ought  to  be  as  chaste  as  their 
thoughts :  that  his  people  would  rather  choose  to  die  than  submit  to 
such  disgraceful  treatment.  The  legate  replied  that  the  inhabitants  of 
Carcassone  might  exercise  their  own  pleasure  ;  but  that  it  was  now  un- 
necessary for  the  Earl  to  trouble  himself  any  further  about  them,  as  he 
was  himself  a  prisoner  until  Carcassone  was  taken,  and  his  subjects 
had  better  learnt  their  duty ! 

The  Earl  was  not  a  little  astonished  at  this  information ;  he  protested 
that  he  was  betrayed,  and  that  faith  was  violated  :  for  that  the  gentle- 
man, by  whose  entreaties  he  had  been  prevailed  upon  to  meet  the  le- 
gate, had  pledged  himself  by  oaths  and  execrations  to  conduct  him  back 
in  safety  to  Carcassone.  But  appeals,  remonstrances,  or  entreaties, 
were  of  no  avail :  he  was  committed  to  the  custody  of  the  Duke  of 
Burgundy,  "  and,  having  been  thrown  into  prison,  died  soon  after,  not 
without  exciting  strong  suspicions  of  being  poisoned." 

No  sooner  had  the  inhabitants  of  Carcassone  received  the  intelligence 
of  the  Earl's  confinement,  than  they  burst  into  tears,  and  were  seized 
with  such  terror,  that  they  thought  of  nothing  but  how  to  escape  the 
danger  they  were  then  placed  in ;  but  blockaded  as  they  were  on  all 
sides,  and  the  trenches  filled  with  men,  all  human  probability  of  escape 
vanished  from  their  eyes.  A  report,  however,  was  circulated,  that  there 
was  a  vault  or  subterraneous  passage  somewhere  in  the  city,  which  led 
to  the  castle  of  Cabaret,  a  distance  of  about  three  leagues  from  Carcas- 
sone, and  that  if  the  mouth  or  entry  thereof  could  be  found,  Providence 
had  provided  for  them  a  way  of  escape.  All  the  inhabitants  of  the  city, 
except  those  who  kept  watch  upon  the  rampires,  immediately  com- 


Perfidy  of  the  Pope's  legate.  38 1 

menced  the  search,  and  success  rewarded  their  labour.  The  entrance 
of  the  cavern  was  found,  and  at  the  beginning  of  the  night  they  all  be- 
gan their  journey  through  it,  carrying  with  them  only  as  much  food  as 
was  deemed  necessary  to  serve  them  for  a  few  days.  "  It  was  a  dis- 
mal and  sorrowful  sight,"  says  our  historian.  "  to  witness  their  removal 
and  departure,  accompanied  with  sighs,  tears,  and  lamentations,  at  the 
thoughts  of  quitting  their  habitations  and  all  their  worldly  possessions, 
and  betaking  themselves  to  the  uncertain  event  of  saving  themselves  by 
flight :  parents  leading  their  children,  and  the  more  robust  supporting 
decrepit  old  persons;  and  especially  to  hear  the  affecting  lamentations 
of  the  women."  They,  however,  arrived  the  following  day  at  the 
castle  from  whence  they  dispersed  themselves  through  different  parts 
of  the  country,  some  proceeding  to  Arragon,  some  to  Catalonia,  others 
to  Toulouse  and  the  cities  belonging  to  their  party,  wherever  God  in 
his  providence  opened  a  door  for  their  admission. 

The  awful  silence  which  reigned  in  the  solitary  city  excited  no  little 
surprise  on  the  following  day  among  the  pilgrims.  At  first  they  sus- 
pected a  stratagem  to  draw  them  into  an  ambuscade ;  but  on  mounting 
the  walls  and  entering  the  town,  they  cried  out,  "  the  Albigenses  are 
fled  '."  The  legate  issued  a  proclamation,  that  no  person  should  seize 
or  carry  off  any  of  the  plunder — that  it  should  all  be  carried  to  the  great 
church  of  Carcassone,  whence  it  was  disposed  of  for  the  benefit  of  the 
pilgrims,  and  the  proceeds  distributed  among  them  in  rewards  according 
to  their  deserts.* 

The  crusade  against  the  Albigenses  had  hitherto  been  conducted  by 
an  ecclesiastic,  the  Abbe  de  Cisteaux;  but  having  been  prolonged  be- 
yond the  period  at  first  calculated  upon,  and  the  entire  reduction  of  the 
heretics  being  found  not  quite  so  easy  a  task  as  was  first  expected,  the 
supreme  command  was  now  vested  in  the  hands  of  Simon,  Earl  of 
Montfort,  a  person  of  some  military  talents,  but  of  a  fierce  and  ungo- 
vernable temper.  He  was  appointed  governor  of  the  whole  country, 
both  of  what  had  been  already  conquered,  and  what  should  be  conquer- 
ed in  future.  This  nobleman,  under  the  mask  of  piety  and  zeal  for  re- 
ligion, gratified  a  relentless  and  covetous  disposition.  He  plundered, 
assassinated,  and  committed  to  the  flames  the  poor  Albigenses,  without 
regard  to  character,  sex,  or  age.  Dazzled  by  his  success,  he  set  no 
bounds  to  his  rapacious  cruelty ;  and,  encouraged  by  the  papal  legate, 
he  insolently  proposed  that  the  Earl  of  Toulouse  should  absolutely  sur- 
render to  him  all  his  castles  and  territories  as  conquered  by  the  Catho- 
lic army.  Raymond  refused,  and  appealed  to  Philip,  king  of  France, 
his  lord  paramount.  The  haughty  Count,  however,  began  to  execute 
his  threats,  and  laid  siege  to  the  castle  of  Mincrba,  (or  Minerva)  a  place 
strongly  fortified  by  nature,  in  the  territory  of  Narbonne,  on  the  con- 
fines of  Spain.  "This  place  (said  he)  is  of  all  others  the  most  execra- 
ble, because  no  mass  has  been  sung  in  it  for  thirty  years" — a  remark 
which  gives  us  a  striking  idea  of  the  number  of  the  Waldenses ;  the 
very  worship  of  popery,  it  seems,  was  expelled  from  the  place.  On 
the  surrender  of  the  castle,  which  was  defended  by  Raymond,  Earl  of 

*  Perrin's  History  of  the  Albigenses,  b.  iii.  ch.  v. 


382  History  of  the  Christian  Church. 

^Termes,  and  compelled  to  capitulate  for  want  of  water,  they  exerted  all 
'their  influence  to  induce  him  to  recant  his  religion  and  turn  Catholic ; 
but  finding  him  inflexible,  they  shut  him  up  in  a  close  prison,  where  he 
soon  after  died.  They  then  seized  his  wife,  sister,  and  virgin  daugh- 
ter, with  other  females  of  distinguished  rank,  all  of  whom  they  laboured 
to  convert,  both  by  flattery  and  frowns,  by  fair  speeches  and  cruel 
threats ;  but  finding  that  nothing  could  prevail  upon  them  to  recant, 
they  made  a  large  fire,  into  which  they  were  all  thrown  and  consumed 
to  ashes. 

After  the  castle  had  been  taken,  the  Earl  of  Montfort  caused  the  Abbe 
de  Vaux,  a  friar,  to  preach  to  the  inhabitants,  exhorting  them  to  ac- 
knowledge the  pope  and  church  of  Rome:  but  they  interrupted  him, 
exclaiming,  "  we  will  not  renounce  our  religion  ;  you  labour  to  no  pur- 
pose, for  neither  life  nor  death  shall  induce  us  to  abandon  our  profes- 
sion." On  this  the  Earl  and  the  legate  commanded  a  hundred  and 
eighty  men  and  women  to  be  committed  to  the  flames  !  These  went, 
it  is  said,  with  cheerfulness,  blessing  God  that  he  was  pleased  to  confer 
on  them  the  honour  of  dying  for  his  sake ;  at  the  same  time  warning  the 
Earl  of  Montfort  that  he  would  one  day  pay  dear  for  his  cruelties  to- 
wards them.  All  who  witnessed  their  courage  and  constancy  were 
astonished.* 

But  I  must  not  attempt  to  prosecute,  in  minute  detail,  the  history  of 
this  i-eligious  crusade,  which  was  carried  on  against  the  Albigenses, 
during  almost  the  whole  of  the  first  thirty  years  of  this  century,  and 
with  varied  success ;  for  besides  that  it  could  administer  to  the  reader 
little  of  either  profitable  instruction  or  edification,  it  would  carry  me  far 
beyond  the  limits  prescribed  by  my  publication.  The  reader  who  has 
never  had  an  opportunity  of  exploring  the  history  of  this  period,  can 
scarcely  conceive  the  scenes  of  baseness,  perfidy,  barbarity,  indecency, 
and  hypocrisy,  over  which  Pope  Innocent  III.  and  his  immediate  suc- 
cessors presided.  The  bare  reflection  of  three  hundred  thousand  men, 
actuated  by  the  motives  of  avarice  and  superstition,  filling  the  country 
of  the  Albigenses  with  carnage  and  confusion,  during  a  period  of  twenty 
years,  is,  in  itself,  sufficient  to  harrow  up  the  soul;  but  to  go  into  any 
thing  like  a  circumstantial  detail  of  all  the  multifarious  atrocities  which 
belong  to  it,  would  only  be  to  impose  upon  the  reader  an  obligation  to 
throw  aside  the  book,  from  a  regard  to  his  own  feelings.  I  must  con- 
tent myself  with  an  outline. 

Having  got  possession  of  the  castle  of  Minerva,  Earl  Montfort  next 
laid  siege  to  that  of  Preissan,  or,  as  it  is  often  called,  Termes,  in  the 
district  of  Narbonne,  a  place  which  seemed  invincible  to  human  force; 
but  the  garrison  being  reduced  to  great  distress  for  want  of  water,  aban- 
doned the  place  by  night,  and  made  good  their  retreat  undiscovered  by 
the  enemy.  The  castle  of  La  Vaur  was  next  besieged,  and  after  a  siege 
of  six  months  taken  by  assault,  when  all  its  brave  defenders  were  put  to 
the  sword,  except  eighty  gentlemen,  whom  the  Earl  caused  to  be  igno- 
miniously  hanged,  and  Lord  Almeric  on  a  gibbet  higher  than  the  rest. 

*  Clarke's  Martyrology,  p.  110.  Perrin's  History  of  the  Albigenses,  p.  ii.  b. 
iii.  ch.  vii. 


Slaughter  of  the  Mbigenses.  383 

The  lady  of  Lavaur  was  cast  alive  into  a  pit,  and  there  stoned  to  death. 
And  with  respect  to  the  other  inhabitants,  it  was  put  to  their  option 
whether  they  would  conform  to  the  church  of  Rome,  or  perish  by  the 
flames.  They  almost  without  exception  chose  the  latter,  and  about 
four  hundred  persons  thus  precipitated  themselves  into  the  flames,  joy- 
fully yielding  up  their  spirits  into  the  hand  of  God.* 

The  Count  de  Foix,  who  had  been  peculiarly  interested  in  the  de- 
fence of  Preissan,  was  very  favourably  disposed  towards  the  Albigenses, 
and  consequently  much  disconcerted  at  the  loss  of  the  place.  The  Earl 
of  Toulouse,  also,  began  to  be  much  alarmed  at  the  success  of  Mont- 
fort,  and,  apprehensive  for  his  own  safety  and  that  of  his  subjects, 
roused  many  of  the  neighbouring  barons,  and  collected  a  considerable 
force,  which  he  brought  to  the  assistance  of  the  Count  de  Foix.  Their 
united  exertions  suddenly  changed  the  aspect  of  affairs.  Montfort  was 
stripped  of  almost  all  his  conquests,  and  a  complete  revolution  was 
nearly  effected ;  but  in  a  general  engagement,  which  took  place  in  the 
valley  of  Theniere,  they  were  defeated,  and  the  courage  of  the  party 
began  again  to  droop. 

Success  raised  the  pride  and  demands  of  the  inquisitors.  Conditions 
were  now  prescribed,  to  which  no  man  of  spirit  could  agree — "That 
Earl  Raymond  should  lay  down  his  arms,  without  retaining  one  soldier 
or  auxiliary;  that  he  should  not  only  submit  absolutely  and  for  ever  to 
the  church,  but  that  he  should  repair  and  refund  whatever  losses  the 
church  might  have  sustained  by  the  war — that  in  all  his  territories,  no 
one  should  ever  eat  more  than  two  kinds  of  flesh — that  he  should  expel 
all  heretics,  and  their  allies  and  abettors  from  his  dominions — that  with- 
in a  year  and  a  day  he  should  deliver  up  to  the  Count  de  Montfort, 
every  person  whom  he  should  name  or  require  to  be  punished  or  dis- 
posed of  as  the  Count  might  think  fit — that  his  subjects  should  never 
wear  any  jewels,  nor  fine  clothes,  nor  caps,  nor  bonnets,  of  any  other 
colour  than  black — that  all  his  fortifications  should  be  demolished ;  that 
no  relative  or  friend  of  his,  should  reside  in  any  city,  but  in  the  coun- 
try only — that  no  new  tax  should  be  levied  by  him,  but  that  every  head 
of  a  family  in  his  territories  should  annually  pay  four  deniers  to  the 
pope's  legate — that  the  tiends  should  be  paid  over  all  his  lands — that 
the  papal  legate  should  never  be  required  to  pay  any  toll,  or  other 
impost,  while  travelling  through  the  country  under  his  jurisdic- 
tion— that  Raymond  should  associate  himself  with  the  knights  of  St. 
John,  and  go  into  voluntary  exile  as  a  crusader  to  the  Holy  Land,  never 
to  return  without  leave,  and  finally,  that  he  should  not  have  his  lands 
restored  until  he  had  complied  with  all  these  demands." 

In  the  year  1215,  pope  Innocent  III.  convened  the  famous  council  of 
Lateran,  at  which  Dominic  was  present,  and  many  decrees  against 
heretics  were  enacted.  To  this  council  both  the  Earl  of  Toulouse  and 
his  son  Raymond  had  recourse,  and  urged  their  plea  against  Montfort, 
who  had  usurped  their  dominions.  The  council,  however,  decreed 
Earl  Raymond  to  be  for  ever  excluded  from  his  dominions,  which  he 
had  governed  ill,  and  ordered  him  to  remain  in  some  convenient  place 

I 
*  Clarke's  Marty rology,  p.  111. 


384  History  of  the  Christian  Church. 

out  of  his  dominions,  with  a  view  to  his  giving  suitable  proofs  of  his 
repentance.  Four  hundred  marks  of  silver  were,  nevertheless,  as- 
signed him  annually  out  of  his  revenues,  as  long  as  he  behaved  himself 
with  an  humble  obedience;  but  his  possessions  were  adjudged  to 
Montfort.  Upon  this  decree,  the  Earl  went  into  Spain,  and  his  son 
into  Provence,  where  they  raised  auxiliary  forces,  and  were  not  only 
enabled  to  continue  the  war  against  Montfort,  but  actually  recovered 
some  part  of  the  Earl's  dominions,  and  even  his  capital,  the  city  of 
Toulouse.  Whilst  Montfort  was  endeavouring  to  retake  it,  he  was 
struck  on  the  head  by  a  stone  which  instantly  killed  him,  in  the  year 
1218,  and  the  city  was  delivered  from  the  siege. 

In  the  course  of  the  war  the  castle  of  Minerva  having  surrendered  to 
the  Catholic  army,  the  Abbe  de  Cisteau,  who,  ever  since  the  election 
of  Montfort  to  its  command,  had  continued  the  chief  counsellor  of  the 
crusaders,  hesitated  for  some  time,  how  he  should  dispose  of  the  garri- 
son and  inhabitants.  "  He  sincerely  desired  the  death  of  the  enemies 
of  Jesus  Christ,"  says  the  author  of  the  history  of  the  Albigenses, 
"  but  being  a  priest  and  a  monk,  he  could  not  agree  to  the  slaughter  of 
the  citizens,  if  they  would  be  converted.  Robert  Mauvoisin,  a  zealot 
in  the  army,  dissatisfied  with  this  appearance  of  humanity  and  conde- 
scension, insisted  that  they  had  come  there,  not  to  favour  heretics,  but 
to  exterminate  them.  In  this  dilemma,  the  blood-thirsty  monk  was  re- 
lieved from  his  embarrassment,  by  the  higher  tone,  not  the  fiercer 
spirit,  of  a  third  person,  who  exclaimed,  'Fear  not,  probably  not  one 
of  them  will  accept  of  the  alternative  !'  The  event  proved  the  correct- 
ness of  his  judgment ;  for,  the  piles  being  kindled,  they  mostly  pre- 
cipitated themselves  into  the  flames."* 

Earl  Raymond  did  not  long  enjoy  the  possession  of  his  dominions, 
which  he  had  reconquered,  for  he  died  in  the  year  1221,  and  was  suc- 
ceeded by  his  son,  the  young  Raymond,  who  soon  after  banished  the 
inquisition  from  the  country  of  Toulouse.  Pope  Innocent  III.  also  died 
about  the  same  time,  and  was  succeeded  by  Honorius  III.  who  was  no 
sooner  elevated  to  power  than  he  issued  his  denunciations  against  all 
heretics,  and  violators  of  the  ecclesiastical  immunity,  in  the  following 
rescript,  which  was  sent  into  France.  "  We  excommunicate  all  he- 
retics of  both  sexes,  and  of  whatsoever  sect,  with  their  favourers,  re- 
ceivers, and  defenders ;  and,  moreover,  all  those  who  cause  any  edicts 
or  customs,  contrary  to  the  liberty  of  the  church,  to  be  observed,  unless 
they  remove  them  from  their  public  records  in  two  months  after  the 
publication  of  this  sentence.  Also  we  excommunicate  the  makers  and 
the  writers  of  those  statutes,  and  moreover,  all  governors,  consuls, 
rulers,  and  counsellors  of  places  where  such  statutes  and  customs  shall 
be  published  and  kept,  all  those  who  shall  presume  to  pass  judgment, 
or  to  publish  such  judgments,  as  shall  be  made  according  to  them." 

The  conduct  of  the  young  Raymond  had  rendered  him  peculiarly 
obnoxious  to  the  new  pontiff,  who  took  care  to  inform  him,  that  unless 
he  returned  to  his  duty,  he  should  be  stripped  of  his  dominions,  as  his 
father  had  been ;  and  by  letters,  bearing  date  the  8th  of  November, 

*  Hist.  Albigenses,  cap.  37.  in  Rankin's  France,  vol.  iii.  p.  214. 


Penance  War  instituted.  385 

1221,  he  confirmed  the  sentence  of  the  legate,  by  which  he  deprived 
him  of  all  his  right  in  every  country  that  had  ever  been  subject  to  his 
father ;  and  that  this  sentence  might  want  nothing  of  its  full  force,  he 
commanded  the  Dominicans  to  proclaim  a  holy  war  against  heretics, 
to  be  called  the  penance  war.  At  the  sound  of  this  horrid  trumpet, 
multitudes  rushed  to  the  standard,  enrolling  themselves  in  this  holy 
society,  as  they  presumptuously  imagined  it  to  be,  wearing  a  black 
cloak  over  a  white  garment,  and  receiving  the  sacrament  of  the  eucha- 
rist  for  the  defence  of  the  Catholic  faith. 

The  more  effectually  to  subdue  the  Earl  of  Toulouse,  the  pope 
transmitted  his  letters  to  Louis,  king  of  France,  exhorting  him  to  take 
arms  against  the  Albigenses,  in  the  following  extraordinary  words. 
"  'Tis  the  command  of  God,  who  says,  If  thou  shalt  hear  say  in  any 
one  of  thy  cities  which  the  Lord  thy  God  hath  given  thee  to  dwell 
there,  saying,  let  us  go  and  serve  other  gods,  which  ye  have  not 
known,  thou  shalt  smite  the  inhabitants  of  that  city  with  the  edge  of 
the  sword.  Although  you  are  under  many  obligations  already  to  God, 
for  the  great  benefits  hitherto  received  from  him,  from  whom  comes 
every  good  and  perfect  gift,  yet  you  ought  to  reckon  yourself  more 
especially  obliged  courageously  to  exert  yourself  for  him  against  the 
subverters  of  the  faith,  by  whom  he  is  blasphemed,  and  manfully  to 
defend  the  Catholic  purity,  which  many  in  those  parts,  adhering  to  the 
doctrines  of  devils,  are  known  to  have  east  off." 

This  profound  logic  was  too  irresistible  to  be  withstood  by  Louis, 
who  began  to  collect  an  army  of  crusaders,  at  the  head  of  which  he 
placed  himself,  and  sat  down  before  the  city  of  Avignon.  Raymond, 
at  that  time,  held  several  cautionary  lands  of  the  king  of  England  ;  and 
the  pope,  suspecting  that  he  might  possibly  apply  for  assistance  to  our 
English  monarch  to  enable  him  to  defend  them,  wrote  to  caution  him 
not  to  take  up  arms  against  the  French  king,  in  these  words,  "  Make 
no  war,  either  by  yourself,  or  your  brother,  or  any  other  person,  on 
the  said  king,  so  long  as  he  is  engaged  in  the  affair  of  the  faith  and 
service  of  Jesus  Christ,  lest  by  your  obstructing  the  matter,  which 
God  forbid  you  should  do,  the  king,  with  his  prelates  and  barons  of 
France,  should  be  forced  to  turn  their  arms  from  the  extirpation  of 
heretics  to  their  own  defence.  As  for  us,  since  we  could  not  excuse 
such  a  conduct,  an  instance  of  great  indevotion,  we  could  not  impart  to 
you  our  paternal  favour,  which,  under  other  circumstances,  at  all  pro- 
per seasons,  should  never  be  wanting  to  you.  And  as  we  are  not  only 
ready  to  do  you  justice,  but  even  to  show  you  favour,  as  far  as  God 
enables  us,  we  have  taken  care,  that  whatever  becomes  of  heretics  and 
their  lands,  your  rights  and  those  of  other  Catholics  shall  be  safe." 

The  city  of  Avignon  was  defended  by  Earl  Raymond  with  great 
bravery,  and  multitudes  of  the  French  army  fell  during  the  siege.  For, 
besides  those  that  were  killed  in  the  ordinary  mode  of  warfare,  the 
army  was  afflicted  with  a  dysentery  and  other  diseases,  which  carried 
off  numbers,  and  among  the  rest  the  French  monarch.  The  pope's 
legate,  for  some  time,  concealed  the  death  of  the  king,  lest  the  army 
should  break  up  with  disgrace  from  the  siege  of  a  single  city,  without 
being  able  to  take  it.  Finding,  however,  that  it  was  not  to  be  con- 
33 


386  History  of  the  Christian  Church. 

quered  by  force,  the  legate  had  recourse  to  fraud ;  and  even  these 
measures  for  some  time  failed  him.  He  then  desired  that  he  might 
be  admitted  into  the  city,  in  company  with  his  prelates,  under  pretence 
that  he  would  examine  into  the  faith  of  the  inhabitants,  and  affirming 
with  an  oath,  that  he  put  off  the  siege  of  the  city  for  no  other  cause 
than  the  Avelfare  of  thair  souls.  He  added,  that  the  cry  of  their  infi- 
delity had  ascended  to  the  pope;  and  that  he  wished  to  inquire  whe- 
ther they  had  done  altogether  according  to  the  cry  that  had  come  up 
before  him.  The  too  credulous  citizens,  not  suspecting  the  fraud,  and 
especially  relying  upon  the  sacredness  of  his  oath,  opened  their  gates, 
on  which  the  soldiers  of  the  French  army,  as  had  been  previously  de- 
termined, rushed  violently  into  the  city,  seized  the  citizens,  bound 
them  in  chains,  plundered  their  houses,  killed  numbers  of  the  inhabit- 
ants, and  having  thus,  by  treachery,  got  possession,  they  broke  down 
the  towers,  and  destroyed  the  walls  of  that  noble  city.  Such  is  the 
narrative  handed  down  to  us  of  those  sanguinary  proceedings  by  the 
monk  of  St.  Albans,  Matthew  Paris. 

Avignon  being  thus  taken,  the  crusaders  next  bent  all  their  forces 
against  Toulouse.  This  city,  which  was  most  gallantly  defended, 
maintained  a  long  siege,  but  it  was  at  length  taken,  in  1221,  and  young 
Raymond  compelled  to  submit  to  terms  even  more  severe  than  those 
which  were  proposed  to  his  father  in  the  council  of  Aries.  From  this 
period  the  Albigenses  declined  greatly  in  France.  For,  being  no  longer 
permitted  to  find  an  asylum  under  any  of  the  reigning  princes,  such  of 
them  as  escaped  the  edge  of  the  sword,  and  the  vengeance  of  their  ad- 
versaries, fled  for  refuge  into  the  valleys  of  Piedmont  and  other  places, 
dispersing  themselves  in  every  direction,  as  will  be  shown  in  the  en- 
suing section,  wherever  they  could  enjoy  quietness  and  the  liberty  of 
worshipping  God  agreeably  to  the  exercise  of  a  good  conscience. 

As  to  the  ordinary  manner  of  proceeding  with  such  as  fell  into  their 
hands  captives  of  war,  a  single  extract  from  Limborch's  history  may 
suffice  to  show.  "  A  person  of  the  name  of  Robert,"  says  he,  quoting 
the  Annals  of  Bzovius,  and  of  Raynaldus,  1207,  &c.  "  who  had  been 
of  the  sect  of  the  Albigenses,  but  afterwards  joined  the  Dominicans, 
supported  by  the  authority  of  the  princes  and  magistrates,  burnt  all 
who  persisted  in  their  heresy.  Within  two  months  he  caused  fifty 
persons,  without  distinction  of  sex,  either  to  be  burnt  or  buried  alive, 
whence  he  was  called  '  the  Hammer  of  the  Heretics.'  In  1211  they 
took  the  city  of  Alby,  and  there  put  numbers  to  death.  They  took  La 
Vaur  by  storm,  and  burnt  in  it  multitudes  of  the  Albigenses.  They 
hanged  Almeric,  the  governor  of  that  city,  who  was  of  a  very  noble 
family  ;  and  beheaded  eighty  of  the  inferior  rank,  not  sparing  the  fe- 
males. They  threw  the  sister  of  Almeric,  who  was  the  principal  lady 
of  the  sect  of  the  Albigenses,  into  a  well, -and  covered  her  with  stones. 
Afterwards  they  conquered  Carcum,  and  put  sixty  men  to  death.  They 
seized  on  Pulchra  Vallis,  a  large  city  near  Toulouse,  committed  four 
hundred  Albigenses  to  the  flames,  and  hanged  fifty  more."  Thuanus, 
that  impartial  Catholic  writer,  in  the  History  of  his  own  Times,  book 
vi.  confirms  this  dreadful  statement  in  its  general  results,  and  further 
adds,   "  that  after  the  capture  of  La  Vaur,  the  towns  of  Les  Cures,  Ra- 


Cruelties  inflicted  on  the  Albigenses.  387 

bastains,  Gaillac,  St.  Marcel,  St.  Anthonin,  Causae,  and  Moisac,  were 
stormed,  and  a  great  massacre  made  of  the  townsmen  by  the  conquer- 
ors. The  castle  of  Perre  in  the  Agenois  having  after  a  long  siege  capi- 
tulated, seventy  of  the  soldiers  were  hanged,  and  the  others  who  ad- 
hered to  their  errors  were  burnt  alive.  Nor  was  Paris  itself  exempt 
from  this  contagion ;  for  fourteen  persons,  most  of  whom  were  priests 
(teachers  among  the  Albigenses)  being  convicted  of  this  error,  expired 
in  the  flames.  In  England  they  were  handled  with  more  mildness,  if 
loss  of  life  be  the  measure  of  punishment,  but  with  more  ignominy; 
the  convicted  persons  being  branded  with  a  hot  iron  on  their  shoulders, 
or  even  on  their  foreheads." 

But,  independent  of  those  that  fell  by  the  edge  of  the  sword,  or 
were  committed  to  the  flames  by  the  soldiers  and  magistrates,  the  in- 
quisition was  constantly  at  work,  from  the  year  1206  to  1228,  and 
produced  the  most  dreadful  havoc  among  the  disciples  of  Christ.  Of 
the  effects  occasioned  by  this  infernal  engine  of  cruelty  and  oppression, 
we  may  have  some  notion  from  this  circumstance, — that  in  the  last- 
mentioned  year  the  archbishops  of  Aix,  Aries,  and  Narbonne,  found  it 
necessary  to  intercede  with  the  monks  of  the  Inquisition,  to  defer  a 
little  their  work  of  imprisonment,  until  the  pope  could  be  apprized  of 
the  immense  numbers  apprehended — numbers  so  great,  that  it  was  im- 
possible to  defray  the  charge  of  their  subsistence,  or  even  to  provide 
stone  and  mortar  to  build  prisons  for  them.  Their  own  language,  in- 
deed, is  so  remarkable,  that  it  deserves  to  be  laid  before  the  reader,  and 
here  it  is. 

«« It  has  come  to  our  knowledge,"  say  they,  "  that  you  have  appre- 
hended so  many  of  the  Waldenses,  that  it  is  not  only  impossible  to 
defray  the  charges  of  their  subsistence,  but  also  to  provide  stone  and 
mortar  to  build  prisons  for  them.  We,  therefore,  advise  you  to  defer 
for  awhile  augmenting  their  number,  until  the  pope  be  apprized  of  the 
great  multitudes  that  have  been  apprehended,  and  until  he  notify  what 
he  pleases  to  have  done  in  this  case.  Nor  is  there  any  reason  you 
should  take  offence  thereat ;  for  as  to  those  who  are  altogether  impeni- 
tent and  incorrigible,  or  concerning  whom  you  may  doubt  of  their  re- 
lapse or  escape,  or  that,  being  at  large  again,  they  would  infect  others, 
you  may  condemn  such  ivithout  delay."* 

Such  is  the  representation  given  us  by  writers  of  unimpeachable  ve- 
racity, of  the  merciless  treatment  which  the  Albigenses  received  from 
the  Catholics  at  this  period,  purely  on  account  of  their  religious  pro- 
fession.!    Before  I  dismiss  the  subject,  it  may  be  proper  to  notice  a 

*  Perrin's  Hist,  des  Vaudois,  b.  ii.  ch.  2. 

■j-  "'In  the  council  of  Toulouse,  held  in  the  year  1229,  a  most  severe  and  san- 
guinary inquisition  was  established  against  heretics.  One  of  its  canons  is,  '  it 
shall  not  be  permitted  to  laymen  to  have  the  books  of  the  Old  and  New  Testa- 
ment; only  they  who  out  of  devotion  desire  it,  may  have  a  Psalter,  a  Hreviary, 
and  the  hours  of  the  Virgin.  But  ice  absolutely  forbid  them  to  have  the  above  men- 
tioned books  translated  into  the  vulgar  tongue.'  This  is  the  first  time,  says  the 
Abbe  Fleury,  in  his  Ecclesiastical  History,  that  I  have  met  with  this  prohibition: 
but  it  maybe  favourably  explained  by  observing  that  the  minds  of  men  being  then 
much  irritated,  there  was  no  other  method  of  putting  a  stop  to  contentions,  than 
by  taking  away  from  them  the  Holy  Scriptures,  of  which  the  heretics  made  a 
bad  use  "     A  poor  excuse  indeed!  says  Dr.  Jortin.     Remarks,  vol.  in.  p.  311. 


388  History  of  the  Christian  Church. 

difficulty  which  will  strike  the  minds  of  reflecting  readers.  It  has  been 
intimated  both  by  the  friends  and  enemies  of  the  Waldenses,  that  they 
had  religious  scruples  against  bearing  arms,  and  even  shedding  the 
blood  of  animals  unnecessarily.  The  question,  therefore,  naturally 
presents  itself,  "  Were  they  at  last  driven  to  the  necessity  of  taking  up 
the  sword  in  defence  of  their  religion  and  lives  ?"  Upon  the  lawfulness 
or  unlawfulness  of  doing  so,  when  pressed  by  dire  necessity,  I  shall 
offer  no  opinion  in  this  place.  My  business  is  to  state  facts  as  I 
find  them  ;  and  that  the  reader  may  not  suspect  me  of  a  wish  to  misre- 
present their  principles  and  conduct  in  the  instance  referred  to,  I  shall 
quote  the  words  of  Mr.  Robinson,  who  had  much  better  means  of  in- 
formation than  have  fallen  to  my  lot. 

"  The  difficulty  here  is,"  says  he,  "  how  such  people  as  bore  no 
arms,  and  shed  no  blood,  could  be  said  to  bring  large  armies  into  the 
field  to  defend  their  rights.  The  proper  answer  is — the  pious  were 
named  from  the  provinces,  the  provinces  and  princes  from  the  pious  ; 
for  one  common  principle,  that  all  mankind  had  a  right  to  be  free, 
brought  together  Goths  and  professors  of  the  gospel.  Both  loved 
liberty — the  latter  paid  for  it  by  taxes,  the  fruits  of  their  industry,  and 
the  former  fought  for  it,  and,  by  defending  one,  preserved  both  parties. 
The  church  of  Rome  having  adopted  clerical  dominion  as  an  article  of 
orthodox  belief,  it  followed  of  course,  that  resistance  to  that,  was  here- 
sy both  political  and  religious.  Too  many  historians  take  up  the  affair 
in  the  gross,  lay  it  down  as  they  took  it  up,  and  gravely  say,  the  Lord, 
by  a  course  of  miracles,  assisted  his  dear  servants  the  Catholics  to 
drown,  stab,  and  burn,  forty  thousand  heretics — because  they  (the 
Catholics)  were  afraid  of  their  lives,  in  a  society  of  people  who  had 
such  an  aversion  to  the  taking  away  [even]  of  animal  life,  that  they 
never  killed  a  bird,  from  a  sparrow  to  an  eagle  ;  or  a  quadruped,  from 
a  weasel  to  an  elephant  ;*  and  who  perpetually  exclaimed  against  penal 
laws,  and  thought  it  wrong  to  take  away  the  life  of  man." 

A  proper  attention  to  this  matter,  may  help  us  to  solve  several  things 
in  the  writings  of  the  Catholics  themselves,  which  must  otherwise  prove 
extremely  perplexing.  Thus  for  instance,  several  of  their  own  writers 
describe  the  battle  which  proved  so  fatal  to  the  cause  of  the  Albigenses. 
"In  the  year  1213,  the  Christian  army  of  eight  hundred  horse  and  one 
thousand  foot,  near  Toulouse,  being  divided  into  three  corps,  in  honour 
of  the  Holy  Trinity,  the  first  under  the  command  of  Simon,  count  of 
Montfort,  the  second  commanded  by  the  Lord  Bishop  of  Toulouse,  and 
the  third  by  the  Lord  Bishop  of  Cominge,  attacked  the  army  of  here- 
tics, consisting  of  an  hundred  thousand  fighting  men,  and  defeated  them. 
The  Catholics  lost  about  a  hundred  men,  but  of  the  Albigenses,  two 
and  thirty  thousand  were   either  killed  or  drowned  in  the  river  Ga- 

*  Mr.  Robinson  has  here  given  the  very  words  of  the  Inquisitor  Reinerius, 
who,  describing  the  Waldenses,  says,  "Ita,  est  communis  opinio  Catharorum, 
quod  graviter  peccaret,  quicumque  occiderit  avem  aliquam  a  minima  usque  ad 
maximam;  et  quadrupedia,  a  mustela  usque  ad  elephantem."  That  is,  "It  is 
also  a  common  opinion  among  the  Puritans  (Cathari)  that  that  man  sins  grievous- 
ly who  kills  any  bird,  from  the  least  to  the  greatest — or  a  quadruped,  from  a 
weasel  to  an  elephant."     Contra  Waldc?ises,  cap.vi. 


Tolerant  principles  of  the  Dukes  of  Savoy.  389 

ronne."*  This  they  call  the  battle  of  Murat,t  and  they  add,  that  after  this 
victory  many  of  the  surviving  heretics  fled  into  the  valleys  of  Piedmont, 
where  their  descendants  resided  till  two  hundred  years  after,  when  Huss 
revived  the  same  heresy  in  Bohemia,  and  Luther  in  Germany,  about 
a  hundred  years  after  him.  The  explanation  of  all  this  miracle  is,  that 
the  cities  and  towns  that  were  attacked  by  the  crusaders  were  peopled 
with  mechanics,  manufacturers,  and  husbandmen  of  the  kind  described 
by  the  inquisitors — an  industrious  and  virtuous  people,  who  took  no 
oaths,  objected  to  wars  of  every  kind,  and  refused  to  shed  the  blood  of 
a  fellow-creature,  even  in  defence  of  their  own  lives.  Such  appears 
plainly  to  have  been  the  case  with  the  Albigenses.  The  Count  of 
Toulouse,  and  the  barons  and  vassals  that  constituted  his  army,  no 
doubt  acted  upon  different  maxims  ;  for,  had  they  followed  out  the 
principles  of  these  Albigenses,  they  would  have  dissolved  the  whole 
feudal  system  ;  but  they  approved  of  the  conduct  of  these  people  in 
dissenting  from  the  communion  of  the  church  of  Rome,  admired  the 
simplicity  of  their  doctrine  and  worship,  and,  to  the  utmost  of  their 
power,  protected  them  from  the  rage  of  their  bigoted  and  sanguinary 
persecutors.^ 


* 


SECTION  VII. 


SOME  ACCOUNT  OF  THE  STATE  OF  THE  WALDENSES,  FROM  THE  PERIOD 
OF  THE  SUPPRESSION  OF  THEIR  CHURCHES  IN  FRANCE,  TO  THE  MIDDLE 
OF  THE  FOURTEENTH  CENTURY, A.   D.    1230, 1350. 

While  the  daemon  of  persecution  was  raging  with  resistless  fury 
against  the  Albigenses  in  the  southern  provinces  of  France,  the  inhabi- 
tants of  the  valleys  of  Piedmont  appear  to  have  enjoyed  a  large  por- 
tion of  external  peace : — their  churches  had  rest,  and  walking  in  the 
fear  of  the  Lord  and  the  comforts  of  the  Holy  Spirit,  were  edified  and 


*  Voltaire's  remark  upon  this  curious  piece  of  Catholic  history,  maybe  thought 
by  some  not  altogether  impertinent.  "Is  it  likely,"  he  asks,  "that  only  eighteen 
hundred  men  would  attack  an  army  of  an  hundred  thousand  in  the  open  field, 
and  divide  themselves  into  three  bodies?  'It  is  a  miracle,'  some  writers  will 
say,  but  military  people,  upon  reading  such  a  story,  will  tell  them  it  is  nonsense 
and  absurdity."     General  History,  vol.  i.  ch.  1. 

f  A  singular  disclosure  was  made  after  this  battle,  and  as  the  circumstance 
tends  to  throw  a  ray  of  light  upon  the  secret  history  of  these  times  it  deserves  to 
be  recorded.  When  the  battle  of  Murat  was  over,  there  was  found  among  the  slain 
belonging  to  the  Albigenses  a  knight  in  black  armour.  On  examining,  behold  it 
was  discovered  to  be  Peter,  king  of  Arragon — that  very  monarch,  who  had 
formerly  been  engaged  in  negotiating  between  the  pope's  legate  and  the  earl  of 
Beziers.  (see  p.  378.)  There  also  lay  one  of  his  sons  and  many  of  the  Arra- 
gonian  gentlemen  and  vassals,  who,  while  ostensibly  supporting  the  Roman 
church  had,  in  disguise,  been  fighting  in  defence  of  the  Albigenses  !  ! 

*  See  Robinson's  Ecclesiastical  Researches,  ch.  x.  and  Dr.  Allix's  Remarks  on 
the  Ecclesiastical  History  of  the  Ancient  Churches  of  the  Albigenses,  ch.  xxi. 

33* 


300  History  of  the  Christian  Church. 

multiplied.  The  kind  providence  of  God  appeared  in  blessing  them 
with  a  succession  of  mild  and  tolerant  princes,  in  the  Dukes  of  Savoy,* 
who,  continually  receiving  the  most  favourable  reports  of  them,  as  a 
people  simple  in  their  manners,  free  from  deceit  and  malice,  upright  in 
their  dealings,  loyal  to  their  governors,  and  ever  ready  to  yield  them  a 
cheerful  obedience  in  every  thing  but  the  concerns  of  religion,  turned  a 
deaf  ear  to  the  repeated  solicitations  of  priests  and  monks,  and,  from 
the  beginning  of  the  thirteenth  century  until  the  year  1487,  a  period  of 
nearly  three  hundred  years,  peremptorily  refused  to  disturb  or  molest 
them. 

An  effort  was  made  to  introduce  the  Inquisition  into  Piedmont,  but 
the  proceedings  in  France  had  sufficiently  opened  the  eyes  of  the  in- 
habitants to  the  spirit  and  principles  of  that  infernal  court,  and  they 
wisely  resisted  its  establishment  among  them.  An  inquisitor  of  the 
name  of  Peter  of  Verona,  had  been  deputed  by  the  pope  to  carry  the 
project  into  effect;  but  we  are  told  by  Ludovicus  a  Paramo,  a  Spanish 
writer  of  those  times,  that  "  the  people  made  a  martyr  of  him  either  at 
Turin  or  Susa."t  At  Milan,  also,  the  united  power  of  pope  Pius  IV. 
and  Philip  II.  of  Spain,  was  found  insufficient  to  introduce  the  Inquisi- 
tion ;  the  mob  rose  at  the  bare  proposal  of  it  and  flew  to  arms,  ex- 
claiming that  it  was  a  system  of  tyranny,  and  not  of  religion.  Even 
the  senate  protested  against  it  as  inimical  to  trade,  repugnant  to  the  free 
constitution  of  the  cities  of  Italy,  and  incompatible  with  the  Milanese 
forms  of  law,  on  which  grounds  they  opposed  its  introduction.  Naples 
and  Venice  also  successfully  resisted  the  inquisitorial  scheme ;  and,  as 
the  populace  in  almost  every  part  of  Italy  formed  insurrections  against 
the  inquisitors,  evincing  the  most  determined  spirit  of  hostility  against 
them,  the  states  prudently  availed  themselves  of  this  temper  of  mind, 
and  pretended  they  were  afraid  of  exasperating  the  people  should  they 
introduce  the  independent  power  of  the  holy  office. 

The  scenes  of  slaughter  and  devastation  which  had  been  carried  on 
against  the  Albigenses,  in  the  southern  provinces  of  France,  for  more 
than  twenty  years  during  the  former  part  of  the  thirteenth  century,  in 
which  time*  it  has  been  computed  that  a  million  of  persons  bearing  that 
name  were  put  to  death,!  had  occasioned  many  of  them  to  cross  the  Pyre- 
nees and  seek  a  shelter  from  the  storm  in  the  Spanish  provinces  of  Ar- 
ragon  and  Catalonia.  Matthew  Paris,  in  his  History  of  the  reign  of 
Henry  III.  notices  this  circumstance,  and  informs  us  that  in  the  year 

*  Mr.  Robinson,  refering  to  this  subject,  has  the  following  pertinent  remark. 
"  It  is  a  curious  phenomenon  in  politics,  that  the  family  which  allowed  its  subjects 
religious  liberty,  when  all  other  princes  oppressed  conscience,  should,  in  a  coun- 
try enthusiastically  fond  of  liberty,  become  in  the  end,  the  most  absolute  monarchs 
in  the  Christian  world.  Such  is  the  king  of  Sardinia,  who  is  also  Duke  of  Savoy, 
and  to  whose  eldest  son,  the  heir  apparent,  the  title  of  the  Prince  of  Piedmont 
is  hereditary."     Eccles.  Researches,  p.  459. 

|  Limborch,  on  the  authority  of  Pegna  in  Eymeric,  says,  "  as  he  was  going 
from  Como  to  Milan,  A.  D.  1252,  to  extirpate  heresy,  a  certain  believer  of  here- 
tics attacked  him  in  his  journey,  and  despatched  him  with  many  wounds.  He 
was  canonized  and  worshipped  as  a  martyr." 

\  Mcde  on  the  Apocalypse,  p.  503.  and  Newton  on  the  Prophecies,  vol.  ii.  p 
257.  8th  ed.  1789.     Clark  in  his  Martyrology  doubles  the  number. 


Waldenses  persecuted  in  Spain.  39 1 

1214,  during  the  pontificate  of  Alexander  IV.  there  were  great  num- 
bers of  the  Waldenses  in  these  provinces,  of  which  the  pope  bitterly 
complained  in  one  of  his  bulls,  saying,  that  they  had  permitted  them 
to  gain  such  a  footing,  and  given  them  such  time  to  increase  and  mul- 
tiply, that  the  evil  called  loudly  for  a  remedy.  He  further  adds,  that 
they  had  several  churches  duly  set  in  order  with  their  bishops  and 
deacons,  in  which  they  publicly  and  boldly  preached  their  doctrine. 
Thither  the  vigilance  of  the  inquisitors  traced  their  steps,  and  accord- 
ingly in  the  year  1232,  the  Inquisition  was  brought  into  Arragon.  A 
further  inducement,  indeed,  to  this  was,  that  the  bishop  of  Huesca,  a 
considerable  city  of  Arragon,  was  reported  to  err  in  matters  of  faith, 
and  in  all  probability  had  so  much  humanity  in  his  composition,  as  led 
him  to  connive  at  the  residence  of  heretics  in  his  diocese.  The  office 
of  making  inquisition  against  them,  was  committed  by  pope  Gregory 
IX.  to  a  friar  of  the  order  of  Predicants,  named  Peter  Caderite ;  and 
James,  the  King  of  Arragon,  was  magisterially  enjoined  not  to  permit 
him,  or  any  of  his  assistants,  to  be  molested  in  the  discharge  of  the 
duties  of  the  Inquisition.  A  commission  was  at  the  same  time  given 
to  the  archbishop  of  Tarragona,  the  metropolitan  city  of  Catalonia,  and 
his  suffragans,  to  constitute  a  court  of  inquisition  there  also,  against 
heretical  pravity.  The  following  is  a  copy  of  the  bull  which  was  is- 
sued for  that  purpose. 

"  Since  the  evening  of  the  world  is  now  declining,  we  admonish 
and  beseech  your  brotherhood,  and  strictly  command  you  by  our  writ- 
ten and  apostolic  words,  as  you  regard  the  Divine  judgment,  that  with 
diligent  care  you  make  inquiry  against  heretics,  and  render  them  infa- 
mous, by  the  assistance  of  the  friars  Predicants,  and  others  whom  you 
shall  judge  fit  for  this  business  ;  and  that  you  proceed  against  all  who 
are  culpable  and  infamous,  according  to  our  statutes  lately  published 
against  heretics,  unless  they  will  from  the  heart  absolutely  obey  the 
commands  of  the  church — which  statutes  we  send  you  enclosed  in  our 
bull ;  and  that  ye  also  proceed  against  the  receivers,  abettors,  and  fa- 
vourers of  heretics,  according  to  the  same  statutes.  But  if  any  will 
wholly  abjure  the  heretical  plague,  and  return  to  the  ecclesiastical  unity, 
grant  them  the  benefit  of  absolution,  according  to  the  forms  of  the 
church,  and  enjoin  them  the  usual  penance."* 

Soon  after  the  establishment  of  the  Inquisition  in  Arragon,  a  synod 
was  convened  at  Tarragona,  when  many  severe  decrees  were  passed 
against  heretics,  and  the  holy  office  was  erected  there  also ;  and,  for 
the  space  of  a  century  and  a  half,  measures  of  the  greatest  rigour  were 
incessantly  carried  on  against  the  Waldenses  in  that  quarter,  before 
their  entire  extinction  could  be  effected.  The  Catholic  writers  avow 
these  facts,  and  acknowledge  that  they  owed  their  ultimate  success,  in 
subduing  the  heretics  in  that  quarter,  to  the  superior  talents  and  exer- 
tions of  Nicholas  Eymeric,  a  Predicant  monk,  and  author  of  the  direc- 
tory of  the  inquisitors,  who  was  created  inquisitor-general,  about  the 
year  1358,  and  died  January  4th,  1392,  having  kept  up  the  office  of 
the  Inquisition  against  heretics  forty-four  years  in  succession. 

*  Bzovius,  A.  1233.  sect.  8.  9. 


392  History  of  the  Christian  Church. 

The  flight  of  Waldo  from  the  south  of  France  into  Germany,  and 
the  success  that  attended  him  in  preaching  the  gospel  in  the  different 
cities  which  are  situated  on  the  banks  of  the  Rhine,  have  been  already 
noticed.  We  are  informed  that  about  the  year  1213,  Germany  and 
Alsace  were  full  of  the  Waldenses.*  Two  considerations  may  enable 
us  to  account  for  this.  One  is,  the  destructive  war  that  was  waged 
against  the  Albigenses  in  France,  supported  by  the  terror  of  the  Inqui- 
sition, which  would  necessarily  drive  the  disciples  of  Christ  to  seek 
security  in  other  countries.  The  other  is,  that  a  violent  quarrel  arose 
about  tins  time  between  the  pope  and  Frederick  II.  Emperor  of  Germa- 
ny. The  latter  prince,  on  his  first  accession  to  the  throne,  had  gone 
eagerly  into  all  the  measures  of  the  court  of  Rome,  and  issued  the  most 
horrid  and  sanguinary  edicts  against  the  Waldenses,  as  hath  been 
shown  in  a  former  section.t  But  he  had  now,  by  some  means,  incur- 
red the  displeasure  of  Gregory  IX.  who,  at  the  moment  that  Frederick 
was  prosecuting  a  war  against  the  Saracens  in  the  east,  excited  the 
emperor's  own  son  Henry,  who  had  been  elected  king  of  the  Romans, 
to  rebel  against  his  father,  in  consequence  of  which,  the  cities  ofLom- 
bardy  had  revolted.  The  rebellion  was,  however,  suppressed,  the 
prince  was  confined,  and  Frederick  triumphed — but  his  troubles  were 
not  ended.  The  pope  excommunicated  him,  and,  to  sow  division  be- 
tween him  and  the  princes  of  the  empire,  he  (A.  D.  1237)  transmitted 
a  bull  into  Germany,  in  which  were  the  following  words,  referring  to 
the  emperor. 

"  A  beast  of  blasphemy,  abounding  with  names,  is  risen  from  the 
sea,  with  the  feet  of  a  bear,  the  face  of  a  lion,  and  members  of  other 
different  animals  :  which,  like  the  proud,  hath  opened  its  mouth  in 
blasphemy  against  the  holy  name ;  not  even  fearing  to  throw  the  ar- 
rows of  calumny  against  the  tabernacle  of  God,  and  the  saints  that 
dwell  in  heaven.  This  beast,  desirous  of  breaking  every  thing  in  pieces 
with  his  iron  teeth  and  nails,  and  of  trampling  all  things  under  his  feet, 
hath  already  prepared  private  battering  rams  against  the  wall  of  the 
Catholic  faith  ;  and  now  raises  open  machines,  in  erecting  soul-destroy- 
ing schools  of  Ishmaelites  ;  rising,  according  to  report,  in  opposition 
to  Christ,  the  Redeemer  of  mankind,  the  table  of  whose  covenant  he 
attempts  to  abolish  with  the  pen  of  wicked  heresy.  Be  not,  therefore, 
surprised  at  the  malice  of  this  blasphemous  beast,  if  we,  who  are  the 
servants  of  the  Almighty,  should  be  exposed  to  the  arrows  of  his  de- 
struction. This  King  of  plagues  was  even  heard  to  say,  that  the 
whole  world  has  been  deceived  by  three  imposters,  Moses,  Christ,  and 
Mahommed  ;  but  he  makes  Jesus  far  inferior  to  the  other  two.  '  They,' 
says  he,  4  supported  their  glory  to  the  last,  whereas  Christ  was  igno- 
miniously  crucified."'  Frederick,  on  the  other  hand,  drew  up  an  apo- 
logy to  the  princes  of  Germany,  in  which  he  terms  Gregory,  The 
Great  Dragon  and  Antichrist,  of  whom  it  is  written,  "  and  another 
red  horse  arose  from  the  sea,  and  he  that  sat  upon  him  took  peace  from 
the  earth."J 

*  Constans  on  the  Revelation,  in  Perrin,  b.  ii.  ch.  ix. 

f  See  ch.  v.  sect.  5. 

}  Russell's  Modern  Europe,  vol.  i.  letter  32. 


Frederick  II.  decreed  to  lose  his  Crown.  393 

In  the  year  1245,  pope  Innocent  IV.  convened  the  famous  council  of 
Lyons,  concerning  which  the  following  inscription  is  preserved  in  the 
Vatican  library  at  Rome.  "  The  thirteenth  general  council,  and  the 
first  of  Lyons :  Frederick  II.  is  there  declared  an  enemy  to  the  church, 
and  deprived  of  the  Imperial  diadem."  To  this  council  Frederick  did 
not  fail  to  send  ambassadors  to  defend  his  cause,  well  knowing  that  he 
was  there  to  be  publicly  accused.  The  pope,  who  had  set  himself  up 
as  judge  at  the  head  of  the  counil,  acted  also  the  part  of  his  own  advo- 
cate ;  and  after  strenuously  insisting  on  his  right  to  the  temporalities  of 
Naples  and  Sicily,  and  to  the  patrimony  of  the  Countess  Matilda,  he 
charged  Frederick  with  having  made  a  peace  with  the  Mahometans — 
with  having  had  Mahometan  concubines — with  not  believing  in  Christ 
— and,  in  a  word,  with  being  a  heretic*  The  emperor's  orators  ha- 
rangued in  his  defence  with  great  spirit  and  resolution,  and  in  their 
turn  accused  the  pope  of  having  been  guilty  of  usury  and  rapine.  Am- 
bassadors from  England  were  also  sent  to  attend  at  this  council,  and 
represent  the  grievances  which  their  countrymen  were  groaning  under 
from  the  enormous  exactions  of  the  court  of  Rome.  They  complained 
as  loudly  of  the  pope  as  the  pope  had  done  of  the  emperor.  "  You 
draw,"  said  they,  "  by  means  of  your  Italian  emissaries,  above  sixty 
thousand  marks  yearly  out  of  the  kingdom  of  England;  you  nave  lately 
sent  us  a  legate,  who  has  given  away  all  the  church  livings  to  Italians. 
He  raises  excessive  taxes  upon  all  the  religious  houses,  and  excommu- 
nicates every  body  that  complains  of  his  extortions.  Let  these  griev- 
ances, therefore,  be  instantly  redressed,  for  we  will  no  longer  endure 
them."  The  pope  blushed,  and  made  no  answer,  but  proceeded  to 
pronounce  sentence  against  the  emperor,  by  which  he  deprived  him  of 
his  crown.  While  the  pontiff  was  pronouncing  the  sentence,  the  fa- 
thers of  the  church  held  in  their  hands  the  lighted  wax  candles,  which 
were  immediately  extinguished  on  the  sentence  being  pronounced.  As 
one  party  signed  the  decision,  the  other  went  out,  giving  vent  to  their 
groans. 

The  emperor  was  himself  at  Turin  during  these  transactions,  and, 
according  to  report,  was  greatly  agitated  on  hearing  of  them.  He,  how- 
ever, called  for  his  strong  box,  which  was  brought  him,  and  taking  out 
of  it  the  imperial  crown,  he  added,  "  This  the  pope  and  his  council 
have  not  been  able  to  take  from  me,  and  before  they  strip  me  of  it  much 
blood  shall  be  spilt."  He  then  proceeded  to  write  to  all  the  princes  of 
Europe,  urging  them  to  support  him  against  the  pope.  "  I  am  not  the 
first,"  says  he,  in  his  letters,  "  whom  the  clergy  have  treated  so  un- 
worthily, and  I  shall  not  be  the  last.  But  you  are  the  cause  of  it,  by 
obeying  these  hypocrites,  whose  ambition,  you  are  sensible,  is  carried 
beyond  all  bounds.  How  many  infamous  actions,  shocking  to  modesty, 
might  you  not,  if  you  were  disposed  to  it,  discover  in  the  court  of 
Rome  ?  While  they  are  abandoned  to  the  vices  of  the  age,  and  intoxi- 
cated with  its  pleasures,  the  greatness  of  their  riches  stifles  in  their 
minds  all  sense  of  religion.     It  is,  therefore,  a  work  of  charity  to  de- 

•  Mons.  Voltaire  drily  asks,  "  How  could  the  emperor  be  a  heretic  and  an  in- 
fidd  at  the  same  time  ?"     A  very  pertinent  question  certainly. 


394  History  of  the  Christian  Church. 

prive  them  of  these  pernicious  treasures  which  are  their  ruin,  and  it  is 
your  duty  to  assist  me  in  so  doing." 

These  extracts  sufficiently  show  the  state  of  deadly  hatred  that  existed 
between  the  pope  and  emperor,  and  it  produced  a  flame  that  raged,  with 
more  or  less  violence,  throughout  the  empire,  until  the  death  of  the  lat- 
ter in  the  year  1250.  "  It  was  dreadful,"  says  a  late  writer,  "  to  see 
the  misery  to  which  many  thousands  were  reduced  in  Germany,  by  a 
new  and  illegal  election  of  another  emperor,  and  by  the  violences  com- 
mitted in  the  revolted  cities  of  Italy ;  in  all  which  the  pope  was  the 
only  one  insensible  to  the  operations  of  Divine  justice.  In  the  midst 
of  this  confusion  (1254)  the  Almighty  summoned  him  before  his  tribu- 
nal."* One  beneficial  result  of  this  long-pending  quarrel  was,  that  it 
retarded  the  establishment  of  the  inquisition  in  different  parts  of  the 
German  empire,  and  consequently  gave  the  Waklenses  an  opportunity 
of  propagating  their  sentiments  more  extensively.  The  clergy,  no 
doubt,  were  generally  upon  the  alert  in  quest  of  heretics,  and  wherever 
they  were  discovered,  means  of  one  kind  or  other  were  not  wanting  to 
persecute  them,  and  render  their  dispersion  necessary  to  avoid  its  fury. 
But  these  things  always  turned  out  to  the  furtherance  of  the  gospel, 
"  because  many  learned  preachers  were  thereby  dispersed  abroad  to 
make  known  the  purity  of  their  religion  to  the  world. "t 

But  after  the  death  of  Frederick,  the  establishment  of  the  Inquisition 
met  with  less  obstruction.  The  affairs  of  Germany  had  been  left  by 
him  in  great  disorder.  Italy  was  without  a  prince,  and  the  Milanese 
.under  the  control  of  the  pope.  "The  latter,"  says  Limborch,  "  now 
determined  to  extirpate  all  heresy,  which  had  greatly  increased  during 
the  preceding  war."X 

About  the  year  1330,  the  Waklenses  were  grievously  harassed  and 
oppressed,  in  several  parts  of  Germany,  by  an  inquisitor  of  the  name  of 
Echard,  a  Jacobin  monk.  The  circumstance  is  related  by  Vignier,  in 
his  Historical  Library,  part  the  third,  where  he  also  records  an  anecdote 
of  this  Echard  that  is  worth  mentioning.  After  inflicting  cruelties  with 
great  severity,  and  for  a  length  of  time,  upon  the  Waldenses,  he  was 
at  length  induced  to  investigate  the  causes  and  reasons  of  their  separa- 
tion from  the  church  of  Rome.  The  force  of  truth  ultimately  prevailed 
over  all  his  prejudices — his  own  conscience  attested  that  many  of  the 
errors  and  corruptions,  which  they  charged  on  that  apostate  church, 
really  existed ;  and,  finding  himself  unable  to  disprove  the  articles  of 
their  faith  by  the  word  of  God,  he  confessed  that  truth  had  overcome  him, 
gave  glory  to  God,  and  entered  into  the  communion  of  the  Waldensian 
churches,  which  he  had  long  been  engaged  in  punishing  and  persecut- 
ing even  to  death.  The  news  of  his  conversion  was  soon  spread 
abroad,  and  reached  the  ears  of  the  other  inquisitors,  whose  indignation 
was  roused  by  his  apostasy.  Emissaries  were  despatched  in  pursuit 
of  him,  and  he  was  at  length  apprehended  and  conveyed  to  Heidelberg, 
where  he  was  committed  to  the  flames.  His  dying  testimony  was  a 
noble  attestation  to  the  principles  and  conduct  of  the  Waldenses  ;'  for  he 

*  Walch's  History  of  the  Popes.  f  Perrin's  History,  b.  ii.  ch.  ii. 

\  Limborch's  Inquisition,  ch.  xv. 


Increase  of  the  Waldenses  in  Germany.  395 

went  to  the  stake  charging  it  upon  the  church  of  Rome  as  a  monstrous 
and  iniquitous  procedure,  to  put  to  death  so  many  innocent  persons,  for 
no  other  crime  but  their  steadfast  adherence  to  the  cause  of  Christ,  in 
opposition  to  the  delusions  of  Antichrist.* 

The  Waldenses,  however,  continued  to  increase  throughout  Ger- 
many, during  the  thirteenth  and  fourteenth  centuries.  Four  hundred 
and  forty-three  were  apprehended  by  the  inquisitors  in  Saxony  and  Po- 
merania,  in  the  year  1391,  who  confessed  that  tl*eir  teachers  came 
from  Bohemia,  and  that  they  and  their  ancestors  before  them  had  been 
instructed  in  the  principles  they  then  held.  In  1457,  a  great  number  of 
the  Waldenses  were  discovered  by  the  inquisitors  in  the  diocese  of 
Eistein  in  Germany,  who  were  put  to  death,  and  who  confessed  that 
they  had  among  them  twelve  barbes,  or  pastors,  who  laboured  in  the 
work  of  the  ministry,  In  short,  Trithemius  relates  it  as  an  acknow- 
ledged fact,  that  in  those  days  the  Waldenses  were  so  numerous,  that 
in  travelling  from  Cologne  to  Milan,  the  whole  extent  of  Germany, 
they  could  lodge  every  night  with  persons  of  their  own  profession, 
and  that  it  was  a  custom  among  them  to  affix  certain  private  marks  to 
their  signs  and  gates,  whereby  they  made  themselves  known  to  one  an- 
other.! 

In  the  year  1210,  twenty-four  persons  of  the  sect  of  the  Waldenses 
were  seized  in  the  city  of  Paris,  some  of  whom  were  imprisoned,  and 
others  committed  to  the  flames.  In  the  year  1334,  the  monks  of  the 
inquisition,  who  were  deputed  to  search  after  the  Waldenses,  appre- 
hended one  hundred  and  fourteen  of  them  at  Paris,  who  were  burnt 
alive,  sustaining  their  torture  with  admirable  fortitude.  It  is  also  re- 
lated by  the  author  of  a  work  intituled  "  The  Sea  of  Histories,"  that 
in  the  year  1378,  the  persecution  against  the  Waldenses  continuing,  a 
vast  number  of  them  were  burnt  in  the  place  de  Grave,  in  Paris.J 
These  sanguinary  proceedings,  however,  it  would  seem,  were  far  from 
eradicating  the  heresy.  For,  two  years  after  this,  viz.  in  1380,  we 
rind  Francis  Borelli,  an  inquisitorial  monk,  armed  with  a  bull  of  pope 
Clement  VII.  undertaking  the  persecution  of  the  Waldenses  in  the 
same  quarter.  In  the  space  of  thirteen  years,  he  delivered  into  the 
hands  of  the  civil  magistrates  of  Grenoble  a  hundred  and  fifty  persons 
to  be  burned  as  heretics.  And  in  the  valley  of  Fraissiniere,  he  appre- 
hended eighty  more,  who  were  also  committed  to  the  flames. §  || 

*  Vignier's  Bibliotheca  Historialis,  part  iii.  Anno  1330,  in  Perrin's  History, 
b.  ii.  ch.  ii. 

j-  Perrin's  History,  b.  ii.  ch.  xi.  i  Perrin,  book  ii.  ch.  xv. 

§  Milner's  Church  History,  vol.  iii.  p.  496. 

i|  There  is  a  passage  in  the  writings  of  that  eminent  Catholic  Historian,  Thu- 
anus,  relating  to  the  subject  we  are  now  upon,  which  deserves  the  reader's  at- 
tention, as  throwing  considerable  light  upon  the  history  of  this  dark  period,  and 
certainly  no  writer  was  more  competent  to  give  us  information.  "  Against  the 
Waldenses,'  says  he,  "when  exquisite  punishments  availed  little,  and  the  evil 
was  exasperated  by  the  remedy  which  had  been  unseasonably  applied,  and  their 
number  increased  daily,  complete  armies  were  at  length  raised,  and  a  war  of  no 
less  weight  than  what  our  people  had  before  waged  against  the  Saracens,  was 
determined  against  them.  The  result  was  that  they  were  rather  slain,  put  to 
flight,  spoiled  every  where  of  their  goods  and  possessions,  and  dispersed  abroad 


396  History  of  the  Christian  Church. 

About  the  year  1370,  a  colony  of  the  Waldensian  youths  of  Dau- 
phine  sought  a  new  settlement  in  Calabria,  probably  hoping  there  to 
enjoy,  with  less  molestation,  their  religious  privileges.  Finding  the 
soil  fertile,  and  the  region  thinly  peopled,  they  applied  to  the  proprie- 
tors of  the  land,  and  stipulated  for  a  settlement  among  them.  The  lords 
of  the  country  cheerfully  granted  their  request,  gave  them  the  kindest 
reception,  agreed  with  them  on  equitable  terms,  and  let  out  to  them 
parcels  of  land  for  cultivation.  By  their  superior  industry,  the  new 
colonists  speedily  fertilized  and  enriched  their  respective  districts  ;  and 
bv  their  probity,  peaceable  manners,  and  punctuality  in  the  payment 
of  their  rents,  they  ingratiated  themselves  with  their  landlords  and 
neighbours  in  general.  The  priests  alone  were  dissatisfied.  They 
found  they  did  not  act  like  others  in  religious  matters;  they  contri- 
buted nothing  to  the  support  of  the  church  by  masses  for  the  dead,  or 
other  popish  innovations,  and  they  were  offended.  In  particular,  they 
were  chagrined  at  finding  that  certain  foreign  schoolmasters  who  edu- 
cated the  children  of  these  strangers,  were  highly  respected  and  pre- 
ferred to  themselves — and  that  they  received  nothing  from  them  except 
tithes,  which  were  paid  aceording  to  contract  with  their  landlords. 
Concluding,  therefore,  that  they  must  be  heretics,  they  signified  their 
intention  to  complain  of  them  to  the  pope.  The  gentry,  however,  re- 
sisted that.  "  They  are  just  and  honest,"  said  they,  "  and  have  enrich- 
ed all  the  country.  Even  ye  priests  have  received  important  advantages 
from  their  industry.  The  tithes  alone,  which  ye  now  receive,  are  so 
much  greater  than  those  which  were  formerly  produced  from  these 
countries,  that  you  are  more  than  compensated  for  any  losses  you  may 
sustain  on  other  accounts.  Perhaps  the  country  from  whence  they 
came  is  not  so  devoted  to  the  ceremonies  of  the  Roman  church ;  but 
as  these  people  fear  God,  are  generous  to  the  poor,  just  and  beneficent 
to  all  men,  it  is  illiberal  on  your  parts  to  force  their  consciences.  Are 
they  not  a  temperate,  sober,  discreet  people,  and  peculiarly  decent  in 
their  speech  ?  Does  any  person  ever  hear  them  utter  a  blasphemous 
expression?" 

This  prudent  counsel  was  not  without  its  use.  The  priests,  indeed, 
who  felt,  or  imagined  their  interests  were  undermined  by  these  new 
settlers,  murmured,  and  gave  vent  to  their  mortification  in  private. 
But  the  lords  of  the  country  had  sufficient  discernment  to  estimate  the 
value  of  their  new  tenants  ;  and  they  protected  them  from  the  indig- 
nation of  the  clergy.  The  consequence  was,  that  the  Calabrian  Wal- 
denses  enjoyed  security,  and  the  benefits  of  toleration,  until  the  year 
1560,  when  they  formed  a  union  with  the  church  of  Geneva,  of  which 
Calvin  was  then  pastor.  Their  history  previous  to  that  union  is  dread- 
ful, on  account  of  the  scenes  of  papal  persecution  that  ensued ;  but  it 
belongs  to  a  subsequent  period,  and  we  must  not  here  enter  upon  it. 

than  convinced  of  their  error  and  brought  to  repentance.  So  that  they  who  at 
first  defended  themselves  by  arms,  fled  into  Provence,  and  the  neighbouring 
Alps  of  the  French  territory,  and  found  a  shelter  for  their  life  and  doctrine  in 
those  places.  Part  of  them  withdrew  into  Calabria,  and  continued  there  a  long 
while,  even  to  the  pontificate  of  Pius  IV.  Many  passed  into  Germany,  and  fixed 
their  abode  among  the  Bohemians,  and  in  Poland  and  Livonia.  Others,  turning 
to  the  West,  obtained  refuge  in  Britain.     Thuani  Prefatio  ad  Henricum  iv.  p.  7. 


Waldenses  in  Poland,  Italy,  §-c.  397 

During  the  period  of  which  we  are  now  treating,  the  Netherlands 
(Flanders)  exhibited  many  shocking  scenes  of  slaughter  of  the  Wal- 
denses. It  seems  probable  that  when  persecuted  in  France  they  re- 
treated into  that  country,  where  also  the  intolerant  zeal  of  inquisitors 
followed,  and  made  dreadful  havoc  of  them.  Here  they  obtained  a 
new  appellation,  viz.  Turihipins,  that  is,  the  wolves  of  Turin.  The 
explanation  which  their  own  friends  give  us  of  this  term  is,  that  being 
banished  from  the  society  of  men,  and  driven  to  dwell  with  the  beasts 
of  the  forest,  they,  in  reference  to  the  place  whence  they  originated, 
designated  them  Turlupins,  or  Turilupins.  Our  historian,  Matthew 
Paris,  informs  us,  in  his  life  of  Henry  III.  that  one  Robert  Bougre, 
who  had  lived  among  the  Waldenses,  and  professed  their  faith,  aposta- 
tized from  them,  became  a  Dominican,  and  was  appointed  by  the  pope 
inquisitor  general.  This  man,  knowing  their  usual  places  of  conceal- 
ment, apprehended  more  than  fifty  of  them,  in  the  year  1236,  and 
caused  them  all  to  be  burned  or  buried  alive.  But  of  the  extremes  to 
which  this  miscreant  carried  his  cruelties,  a  tolerable  notion  may  be 
formed  from  the  singular  occurrence,  that  even  the  court  of  Rome  com- 
plained of  his  abusing  the  power  with  which  he  had  been  entrusted. 
He  was  accused  of  perverting  the  authority  of  his  office,  of  punishing 
the  innocent  with  the  guilty,  and  of  committing  various  atrocities,  in 
consequence  of  which  he  was  deprived  of  his  office  of  inquisitor,  and 
condemned  to  perpetual  imprisonment.* 

We  are  told  by  Le  Sieur  de  la  Popeliniere,  who  wrote  a  History  of 
France,  that  the  religion  of  the  Waldenses  spread  itself  throughout  all 
the  countries  of  Europe,  even  into  Poland  and  Lithuania;  and  that 
ever  since  the  year  1100,  they  had  been  propagating  their  doctrine, 
which  differed  but  little  from  that  of  the  modern  Protestants.  He  adds 
that,  notwithstanding  the  vigorous  efforts  that  have  been  resorted  to, 
by  different  princes  and  powers  to  suppress  their  doctrine,  they  had, 
even  to  his  times,  boldly  and  courageously  maintained  it.  Vignier, 
before  quoted,  mentions,  that  when  the  Waldenses  were  driven  from 
Picardy,  through  the  violence  of  persecution,  several  of  them  retired 
into  Poland.  Hence  we  find,  that  in  the  year  1330,  the  Inquisition 
followed  them  there,  and  that  numbers  of  them  were  put  to  death. 
Matthias  Illyrius,  in  his  "  Catalogue  of  the  Witnesses  of  the  Truth," 
says  he  had  lying  before  him  the  forms  of  the  Inquisition  made  use  of 
on  that  occasion.! 

From  these  same  writers,  to  whom  may  also  be  added  the  inquisitor 
Reinerius  Saccho,  we  learn,  that  the  persecutions  which  took  place 
in  the  south  of  France,  during  the  former  part  of  the  thirteenth  century, 
drove  the  Waldenses  also  into  various  other  countries.  "  In  1229  they 
had  spread  themselves  in  great  numbers  throughout  all  Italy.  They 
had  ten  schools  in  Valcamonica  alone,  which  were  supported  by  pe- 
cuniary contributions  in  all  their  societies,  and  which  contributions 
were  transmitted  into  Lornbardy."  Reinerius  adds,  that  about  the 
year  1250,  the  Waldenses  had  churches  in  Albania,  Lornbardy,  Milan, 

*  Matthew  Paris — Life  of  Henry  111.     Perrin's  Hist.  b.  ii.  ch.  xiii, 
j-  Perrin's  Hist.  b.  ii.  ch.  xiv.  and  Limborch,  ch.  xvi. 

34 


398  History  of  the  Christian  Church. 

in  Romagna,  Vincenza,  Florence,  and  Val  Spoletine ;  and,  in  the  year 
1280,  there  was  a  considerable  number  of  Waldenses  in  Sicily.  In  all 
these  places  the  sanguinary  edicts  of  the  Emperor  Frederick  II.  were 
continually  suspended,  like  the  sword  of  Damocles,  over  their  heads. 
To  these,  also,  were  now  added  the  rage  of  inquisitors  and  of  papal 
constitutions,  through  which  they  were  continually  exposed  to  suffer- 
ings and  misery.  In  Sicily  in  particular,  the  imperial  fury  raged 
against  them — they  were  ordered  to  be  treated  with  the  greatest  seve- 
rity, that  they  might  be  banished,  not  only  from  the  country,  but  from 
the  earth.  And  throughout  Italy,  both  Gregory  IX.  and  Honorius  IV. 
harassed  and  oppressed  them  with  the  most  unrelenting  barbarity,  by 
means  of  the  Inquisition — the  living  were,  without  mercy,  committed 
to  the  hands  of  the  executioner,  their  houses  razed  to  the  ground,  their 
goods  confiscated,  and  even  the  slumbering  remains  of  the  dead  were 
dragged  from  their  graves,  and  their  bones  committed  to  the  flames.* 

We  are  further  informed  by  Reinerius  Saccho,  that  in  his  time,  the 
Waldenses  had  their  churches  at  Constantinople  and  Philadelphia,  in 
Sclavonia,  Bulgaria,  and  Diagonitia.  Vignier  reports,  that  after  the 
persecution'  of  Picardy,  they  dispersed  themselves  into  Livonia  and 
Sarmatia.  And,  it  is  added  by  Matthew  Paris,  that  they  had  spread 
themselves  as  far  as  Croatia  and  Dalmatia,  where  their  profession  pre- 
vailed to  that  degree,  that  they  had  won  over  several  (Catholic)  bishops 
to  their  party. 

It  is  pleasing  to  find,  that  while  the  Waldense-s  were  thus  carrying 
the  light  of  the  gospel  of  Christ  throughout  the  whole  continent  of  Eu- 
rope, a  gleam  of  celestial  brightness  burst  upon  our  own  country,  and, 
in  some  degree,  served  to  irradiate  the  gloom  in  which  it  was  enve- 
loped. In  a  former  section,  we  have  noticed  the  emigration  of  thirty 
of  the  Waldenses  into  England,  who  were  cruelly  persecuted  and  de- 
stroyed at  Oxford  in  the  year  1166.  John  Bale,  in  his  Chronicle  of 
London,  mentions  a  person  who  was  burnt  at  London,  in  1210,  whose 
only  crime  was,  that  he  was  tainted  with  the  faith  of  the  Waldenses. 
But  the  wars  that  were  carried  on  against  the  Albigenses  in  the  south 
of  France  about  this  time,  contributed  very  much  to  the  propagation  of 
the  principles  of  the  Waldenses  in  this  country,  as  indeed,  appears 
from  the  testimony  of  Thuanus,  lately  adduced.  For,  independent  of 
the  contiguity  of  the  two  countries,  there  were  circumstances  of  a  po- 
litical nature  that  tended  very  much  to  keep  up  the  intercourse  between 
them.  Guienne  was  at  that  time  in  the  possession  of  the  English — to 
which  may  be  added,  that  Raymond,  Earl  of  Toulouse,  the  great  pa- 
tron and  protector  of  the  Albigenses,  was  brother-in-law  to  the  King  of 
England ;  in  consequence  of  which  alliance,  our  countrymen  were  fre- 
quently employed  in  assisting  the  subjects  of  Raymond  in  their  wars. 
That  the  doctrines  of  the  Waldenses  had  begun  to  spread  themselves 
here  about  the  close  of  the  thirteenth  century,  is  sufficiently  obvious 
from  a  fact  noticed  by  Archbishop  Usher,  viz.  that  in  the  reign  of 
Henry  III.  "  the  orders  of  the  Friars  Minorites  came  into  England  to 
suppress  the  Waldensian«heresy." 

*  Perrin's  History,  b.  ii.  ch.  xvi. 


Memoirs  of  Greathead,  bishop  of  Lincoln.  399 

The  most  remarkable  character  that  appears  in  the  annals  of  the 
English  ecclesiastical  history  during  this  period,  was  Robert  Great- 
head,*  bishop  of  Lincoln.  He  was  born  about  the  year  1175,  at  Strad- 
brook,  in  the  county  of  Suffolk,  and  appears  to  have  been  a  person  of 
obscure  parentage.  His  studies,  however,  were  prosecuted  at  the  Uni- 
versity of  Oxford,  where  he  acquired  an  intimate  acquaintance  with  the 
Greek  and  Hebrew  languages  ;  after  which  he  went  to  Paris,  at  that 
time  the  first  seminary  in  Europe,  where  he  became  a  perfect  master 
of  the  French  language.  Returning  to  his  native  country,  he  was,  in 
the  year  1235,  elected,  by  the  dean  and  chapter,  bishop  of  Lincoln, 
and  King  Henry  III.  ratified  the  choice.  He  seems  to  have  possessed, 
even  from  his  youth,  much  seriousness  of  mind ;  and  though  at  that 
period  of  life,  immersed  in  the  darkness  and  superstitions  of  the  age, 
lie  was  no  sooner  inducted  to  his  office  than  he  began  to  reform  abuses. 
He  convened  the  clergy  of  his  diocese  at  stated  times,  to  whom  he 
preached,  and  urged  them  to  the  duties  which  devolved  upon  them 
from  their  office.  But  as  the  lattei  had  no  ear  to  give  to  these  things, 
the  bishop  soon  began  to  be  involved  in  litigations  with  the  monks  and 
other  popish  agents.  In  the  year  1247,  two  persons  of  the  Franciscan 
order  were  sent  into  England  to  extort  money  for  the  pope.  They  ap-" 
plied  to  the  prelates  and  abbots,  but,  as  it  would  seem,  not  with  all  the 
success  that  was  wished.  Greathead  was  amazed  at  the  pomp  and  in- 
solence of  these  friars,  who  demanded  six  thousand  marks  as  the  con- 
tribution of  the  diocese  of  Lincoln,  at  the  same  time  giving  him  to 
understand  that  they  were  vested  with  the  pope's  bull.  "  Friars," 
said  he,  "  with  all  reverence  to  his  holiness  be  it  spoken,  the  demand 
is  as  dishonourable  as  it  is  impracticable.  The  whole  body  of  the 
clergy  and  the  people  are  concerned  in  it  equally  with  myself.  To 
give  a  definite  answer,  in  an  instant,  to  such  a  demand,  before  the 
sense  of  the  kingdom  is  taken  upon  it,  would  on  my  part  be  rash  and 
absurd." 

Circumstances  of  this  kind,  in  process  of  time,  began  to  open  the 
eyes  of  the  bishop  to  the  domineering  influence  of  the  court  of  Rome. 
Another  thing  which  struck  his  mind  forcibly  was,  that  in  going  through 
his  diocese,  he  found  the  pope  had,  by  means  of  his  letters,  introduced 
into  all  the  churches,  where  opulent  benefices  were  to  be  enjoyed,  a  set 
of  lazy  Italians,  who  neither  understood  the  language  of  the  country, 
nor  possessed  either  ability  or  inclination  to  instruct  the  people.  These 
enormities  became  the  objects  of  his  detestation.  When  the  papal  bulls, 
intended  to  introduce  some  new  evil,  were  put  into  his  hands,  he  would 
indignantly  cast  them  from  him,  and  absolutely  refuse  compliance  with 
them,  saying,  that  he  should  prove  himself  the  friend  of  Satan,  were 
he  to  commit  the  care  of  souls  to  foreigners.  Pope  Innocent,  however, 
persevering  in  the  same  line  of  conduct,  magisterially  ordered  him  to 

*  So  his  name  is  written  by  Bishop  Newton,  Proph.  vol.  ii.  Bishop  Hurd  calls 
him  Grostete.  Introd.  to  Proph.  vol.  ii.  Milner  and  others  call  him  Grosseteste. 
The  reason  of  this  variation  probably  is,  that  he  was  either  of  French  extraction, 
or  assumed  this  latter  name  after  his  residence  in  France  ;  for  the  name  of 
Greatheadin  English,  and  Grosseteste  in  French,  are  synonymous. 


400  History  of  the  Christian  Church. 

admit  an  Italian,  totally  ignorant  of  the  English  language,  to  a  very 
rich  benefice  in  the  diocese  of  Lincoln ;  and  the  bishop  refusing  to  com- 
ply, the  former  suspended  him  from  his  functions.  But  Greathead 
treated  the  papal  mandate  with  contempt,  and  continued  to  discharge 
his  episcopal  duties. 

In  the  year  1253,  the  pope  was  desirous  of  preferring  his  own  ne- 
phew, an  Italian  youth,  to  a  rich  benefice  in  the  cathedral  of  Lincoln ; 
and,  for  this  purpose,  he,  by  letter,  enjoined  the  bishop  to  give  him  the 
first  canonry  that  should  be  vacant.  This  was  to  be  done  by  provision, 
for  that  was  the  term  employed  by  the  pontiff  when  he  undertook  to 
provide  beforehand  a  successor  to  a  benefice ;  and  on  this  occasion  he 
seems  to  have  been  determined  to  intimidate  the  bishop  into  compli- 
ance. He  declared  that  any  other  disposal  of  the  canonry  should  be 
null  and  void,  and  that  he  would  excommunicate  every  one  that  should 
dare  to  disobey  his  injunction.  But  Greathead,  resolving  not  to  com- 
ply, wrote  a  letter  en  this  occasion,  which  reflects  the  highest  honour 
on  his  memory.  "  Next  to  the  sin  of  antichrist,"  says  he,  "  which 
shall  be  in  the  latter  times,  nothing  can  be  more  contrary  to  the  doc- 
trine of  Christ,  than  to  destroy  men's  souls,  by  defrauding  them  of  the 
'  benefit  of  the  pastoral  office.  Those  who  minister  to  their  own  carnal 
lusts,  by  means  of  the  milk  and  wool  of  the  sheep  of  Christ,  and  do  not 
strive  to  promote  the  salvation  of  the  flock,  in  the  pastoral  office,  are 
guilty  of  destroying  the  souls  of  men.  Two  atrocious  evils  are  in  this 
way  committed — they  sin  against  God  himself,  who  is  essentially 
good,  and  also  against  the  image  of  God  in  man,  which,  by  the  recep- 
tion of  his  grace,  becomes  partaker  of  the  divine  nature.  For  the  holy 
apostolic  see  to  be  accessary  to  such  wickedness,  would  be  a  monstrous 
abuse  of  power,  and  argue  an  entire  separation  from  the  glorious  king- 
dom of  Christ,  and  a  participation  with  the  two  powers  of  darkness, 
(meaning  probably  the  devil  and  Antichrist.)  No  man  can  obey  such 
mandates  with  a  good  conscience,  even  though  they  were  seconded  by 
the  high  order  of  angels  themselves  ;  on  the  contrary,  every  faithful 
Christian  ought  to  oppose  them  with  all  his  might." 

"When  this  epistle  reached  the  hands  of  the  pope,  it  roused  his  indig- 
nation to  the  highest  pitch.  "  Who,"  said  he,  "  is  this  old  dotard, 
that  dares  to  judge  my  actions  ?  By  Peter  and  Paul,  if  I  were  not  re- 
strained by  my  generosity,  I  would  make  him  an  example  and  a  spectacle 
to  all  mankind.  Is  not  the  King  of  England  my  vassal  and  my  slave  ? 
And  if  I  gave  the  word,  would  he  not  throw  him  into  prisonand  load  him 
with  disgrace  ?"  The  cardinals,  however,  who  saw  the  danger  into  which 
the  pontiff  was  about  to  plunge  himself  by  his  rashness,  strove  to  mode- 
rate his  resentment.  One  Giles,  a  Spanish  cardinal,  in  particular,  thus  ad- 
dressed him.  "  It  is  not  expedient  for  you  to  proceed  against  the  bishop 
in  that  violent  manner ;  for,  what  he  says  is  certainly  true,  nor  can 
we  with  decency  condemn  him.  He  is  a  holy  man — much  more  so 
than  we  ourselves  are' — a  man  of  admirable  genius,  and  of  the  most  ex- 
emplary morals — no  prelate  in  Christendom  is  thought  to  excel  him. 
It  is  probable,  that  by  this  time  the  truths  expressed  in  his  letter  are 
known  to  many,  and  they  will  excite  many  against  us.  The  clergy, 
both  in  France  and  England,  know  the  character  of  the  man,  nor  is  it 


GreatheaiV s  doctrinal  Sentiments.  401 

possible  to  fix  any  stigma  upon  him.  He  is  understood  to  be  a  great 
philosopher,  an  accomplished  scholar  in  Latin  and  Greek  literature, 
zealous  in  the  administration  of  justice,  a  theological  lecturer  in  the 
schools,  a  popular  preacher,  a  friend  to  chastity,  and  the  enemy  of  si- 
mony." In  these  sentiments  Giles  was  seconded  by  others,  and  the 
whole  conclave  of  cardinals  advised  the  pope  to  wink  at  these  transac- 
tions, lest  a  tumult  should  arise  in  the  church;  for,  said  they,  "  it  is  an 
evident  truth  that  a  revolt  from  the  church  of  Rome,  will  one  day  take 
place  in  Christendom."  But  the  rage  of  Innocent  IV.  was  not  to  be 
allayed;  he  excommunicated  the  bishop  of  Lincoln,  and  appointed  Al- 
bert, one  of  his  nuncios,  to  succeed  him.  Greathead,  supported  by  a 
conviction  of  the  rectitude  of  his  conduct,  referred  his  appeal  to  the  tri- 
bunal of  Christ,  and  paid  no  regard  to  the  decree ;  and  what  the  cardi- 
nals foresaw,  was  realized  in  the  event — the  pope's  mandate  was  uni- 
versally neglected,  and  the  bishop  remained  in  quiet  possession  of  his 
dignity. 

But  this  venerable  prelate  was  now  fast  advancing  towards  the  end  of 
his  labours,  and  in  the  year  1253,  he  died  (Oct.  9th)  at  his  palace  at 
Buckden.  When  the  pope  heard  of  his  death,  he  exuitingly  exclaimed, 
"  I  rejoice,  and  let  every  true  son  of  the  church  of  Rome  rejoice  with 
me,  that  my  great  enemy  is  removed."  He  ordered  a  letter  to  be  writ- 
ten to  the  King  of  England,  requiring  him  to  cause  the  bishop's  body 
to  be  taken  up,  cast  out  of  the  church,  and  burned.  The  cardinals,  how- 
ever, resisted  his  project;  and  the  letter,  though  written,  was  never 
sent,  owing,  probably,  to  the  declining  state  of  the  pontiff's  health,  for 
he  died  in  the  following  year. 

Matthew  Paris,  the  monk  of  St.  Alban's,  though  superstitiously  at- 
tached to  the  See  of  Rome,  and  not  a  little  prejudiced  against  the  Bishop 
of  Lincoln,  on  account  of  the  severity  with  which  he  treated  the  mo- 
nastic orders,  has  furnished  a  character  of  Greathead  so  honourable, 
that  it  deserves  to  be  recorded. 

"  The  holy  bishop  Robert,"  says  he,  "  departed  this  world,  which 
he  never  loved,  and  which  was  always  to  him  as  a  place  of  banishment. 
He  was  the  open  reprover  of  my  lord  the  pope,  and  of  the  king,  as 
well  as  of  the  prelates.  He  was  the  corrector  of  monks,  the  director  of 
pries'ts,  the  instructer  of  the  clergy,  the  patron  of  scholars,  a  preacher 
to  the  laity,  the  punisher  of  incontinence,  the  diligent  investigator  of 
various  writings,  and  the  scourge  of  lazy  and  selfish  Romanists,  whom 
he  heartily  despised.  In  regard  to  temporal  concerns,  he  was  liberal, 
copious,  polite,  cheerful,  and  affable — in  spiritual  things  he  was  devout, 
humble,  and  contrite — in  the  execution  of  his  episcopal  office  he  was 
diligent,  venerable,  indefatigable."* 

Greathead's  doctrinal  sentiments,  considering  the  darkness  of  the 
age  in  which  his  lot  was  cast,  appear  to  have  been  remarkable  for  their 
purity  and  simplicity.  The  following  is  his  view  of  the  important  ar- 
ticle Of  DIVINE  GRACE. 

"  Grace,"  says  he,  "  is  that  good  pleasure  of  God  whereby  he  is 
pleased  to  bestow  upon  us  what  we  have  not  deserved,  and  the  gift  is 

*  Matthew  Paris,  p.  876.     See  also  Pegge's  Life  of  Greathead. 
34* 


402  History  of  the  Christian  Church. 

for  our  advantage  and  not  his.  Hence  it  is  very  clear,  that  all  the  good 
we  possess,  whether  it  be  natural,  or  freely  conferred  afterwards,  pro- 
ceeds from  the  grace  of  God ;  because  there  is  no  good  thing,  the  ex- 
istence of  which  he  does  not  will;  and  for  God  to  will  any  thing  is  to 
do  it ;  therefore  there  can  be  no  good  of  which  he  is  not  the  author.  He 
turns  the  human  will  from  evil,  and  converts  it  to  good,  causing  it  to 
persevere  in  the  same." 

Several  of  his  manuscript  sermons,  it  seems,  are  still  extant  in  the 
cathedral  church  of  York.  One  of  them  is  founded  upon  Luke  vi.  20. 
Blessed  are  ye  poor,  for  yours  is  the  kingdom  of  heaven.  In  discuss- 
ing the  subject,  he  undertakes  to  describe  the  poverty  recommended 
in  the  text ;  which,  by  comparing  the  words  with  the  parallel  place  in 
Matt.  v.  3.  he  finds  to  be  poverty  of  spirit.  This  poverty,  he  tells  us, 
is  wrought  in  the  heart  of  the  elect,  by  the  Holy  Spirit — its  founda- 
tion is  laid  in  real  humility ;  which  disposes  a  man  to  feel  that  he  has 
nothing  but  what  he  has  received  from  above.  But  that  is  not  all — for, 
as  he  observes,  humility  in  this  view  belonged  to  Adam  before  he  fell 
— the  humility  of  a  sinner  hath  a  still  deeper  root.  The  humble  man 
not  only  sees  that  he  has  nothing  in  himself,  but  he  is  stripped  of  all 
desire  to  possess  in  himself  the  springs  of  self-exaltation.  Self-con- 
demned and  corrupt  before  God,  he  despairs  of  help  from  his  own 
powers,  and  finds  all  he  wants  in  Him,  who  is  the  true  life,  wisdom, 
and  health,  and  indeed  his  all  in  all,  even  the  incarnate  Son  of  God, 
who  condescended  to  come  into  our  vale  of  sin  and  misery,  that  he 
might  raise  us  from  their  depths.  By  leaning  on  him  alone,  every  real 
Christian  rises  into  true  life  and  peace  and  joy.  He  lives  in  his  life — 
sees  light  in  his  light — is  invigorated  with  his  warmth — grows  in  his 
strength — and  leaning  upon  the  Beloved,  his  soul  ascends  upwards. 
The  lower  he  sinks  in  humility,  the  higher  he  raises  towards  God.  He 
is  sensible  that  he  not  only  is  nothing  in  himself,  but  that  he  also  has 
lost  what  he  had  gratuitously  received,  has  precipitated  himself  into 
misery,  and  so  subjected  himself  to  the  slavery  of  the  devil ;  and  lastly, 
that  he  has  no  internal  resources  for  recovery.  Thus  he  is  induced  to 
place  his  whole  dependence  on  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ,  to  abhor  him- 
self, and  always  to  prefer  others  as  better  than  himself.  This  leads 
him  "  to  take  the  lowest  seat"  as  his  own  proper  place. 

He  then  calls  upon  the  man  who  professes  to  be  the  subject  of  humi- 
lity, earnestly  to  examine  himself,  how  far  he  demonstrates  in  his  tem- 
per and  conduct,  this  fruit  of  the  Spirit ;  and  even  should  he  find  some 
evidences  of  it  in  his  soul,  to  beware  that  he  be  not  inflated  with  the 
discovery,  because  he  ought  to  know  that  it  is  only  of  God  that  he  is 
what  he  is — and  that  he  ought  no  more  to  boast  of  himself,  than  the 
refulgent  colours  of  the  prism  should  glory  in  that  splendour  which 
they  derive  Avholly  from  the  solar  rays.  He  observes  that  the  tempta- 
tions to  self-complacency  are  the  effect  of  Satanic  injections — and  that 
it  behoves  him  who  would  not  be  deceiving  himself  to  see  whether  he 
has  the  genuine  marks  of  humility  in  his  practice — whether,  for  in- 
stance, he  can  bear  to  be  rebuked  by  an  inferior — whether  he  is  not 
rendered  insolent  by  honours — whether  he  is  not  inflated  by  praise — 
whether  among  equals  he  is  the  first  to  labour,  and  the  last  to  exalt 


State  of  things  in  the  Thirteenth  Century.  403 

himself — whether  he  can  recompense  blessings  for  curses  and  good  for 
evil.  By  such  methods  of  self-examination  he  is  to  check  the  ebullitions 
of  vain  glory,  with  which  the  tempter  is  apt  to  inspire  those  who  seem 
to  have  made  some  proficiency  in  the  divine  life.  If  that  proficiency 
be  real,  let  them  take  care  never  to  conceive  of  it  as  something  sepa- 
rate from  Christ.  He  alone,  dwelling  in  them  by  his  Spirit,  produces 
all  that  is  good,  and  to  Him  alone  the  praise  belongs. 


SECTION  VIII. 

a  view  of  the  state  of  religion  in  england  and  bohemia  during 
the  thirteenth  and  fourteenth  centuries,  with  sketches  of 
the  history  of  wickliff,  the  lollards,  john  huss,  and  jerome  of 
Prague;  including  a  concise  account  of  the  "  unitas  fratrum," 
or  united  bohemian  brethren,  till  the  times  of  luther. 

An  attentive  reader  of  the  preceding  pages  will  have  observed  that 
when  the  governments  of  France  and  Spain  lent  their  aid  to  second  the 
views  of  the  court  of  Rome,  in  expelling  the  Waldenses  and  Albigenses 
from  their  respective  countries,  the  persecuted  followers  of  Jesus  Christ 
found  an*asylum  in  Bohemia,  where  their  principles  took  deep  root, 
and  their  numbers  multiplied  exceedingly.*  As  it  is  intended  in  this 
section  to  notice  a  little  more  particularly  the  progress  of  these  princi- 
ples, both  in  that  kingdom  and  in  our  own  country,  at  this  interesting 
period,  I  must  trespass  on  the  reader's  patience  by  laying  before  him  a 
short  extract  from  the  impartial  Thuanus,  which,  while  it  serves  to  re- 
fresh his  memory  by  a  recapitulation  of  what  has  already  been  related, 
will  also  furnish  an  introduction  to  what  is  to  follow. 

"  Peter  Waldo,  a  rich  citizen  of  Lyons,  about  the  year  of  Christ 
1 170,  gave  name  to  the  Vaudois  or  Waldenses.  This  man  (as  has  been 
recorded  by  Guy  de  Perpignan,  bishop  of  Elna,  who  exercised  the 
office  of  inquisitor  against  the  Waldenses)  leaving  his  house  and  estate, 
had  entirely  devoted  himself  to  the  profession  of  the  gospel,  and  had 
procured  the  writings  of  the  prophets  and  apostles  to  be  translated  into 
the  language  of  the  country,  together  with  several  testimonies  from 
the  primitive  fathers  ;  all  which  having  well  fixed  in  his  mind,  and 
trusting  to  his  natural  parts,  he  look  up  the  office  of  preaching,  and  in- 
terpreted the  gospel  to  the  common  people  in  the  streets.  And  when 
in  a  short  time,  he  had  got  about  him  a  good  number  of  followers,  he 
sent  them  out  into  all  parts,  as  disciples,  to  propagate  the  gospel.  They, 
as  being  generally  unlearned,  having  easily  fallen  into  various  errors, 
were  cited  by  the  archbishop  of  Lyons  ;  and  though  they  were,  as  he 
reports,  convicted,  yet  they  fortified  themselves  with  mere  obstinacy, 
saying,  that  in  religious  affairs,  God,  and  not  man,  was  to  be  obeyed. 
Being  for  this  cut  off  from  the  church,  and  appealing  to  the  pope,  they 

*  See  page  314,  and  327  of  this  vol.  and  the  note  from  Thuanus,  page  395. 


404  History  of  the  Christian  Church. 

were,  in  the  council  immediately  preceding  that  of  Lateran,  condemned 
as  altogether  pertinacious  and  schismatical :  from  whence,  becoming 
hated  and  execrated  by  all  men,  they  wandered  about  without  a  home, 
and  spread  themselves  up  and  down  in  Languedoc,  Lombardy,  and 
especially  amongst  the  Alps,  where  they  lay  concealed  and  secure  for 
many  years.  They  were  charged  with  these  tenets — that  the  church 
of  Rome,  because  it  renounced  the  true  faith  of  Christ  was  the  whore 
of  Babylon,  and  that  barren  tree  which  Christ  himself  cursed,  and  com- 
manded to  be  plucked  up — that  consequently  no  obedience  was  to  be 
paid  to  the  pope,  or  to  the  bishops,  who  maintain  her  errors — that  a 
monastic  life  was  the  sink  and  dungeon  of  the  church ;  the  vows  of 
which  were  vain,  and  served  only  to  promote  the  vile  love  of  boys — 
that  the  orders  of  the  priesthood  were  marks  of  the  great  beast  men- 
tioned in  the  Revelation — that  the  fire  of  purgatory,  the  solemn  mass, 
the  consecration-days  of  churches,  the  worship  of  saints,  the  propitia- 
tions for  the  dead,  were  the  devices  of  Satan.  Besides  these  principal 
and  authentic  heads  of  their  doctrine,  others  were  pretended,  relating  to 
marriage,  the  resurrection,  the  state  of  the  soul  after  death,  and  to  meats. 
Peter  Waldo,  therefore,  their  leader,  quitting  his  country,  came  into 
the  Netherlands,  and  having  gained  many  followers  in  that  province, 
which  is  now  called  Picardy,  he  removed  from  thence  into  Germany ; 
and  after  a  long  abode  amongst  the  Vandal  cities,  settled  at  last  in 
Bohemia,  where,  even  at  this  day,  the  professors  of  that  doctrine  are 
from  thence  called  Picards.  Waldo  had  a  companion  named  Arnold, 
who  by  a  different  route  fell  into  Languedoc,  and  fixed  himself  at  Alby, 
formerly  called  Alba  of  the  Helvians,  from  whence  came  the  Albigenses, 
who  in  a  little  time  spread  themselves  amongst  the  people  of  Toulouse, 
Rovergue,  Le  Quercy,  and  Agen.  Arnold,  was  succeeded  by  Esperon 
and  Joseph,  and  from  these  Gregory  IX.  denominated  them  Arnoldists, 
Esperonites,  and  Josephists,  and  also  Gazars,  as  all  heretics  at  this  day 
are  called  throughout  Germany  and  the  northern  countries ;  which  name 
is  supposed  to  be  taken  from  the  emperor  Leo  III.  named  Gazar,  whom 
the  Roman  pontiffs  accused  beyond  all  other  men  of  sacrilege  and  erro- 
neous principles ;  though  in  other  books  they  are  styled  the  Pure, 
(Puritans)  which  name  is  also  given  to  such  as  pretend  to  a  purer  doc- 
trine in  England.  The  same  people  are  also  called  Leonines,  from  that 
Leo,  who  is  nevertheless  represented  as  a  just  and  prudent  prince,  by 
Zonaras  himself,  who  yet  charges  him  with  heretical  pravity.  He,  at 
the  persuasion  of  Theodotus  a  monk,  had  removed  out  of  the  churches 
all  pictures  and  statues,  which  he  considered  as  the  fuel  of  impiety, 
and  as  traps  to  catch  the  ignorant  multitude,  by  which  God  was  of- 
fended ;  for  which  reason  he  was  called  the  enemy  of  images.  Though 
others  imagine  them  to  be  rather  called  Leonines  from  one  Leo,  a 
Frenchman,  of  that  sect,  because  Leo  the  emperor  was  too  far  distant 
from  those  times  and  places.  Thus,  however,  they  were  nick-named, 
either  from  their  authors  or  favourers.  From  the  place  they  were  also 
styled  Poor  Men  of  Lyons,  Albigenses,  and  in  different  quarters,  for 
different  causes,  Tramontanes,  Paterines,  Lollards,  Turlupins,  and  lastly 
Chaignards.  As  they  carried  divers  faces,  though  their  tails  were  tied 
together,  (as  pope  Gregory  IX.  expresses  it,  because  they  inveighed 


Character  of  Wickliff.  405 

too  vehemently  against  the  wealth,  pride,  and  vices  of  the  popes,  and 
alienated  the  people  by  degrees  from  their  obedience  to  them)  Innocent 
III.  used  at  first  the  spiritual  sword  against  them,  sending  to  the  Albi- 
genses  twelve  abbots  of  the  Cistercian  order,  and  after  them  Diego, 
bishop  of  Oxford,  who  carried  with  him  that  Dominic  who  afterwards 
founded  the  Dominican  order.  But  when  he  found  little  success  that 
way,  laying  aside  the  spiritual  sword  he  drew  the  iron  one,  and  made 
Leopold  the  sixth,  Duke  of  Austria,  for  Germany,  and  Simon  of  Mont- 
fort,  for  France,  commanders  in  the  holy  war,  to  Avhom  many  others 
joined  themselves.  Though  from  that  time  they  were  persecuted  from 
place  to  place,  yet  at  intervals  there  appeared  some  who  frequently  re- 
vived their  doctrine  ;  as  John  Wickliff,  in  England,  John  Huss,  and 
Jerome  of  Prague,  in  Bohemia.  And  in  our  age,  since  the  general  re- 
ception of  Luther's  doctrine,  their  scattered  remains  began  to  re-unite, 
and  with  the  increase  of  Luther's  name  to  gather  strength  and  authority, 
especially  in  the  regions  of  the  Alps  and  the  adjacent  provinces."* 
Thus  far  Thuanus :  we  now  procee  1. 

The  usurpations  of  the  court  of  Rome  had  reached  their  highest  pitch 
about  the  thirteenth  or  fourteenth  century.  That  astonishing  system 
of  spiritual  tyranny  had  drawn  within  its  vortex  almost  the  whole 
government  of  England.  The  pope's  haughty  legate,  spurning  at  all 
law  and  equity,  made  even  the  ministers  of  justice  to  tremble  at  his 
tribunal ;  parliaments  were  overawed,  and  sovereigns  obliged  to  tem- 
porize, while  the  lawless  ecclesiastic,  entrenched  behind  the  authority 
of  councils  and  decrees,  set  at  nought  the  civil  power,  and  opened  an 
asylum  to  any,  even  the  most  profligate  disturbers  of  society.  In 
the  mean  time,  the  taxes  collected  under  various  pretexts,  by  the  agents 
of  the  See  of  Rome,  amounted  to  five  times  as  much  as  the  taxes  paid 
to  the  king! 

The  insatiable  avarice  and  insupportable  tyranny  of  the  court  of 
Rome,  had  given  such  universal  disgust,  that  a  bold  attack  made  about 
this  time  on  the  authority  of  that  court,  and  the  doctrines  of  that  church, 
was,  at  first,  more  successful  than  could  have  been  expected,  in  that 
dark  and  superstitious  age.  This  attack  was  made  by  the  famous  John 
Wickliff,  who  was  one  of  the  best  and  most  learned  men  of  the  age  in 
which  he  flourished.  His  reputation  for  learning,  piety,  and  virtue, 
was  so  great,  that  Archbishop  Islep  appointed  him  the  first  warden  of 
Canterbury  college,  Oxford,  in  1365.  His  lectures  in  divinity  which 
he  read  in  that  university,  were  much  admired,  though  in  these  lectures 
he  treated  the  clergy,  and  particularly  the  mendicant  friars,  with  no 
little  freedom  and  severity.  A  discourse  which  he  published  against 
the  pope's  demand  of  homage  and  tribute  from  Edward  III.  for  the 
kingdom  of  England,  recommended  him  so  much  to  that  prince,  that 
the  latter  bestowed  upon  him  several  benefices,  and  employed  him  in 
several  embassies.  In  one  of  these  embassies  to  the  court  of  Rome, 
in  1374,  he  discovered  so  many  of  the  corruptions  of  that  court,  and  of 
the  errors  of  that  church,  that  he  became  more  bold  and  more  severe 
in  his  censures  of  those  errors  and  corruptions.     He  even  proceeded 

*  Thuanus's  Historv  of  his  own  Times,  b,  vi. 


406  History  of  the  Christian  Church. 

so  far  as  to  call  the  pope  antichrist,  to  deny  his  supremacy,  and  to  ex- 
pose his  intolerable  tyranny  and  extortions  in  the  strongest  colours. 
This,  as  might  naturally  have  been  expected,  drew  upon  him  the  in- 
dignation of  his  holiness,  and  involved  him  in  various  troubles.  Pope 
Gregory  XI.  published  several  thundering  bulls  against  him,  in  1377, 
commanding  him  to  be  seized,  imprisoned,  and  brought  to  trial  for  his 
damnable  heresies.  The  affection  of  the  people,  and  the  favour  of  the 
court,  protected  him  from  imprisonment ;  but  he  found  it  necessary  to 
appear  before  Simon  Sudbury,  archbishop  of  Canterbury,  and  William 
Courtney,  bishop  of  London,  who  had  been  appointed  his  judges  by 
the  pope.  At  this  appearance  he  had  the  honour  to  be  accompanied  by 
two  of  the  greatest  men  in  the  kingdom,  John  of  Gaunt,  duke  of  Lan- 
castei-,  and  Lord  Henry  Percy,  marshal  of  England.  These  two  lords 
demanded  a  chair  for  Wickliff;  which  being  denied  by  the  bishop  of 
London,  some  very  angry  words  passed  between  that  prelate  and  the 
Duke  of  Lancaster;  which  excited  so  violent  a  tumult  in  the  court,  that 
it  broke  up  in  great  confusion,  without  doing  any  [business.  Wickliff 
made  a  second  appearance  before  the  papal  commissioners  at  Lambeth, 
where  he  was  attended  by  so  great  a  body  of  the  citizens  of  London, 
that  his  judges  were  deterred  from  pronouncing  any  sentence  against 
him  ;  and  their  commission  soon  after  terminated  by  the  death  of  the 
pope,  March  27,  1378. 

It  is  very  difficult  to  discover,  with  certainty  and  precision,  what 
were  the  real  sentiments,  in  some  particulars,  of  this  illustrious  cham- 
pion of  truth  and  liberty,  against  the  errors  and  tyranny  of  the  church 
of  Rome ;  because  he  seems,  in  some  things,  to  have  changed  his 
mind ;  and  because  certain  tenets  were  inputed  to  him  by  his  adversa- 
ries which  he  did  not  hold.  It  very  plainly  appears  from  his  writings, 
that  the  doctrines  which  he  taught  were  very  nearly  the  same  with 
those  which  were  propagated  by  our  more  successful  reformers  in  the 
sixteenth  century. 

The  prosecution  against  Wickliff  was  suspended  for  some  time,  by 
the  schism  in  the  papacy  which  succeeded  the  death  of  Gregory  XI. 
and  by  the  insurrection  of  the  Commons  in  England,  which  threw  all 
things  into  confusion.  In  this  tumult,  archbishop  Sudbury,  one  of  his 
most  zealous  adversaries,  was  beheaded  by  the  insurgents  on  Tower- 
hill,  June  14,  1381.  William  Courtney,  bishop  of  London,  was  pro- 
moted to  the  primacy  by  a  bull  of  pope  Urban  VI.  (who  had  been  ac- 
knowledged in  England  to  be  the  lawful  pope,)  dated  the  8th  of  Sep- 
tember in  the  same  year.  As  soon  as  the  insurrection  of  the  Commons 
was  quelled,  and  the  public  tranquillity  restored,  the  new  primate  ap- 
plied with  great  zeal  to  the  suppression  of  the  heretical  opinions,  as  he 
esteemed  them,  which  were  propagated  by  Wickliff  and  his  followers. 
With  this  view,  he  assembled  a  council  of  the  bishops  of  his  province, 
and  many  doctors  of  divinity,  and  of  the  civil  and  canon  law,  in  the 
priory  of  the  preaching  friars,  London,  May  17,  1382.  Before  this 
council  he  submitted  twenty-four  opinions,  extracted  from  the  writings 
of  Wickliff,  for  their  examination  ;  and  the  council  unanimously  de- 
clared ten  of  these  opinions  heretical,  and  fourteen  of  them  erroneous. 
Several  suspected  persons  were  then  brought  before  the  council,  parti- 


Wickliff' s  Letter  to  Huss.  407 

cularly  Nicholas  Hereford  and  Philip  Rapyngdon,  doctors  in  divinity, 
and  John  Ayshton,  A.  M.  and  commanded  to  declare  their  sentiments 
of  these  opinions.  Their  declarations  appearing  to  the  council  evasive 
and  unsatisfactory,  they  were  pronounced  to  be  convicted  of  heresy. 
The  ancient  historian  Henry  Knyghton  relates,  that  Wickliff  was 
brought  before  this  council,  and  that  he  made  a  kind  of  recantation  of 
his  heretical  opinions.  But  as  nothing  of  this  appears  in  the  record,  it 
is  probably  a  mistake,  if  not  a  calumny.  On  the  day  after  the  conclu- 
sion of  this  council,  there  was  a  solemn  procession  in  London ;  after 
which  Dr.  Kinyghan,  a  Carmelite  friar,  preached  to  the  people,  and 
published  the  doctrines  which  had  been  condemned ;  declaring,  that 
all  persons  who  taught,  favoured,  or  believed  any  of  these  doctrines, 
were  excommunicated  heretics.  To  give  the  greater  weight  to  the  de- 
crees of  this  council,  the  clergy  prevailed  upon  the  king  to  publish  a 
proclamation,  July  12,  authorizing  and  commanding  the  bishops  to 
seize  and  imprison  all  persons  who  were  suspected  of  holding  any  of 
the  doctrines  which  had  been  condemned. 

The  doctrines  of  Wickliff  had  for  some  years  made  a  mighty  noise 
in  the  university  of  Oxford,  where  they  were  first  published,  and 
where  they  had  many  violent  opposers,  and  many  zealous  advocates. 
Dr.  Berton,  who  was  chancellor  in  the  University  in  1381,  and  Dr. 
Stokes,  were  at  the  head  of  the  former,  and  Dr.  Hereford  and  Dr.  Ra- 
pyngdon at  the  head  of  the  latter.  The  Archbishop  of  Canterbury  sent 
the  decrees  of  his  late  council  to  Oxford,  commanding  Dr.  Stokes  to 
publish  them  at  St.  Frideswyde's  church,  on  Corpus-Christi  day;  and 
Dr.  Rigge,  the  chancellor  of  the  University,  to  assist  and  protect  him 
in  performing  in  that  office.  Dr.  Philip  Rapyngdon  had  been  appoint- 
ed to  preach  at  that  church  on  that  day,  and  he  declaimed  with  great 
vehemence  against  the  corruptions  of  the  church,  and  in  defence  of  the 
doctrines  of  Wickliff;  and  his  sermon  was  heard  with  approbation. 
But  when  Dr.  Stokes  attempted  to  publish  the  decrees  of  the  council 
of  London,  he  was  interrupted  with  clamours  and  reproaches,  which 
obliged  him  to  desist,  without  having  received  any  countenance  or  pro- 
tection from  the  chancellor  or  proctors,  who  were  secret  favourers  of 
the  new  opinions.  For  this  negligence  they  were  summoned  to  appear 
before  Archbishop  Courtney,  who  treated  them  very  roughly,  and  by 
threats  prevailed  upon  them  to  return  to  Oxford,  and  to  publish  the  de- 
crees of  the  council  of  London,  both  in  Latin  and  English,  first  in  St. 
Mary's  Church,  and  afterwards  in  the  schools. 

While  the  doctrines  of  Wickliff  were  propagated  and  opposed  with 
so  much  zeal,  at  Oxford  and  other  places,  he,  being  in  a  declining  state 
of  health,  resided,  during  the  two  last  years  of  his  life,  at  his  living  of 
Lutterworth,  in  Leicestershire,  employed  in  finishing  his  translation  of 
the  Bible,  and  other  works.  Being  seized  with  a  stroke  of  the  palsy, 
which  deprived  him  of  his  speech,  December  28,  1384,  he  expired  on 
the  last  day  of  that  year.*  As  the  clergy  had  hated  and  persecuted 
him  with  great  violence  during  his  life,  they  exulted  with  indecent  joy 

*  It  appears  that  before  the  death  of  Wickliff,  his  principles  had  extended 
into  Bohemia,  and  that  John  Huss  had  begun  to  sow  the  seeds  of  reform  in  that 


408  History  of  the  Christian  Church. 

at  his  disease  and  death,  ascribing  them  to  the  immediate  vengeance 
of  Heaven  for  his  heresy.  "  On  the  day  of  St.  Thomas  the  Martyr, 
Archbishop  of  Canterbury,  says  Walsingham,  a  contemporary  histo- 
rian, that  limb  of  the  devil,  enemy  of  the  church,  deceiver  of  the  peo- 

country  also.  The  following  letter,  written  by  our  great  English  reformer,  in 
the  last  year  of  his  life,  is  too  valuable  to  be  omitted. 

Letter  fhom  Wickliff  to  Hrss. 

Health  and  Salvation;  and  if  any  thing  can  be  devised  or  expressed  more  loving  and 
dear  in  the  bowels  of  Jesus  Christ. 
"Dear  brethren  in  the  Lord,  whom  I  love  in  the  truth,  and  not  I  only,  but  all 
those  who  know  the  truth  ;  I  say  that  the  truth,  which  dwelleth  in  us  by  the 
grace  of  God,  shall  be  with  us  for  ever.  I  rejoiced  greatly  at  the  brethren,  com- 
ing to  us  from  you,  bearing  testimony  of  you  in  the  truth,  and  that  ye  walk  in 
truth.  I  have  heard  how  antichrist  troubleth  you,  causing  many  and  various  tri- 
bulations to  the  faithful  in  Christ.  And  no  wonder  that  such  things  should  be 
done  among  you,  since  the  law  of  Christ  suffereth  oppression  from  its  adversaries 
over  all  the  world ;  and  from  that  red  dragon  with  many  heads,  which  John 
speaks  of  in  the  Revelation,  that  cast  out  of  his  mouth  water  as  a  flood  after  the 
woman,  that  she  might  be  carried  away  of  it.  But  the  Lord,  who  is  faithful,  will 
certainly  rescue  his  dearly  beloved  spouse.  Let  us  be  strengthened  and  comfort- 
ed in  the  Lord  our  God,  and  in  his  infinite  goodness,  and  be  firmly  persuaded 
that  he  will  not  permit  his  beloved  to  fail  of  his  proposed  reward  for  them,  if  we 
only  love  him  (as  we  ought)  with  our  whole  heart.  For  ad-ersity  shall  not  pre- 
vail over  us,  if  iniquity  do  not  prevail.  Therefore  let  no  affliction,  pressure,  or 
torment,  for  the  sake  of  Christ,  cast  us  down,  or  cause  us  to  despair  ;  since  we 
know,  that  whomsoever  the  Lord  accounteth  as  sons,  he  chasteneth.  For  the 
Father  of  Mercy  exerciseth  us  in  adversity  in  this  present  life,  that  he  may  af- 
terwards spare  us  ;  as  that  gold  which  a  skilful  workman  chooseth  is  tried  in  the 
fire  by  day,  that  afterwards  he  may  put  it  into  his  pure,  eternal,  treasure.  We 
know  that  the  present  life  is  but  short  and  transitory  :  but  that  life  which  we  ex- 
pect, and  which  is  to  come,  is  happy  and  eternal.  Let  us  labour,  while  we  have 
time,  that  we  may  be  found  worthy  to  enter  into  that  rest.  Let  me  entreat  you 
to  consider,  that  wo  see  nothing  else  in  this  life,  but  grief,  anguish,  and  sorrow  ; 
and  what  ought  to  trouble  the  faithful  most  of  all,  a  contempt  and  trampling  down 
of  the  divine  laws.  Let  us  endeavour,  as  much  as  lies  in  our  power,  to  lay  hold 
of  those  good  things,  which  shall  always  endure  and  be  eternal;  denying  our  tran- 
sient and  frail  senses.  Let  us  look  back  upon  and  consider  the  behaviour  of  our 
ancestors  in  former  ages.  Let  us  call  to  mind  the  saints  of  both  the  Old  and  New 
Testament ;  how  they  bore  tossing-s,  tempests,  and  adversities,  in  this  sea  of  trou- 
ble,— imprisonments,  and  bonds.  They  were  stoned  ;  they  were  sawn  asunder  ; 
they  were  slain  by  the  sword.  They  wandered  about  in  sheep  and  in  goat  skins, 
and  other  such  like  tilings  ;  as  the  Epistle  to  the  Hebrews  recounteth  at  large; 
all  walking  in,  and  following  the  footsteps  of  Christ,  in  that  narrow  path,  Mho 
said,  "Where  I  am,  there  shall  my  servants  be  also."  Since  we  have  such  a 
cloud  of  witnesses  of  the  saints  in  former  times  placed  before  us,  let  us  lay  aside 
every  offence  and  weight,  yea,  sin,  which  besets  us,  and  run  with  patience  the 
race  that  is  set  before  us;  looking  to  Jesus,  the  author  and  finisher  of  our  faith; 
who  cheerfully  endured  the  cross,  despising  all  contempt  and  shame.  Let  us 
consider  how  he  bore  such  contradiction  against  himself  from  sinners,  and  let  us 
not  be  weary  with  desponding  minds:  but  let  us  beg  assistance  from  the  Lord, 
with  all  our  heart,  and  fight  manfully  against  his  adversary,  antichrist.  Let  us 
love  his  laws  with  all  our  heart,  and  be  not  fraudulent  and  deceitful  labourers;  but 
act  boldly  in  all  things,  as  far  as  the  Lord  permits  us;  and  let  us  be  valiant  in  the 
cause  of  God,  and  in  hope  of  an  eternal  reward.  Do  thou,  therefore,  O  Huss!  a 
brother  greatly  beloved  in  Christ,  unknown  to  me  indeed  in  person,  but  not  in 
faith  and  love;  (for,  what  part  of  the  world  can  tear  asunder,  and  separate  those 


Progress  of  Wickliff"' s  Doctrine.  409 

pie,  idol  of  heretics,  mirror  of  hypocrites,  author  of  schisms,  sower  of 
hatred,  and  inventor  of  lies,  John  Wickliff,  was,  by  the  immediate 
judgment  of  God,  suddenly  struck  with  a  palsy,  which  seized  all  the 
members  of  his  body,  when  he  was  ready,  as  they  say,  to  vomit  forth 
his  blasphemies  against  the  blessed  St.  Thomas,  in  a  sermon  which 
he  had  prepared  to  preach  that  day."  But  these  reproaches  do  honour 
to  his  memory,  as  they  were  brought  upon  him  by  his  vigorous  efforts 
to  deliver  his  countrymen  from  the  errors,  superstitions,  and  extortions 
of  the  Church  of  Rome. 

Though  the  joy  of  the  clergy  at  the  death  of  Wickliff  was  very 
great,  it  was  not  of  long  duration.  They  soon  found,  that  his  doc- 
trines had  not  died  with  him,  but  were  propagated  with  great  zeal,  and 
no  little  success,  by  his  followers,  who  were  commonly  called  Lol- 
lards.* Many  of  those  who  were  preachers  travelled  up  and  down  the 

whom  the  love  of  Christ  unites  >)  be  comforted  arid  strengthened  in  the  grace 
which  is  given  thee.  As  a  good  soldier  of  Jesus  Christ,  war  in  word  and  in  deed; 
and  recal  into  the  way  of  truth  as  many  as  thou  art  able:  because  neither  by  er- 
roneous and  deceitful  decrees,  nor  by  the  false  opinions  and  doctrines  of  anti- 
christ, is  the  truth  of  the  Gospel  to  be  kept  in  silence  and  in  secret.  Rather 
comfort  and  strengthen  the  members  of  Christ,  by  weakening  the  wiles  and  deceit 
of  Satan:  because  antichrist  shall  come  to  an  end  in  a  short  time;  it  is  the  will  of 
the  Lord!  It  is  a  great  joy  to  me,  that  not  only  in  your  kingdom,  but  elsewhere, 
God  hath  so  strengthened  the  hearts  of  some,  that  they  suffer  with  pleasure,  im- 
prisonments, banishments,  and  even  death  itself,  for  the  word  of  God.  I  have 
nothing  more  to  write,  beloved  brethren,  only  that  I  willingly  confess  I  would 
strengthen  you  and  all  the  lovers  of  Christ's  laws,  in  the  law  of  the  love  of  God. 
Therefore  1  salute  them  from  the  bowels  of  my  heart;  particularly  your  compa- 
nion;f  entreating  that  you  would  pray  for  me  and  the  whole  church.  And  the 
God  of  peace,  who  raised  from  the  dead  that  great  shepherd  of  the  sheep,  through 
the  blood  of  the  everlasting  covenant,  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ,  fit  you  for  every 
good  work;  that  ye  may  do  what  is  acceptable  to  him,  through  Jesus  Christ  our 
Lord:  to  whom  be  glory  for  ever  and  ever.    Amen." 

*  Even  to  the  present  day,  the  derivation  of  this  term  remains  a  point  of 
doubt  and  uncertainty.  Clark  in  his  Martyrology,  p.  Ill,  says,  "About  this 
time,  A-  D.  1210,  the  English,  who  now  possessed  Guienne  which  bordered 
upon  the  Earldom  of  Toulouse,  began  to  help  the  Albigenses,  being  stirred  up 
thereto  by  Maynard  Lollard,  a  godly  and  learned  man,  who  by  his  powerful 
preaching  converted  many  to  the  truth,  and  defended  the  faith  of  the  Albi- 
genses." He  further  adds,  that  "  John  le  Meyer  much  commends  this  Lollard, 
who  foretold  many  things  by  divine  revelation,  which,  saith  he,  came  to  pass  in 
my  time,  and  therefore  he  putteth  him  into  the  rank  of  holy  prophets.  And  as 
for  his  learning,  it  is  evident  by  his  Comment  upon  the  Revelation,  where  he 
setteth  forth  many  things  that  are  spoken  of  the  Roman  antichrist.  This  wor- 
thy man  was  afterwards  apprehended  in  Germany,  and  being  delivered  to  the 
secular  power,  was  burnt  at  Cologne."  A  few  pages  afterwards  we  find  the 
following  short  paragraph  in  the  same  volume.  '•  Anno  Christi  1322,  Lollard 
Walterus,  from  whom  our  English  professors  were  called  Lollards,  was  taken  at 
Cologne,  where  he  had  privately  preached,  and  through  God's  blessing,  drawn 
many  from  ignorance  and  error  to  embrace  the  truth,  and  persisting  constantly 
in  his  opinions,  he  was  condemned  and  burnt  alive,"  p.  124.  The  discrepancies- 
in  these  two  accounts  are  so  many  and  palpable,  that  they  are  not  easily  recon- 
ciled. I  find  no  evidence  that  there  were  two  persons  of  the  name  of  Lollard,  at 
the  distance  of  more  than  a  century  from  each  other,  both  preachers  of  the  Gos- 

f  Probably  Jerome  of  Prague. 
35 


410  History  of  the  Christian  Church. 

country  on  foot,  in  a  very  plain  dress,  declaiming  with  great  vehe- 
mence against  the  corruptions  of  the  church,  and  the  vices  of  the 
clergy.  These  preachers  were  not  only  admired  and  followed  by  the 
common  people,  but  were  favoured  and  protected  by  several  persona 
of  high  rank  and  great  power,  particularly  by  the  Duke  of  Lancaster, 
the  lords  Percy,  Latimer,  Clifford,  Hilton,  and  others.  By  the  zeal, 
activity,  and  eloquence  of  the  preachers,  under  the  protection  of  these 
great  men,  the  new  doctrines,  as  they  were  called,  gained  ground  so 
fast,  that,  as  a  contemporary  historian  of  the  best  credit  affirms,  "  more 
than  one  half  of  the  people  of  England,  in  a  few  years,  became  Lol- 
lards." The  same  historian,  who  was  a  clergyman,  and  a  most  in- 
veterate enemy  to  the  Lollards,  acknowledges,  that  as  Wickliff  excelled 
all  the  learned  men  of  his  age  in  disputation,  so  some  of  his  followers, 
in  a  very  little  time,  became  very  eloquent  preachers  and  very  powerful 
disputants  ;  which  he  ascribes  to  the  assistance  of  the  devil,  who,  he 
says,  took  possession  of  them  as  soon  as  they  became  Lollards. 

The  clergy,  alarmed  and  enraged  at  this  rapid  progress  of  the  new 
opinions,  attempted  to  put  a  stop  to  it  by  violence  and  persecution, 
which  have  been  often  employed  by  power  against  truth.  They  pro- 
cured, or  at  least  promulgated,  a  statute,  which  still  appears  in  our  sta- 
tute-book, (though  the  Commons,  it  is  said,  never  gave  their  assent  to 
it,)  empowering  and  commanding  all  sheriffs  to  seize  and  imprison  all 
preachers  of  heresy.  They  also  prevailed  upon  the  king,  in  1387,  to 
grant  a  commission  to  certain  persons  to  seize  all  the  books  and  writ- 
ings of  John  Wickliff,  Nicholas  Hereford,  John  Ayshton,  and  other 
heretical  writers,  and  to  imprison  all  who  transcribed,  sold,  bought,  or 
concealed  such  books.  By  these  methods  the  clergy  hoped  to  inter- 
rupt the  preaching  and  writing  of  the  reforming  teachers,  by  which 
they  chiefly  propagated  their  opinions.  But  the  contemporary  histo- 
rian Knyghton  observes,  with  regret,  "  that  these  laws  and  edicts  were 
but  slowly  and  faintly  executed,  because  the  time  of  correction  was 
not  yet  come." 

Though  the  violent  factions  amongst  the  nobility,  and  the  general 
animosity  of  the  laity  against  the  clergy,  on  account  of  their  excessive 
power  and  riches,  prevented  for  a  time  a  rigorous  execution  of  the  pe- 
nal statutes  against  heretics;  several  persons  were  apprehended  and 
tried  upon  these  statutes.  Some  of  them,  as  particularly  Hereford, 
Ayshton,  and  Rapyngdon,  who  had  been  the  most  zealous  propagators 
of  Wickliff's  doctrines,  were,  by  threats  and  promises,  prevailed  upon 
to  make  a  kind  of  recantation,  and  to  desist  from  preaching  these  doc- 
trines. Others  escaped  with  slight  censures,  by  giving  artful,  evasive 
explanations  of  their  tenets.  In  general  it  may  be  observed,  that  the 
followers  of  Wickliff  were  not  very  ambitious  of  the  crown  of  martyr- 
dom ;  and  none  of  them  were  capitally  punished  in  the  reign  of  Ri- 
chard II. 

pel,  and  burnt  at  Cologne  for  heresy.  It  is  observable  too,  that  even  the  latter 
account  fixes  the  martyrdom  of  Lollard  two  years  before  the  birth  of  Wickliff, 
who,  therefore,  though  he  may  have  read  some  of  his  writings,  could  not  possi- 
bly have  seen  him  nor  been  instructed  by  him. 


Proceedings  of  the  Lollards.  41 1 

In  spite  of  all  the  laws  that  had  been  made  in  England  against  the 
tyrannical  usurpations  of  the  court  of  Rome,  they  still  continued,  or 
rather  increased.  When  a  clerk  had  obtained  a  sentence  in  favour  of 
his  presentation  to  a  church  in  the  king's  court,  and  the  bishop  of  the 
diocese  had  inducted  him  in  consequence  of  that  sentence,  it  was  usual 
for  the  pope,  on  the  complaint  of  the  losing  party,  to  excommunicate 
the  bishop.  When  an  English  bishop  had  by  any  means  offended  his 
holiness,  he  sometimes  punished  him,  by  translating  him  to  a  foreign 
see,  without  his  own  consent,  or  that  of  the  king.  Upon  a  complaint 
of  these  papal  usurpations  by  the  Commons,  in  a  parliament  at  Win- 
chester, in  1392,  a  very  severe  law  was  made  for  the  punishment  of 
those  who  solicited,  or  brought  into  the  kingdom,  any  papal  bulls  of 
excommunication,  translation,  or  other  thing  against  the  rights  and 
dignity  of  the  crown.  These  contests  between  the  king  and  parlia- 
ment of  England  and  the  court  of  Rome,  encouraged  the  Lollards  to 
make  a  bold  and  direct  attack  on  the  established  church.  Accordingly, 
they  presented  to  a  parliament,  which  was  held  by  the  Duke  of  York, 
the  king  being  in  Ireland,  at  Westminster,  in  1394,  a  remonstrance 
containing  twelve  articles  of  complaint  against  the  church  and  clergy ; 
praying  for  redress  and  reformation.  In  this  remonstrance,  they  com- 
plain chiefly  of  the  exorbitant  power,  excessive  wealth,  and  profligate 
lives  of  the  clergy,  which  last  they  ascribe  chiefly  to  their  vows  of  celi- 
bacy ; — of  transubstantiation  and  the  superstitious  practices  which  the 
belief  of  it  produced  ; — of  prayers  for  the  dead ; — of  the  worship  of 
images  ; — of  pilgrimages  ; — of  auricular  confession,  and  its  conse- 
quences ; — and  of  several  other  particulars  in  which  the  present  Pro- 
*  ■  '■"*  ^1'uicnes  Oilier  from  the  church  of  Rome.  What  reception  this 
remonstrance  met  with  from  the  parliament,  we  are  not  informed. 
About  the  same  time  the  Lollards  published  several  satirical  papers, 
painting  the  deceitful  arts,  abominable  vices,  and  absurd  opinions  of 
the  clergy  in  very  strong  colours  ;  which  excited  both  the  contempt 
and  hatred  of  the  people  against  them.  Some  of  these  papers,  written 
with  much  asperity,  and  no  little  wit,  were  pasted  up  on  the  most  pub- 
lic places  in  London  and  Westminster. 

The  clergy  were  so  much  alarmed  at  these  bold  attacks,  that  they 
despatched  the  archbishop  of  York,  the  bishop  of  London,  and  several 
other  commissioners,  to  the  king  then  in  Ireland,  to  entreat  him  to  re- 
turn immediately  into  England,  to  protect  the  church,  which  was  in 
danger  of  destruction.  "  As  soon,"  says  acontemporary  historian,  "  as 
the  king  heard  the  representation  of  the  commissioners,  being  inspired 
with  the  Divine  Spirit,  he  hastened  into  England,  thinking  it  more  ne- 
cessary to  defend  the  church  than  to  conquer  kingdoms."  On  his  arri- 
val, he  called  before  him  the  lords  Clifford,  Latimer,  Montague,  and 
other  great  men  who  favoured  the  Lollards,  and  threatened  them  with 
immediate  death,  if  they  gave  any  further  encouragement  to  heretical 
preachers.  Intimidated  by  these  threats,  they  complied  with  the  king's 
desire,  and  withdrew  their  protection. 

Several  of  the  Lollard  preachers,  discouraged  by  this  defection  of 
their  patrons,  soon  after  recanted  their  opinions,  and  returned  into  the 
bosom  of  the  church.     Thomas  Arundel,  archbishop  of  York,  who  was 


412  History  of  the  Christian  Church. 

a  most  violent  enemy  to  the  Lollards,  obliged  those  in  his  province  vrho 
recanted,  to  take  the  following  curious  oath,  which  is  given  in  the  ori- 
ginal language  and  spelling  :  "  I — ,  before  you,  worshipful  fader  and 
lord  archbishop  of  Yhork,  and  your  clergy,  with  my  free  will  and  full 
avysed,  swere  to  God  and  all  his  seyntes,  upon  this  holy  gospel,  that 
fro  this  day  forthword,  I  shall  worship  images,  with  praying  and  offer- 
ing unto  them,  in  the  worship  of  the  saints,  that  they  may  be  made 
after ;  and  also,  I  shall  never  more  despise  pylgremage,  ne  states  of 
holy  chyrche,  in  no  degre.  And  also  I  shall  be  buxum  to  the  laws  of 
holy  chyrche,  and  to  yhowe  as  to  myn  archbishop,  and  myn  other  or- 
dinaries and  curates,  and  keep  the  laws  up  my  power  and  meyntein 
them.  And  also,  I  shall  never  more  meyntein,  ne  techen,  ne  defenden, 
errors,  conclusions,  ne  techeng  of  the  Lollards,  ne  swych  conclusions 
and  techengs  that  men  clopeth  Lollards  doctrine ;  ne  shall  her  books, 
ne  swych  books,  ne  hem  or  ony  suspect  or  diffamed  of  Lollardary,  re- 
ceyve  or  company  with  all,  willingly,  or  defend  in  tho  matters  :  and  if 
I  know  any  swych,  I  shall,  with  all  the  hast  that  I  may,  do  yhowe,  or 
els  your  nex  officers,  to  wyten,  and  of  ther  bokes,  &c."* 

The  kingdom  of  Bohemia,  is,  in  point  of  territorial  surface,  the  most 
elevated  ground,  the  most  mountainous,  and  by  nature  the  strongest  in 
Germany.  Its  inhabitants  too  have  ever  been  distinguished  by  the  lofti- 
ness of  their  spirit,  and  the  vigour  and  success  of  their  struggles  for 
civil  and  religious  liberty.  The  country  is  almost  surrounded  by  the 
mountains  of  the  famous  Hyrcanian  forest,  whose  sides,  broken  into 
many  sloping  ridges,  intersect  this  lofty  and  spacious  amphitheatre,  and 
form  a  landscape  bold,  various,  and  of  great  beauty.  The  metropolis 
of  the  country  is  Prague,  a  city  of  great  extent,  stretching  along  the 
banks,  and  on  either  side  of  the  river  Mulda,  adorned  with  many  sump- 
tuous edifices,  and  particularly  two  strong  castles,  one  of  which  was  the 
residence  of  the  ancient  Bohemian  kings.  The  ancient  inhabitants  are 
represented  by  contemporary  historians,  as  a  people  of  a  ruddy  com- 
plexion, and  of  enormous  stature  and  muscular  strength ;  in  their  dis- 
positions intrepid, fierce,  proud,  quick  in  resenting  injuries,  of  ahaughty 
deportment,  lovers  of  a  rude  magnificence  and  pomp,  and  naturally  ad- 
dicted to  revels  and  intemperance.  The  native  language  of  Bohemia  is 
the  Sclavonic,  which  also  appears  to  have  been  the  mother  tongue  of 
the  Tartars,  and  their  offspring  the  Turks,  and  of  all  the  nations  inhabit- 
ing those  regions  which  extend  from  the  northern  parts  of  Russia  to 
Turkey  in  Europe.t 

The  authority  of  the  church  of  Rome  was  never  so  great  and  general 
as  entirely  to  banish  from  the  nations  of  Europe  a  spirit  of  inquiry,  or 
the  love  of  knowledge.     During   the  thickest  darkness  of  the  middle 

*  Collier's  Ecclesiastical  History,  vol.  i.  p.  598-9.  Wood's  History  of  Oxon, 
190—192.  Lewis's  Life  of  Wickliff",  Anglia  Sacra,  torn.  2.  p.  121.  Walsing- 
ham,  page  201 — 205.  Biographia  Britannica,  Art.  Wickliff*.  Spelman's  Coun- 
cil, torn.  2,  p.  629 — 656.   Henry's  Great  Britain,  vol.  viii.  8vo.  b.  4,  ch.-2,  sect.  2. 

-j-  Namely,  Russia,  Poland,  Lithuania,  Hungary,  Transylvania,  Sclavonia,  Cro- 
atia, Istria,  Wallachia,  &c.  &c.  See  Dr.  Watson's  History  of  Philip  HI.  King  of 
Spain,  b.  vi. 


Bohemians  divided  into  three  sects.  413 

ages,  a  star  appeared  here  and  there  in  the  firmament,  which  reflected 
the  light  of  ancient  times,  and  formed  a  presage,  that  although  the  sun 
of  science  was  set,  it  would  return  to  enlighten  bewildered  nations.  We 
have  seen  that  so  early  as  the  eighth  century,  Claude  of  Turin  sowed 
the  seeds  of  reformation  in  the  valleys  of  Piedmont,  whence  they  were 
gradually  transplanted  into  other  countries.  In  the  thirteenth  century, 
the  Waldenses  or  Albigenses,  names  almost  indiscriminately  applied  to 
the  disciples  of  Claude,  were  multiplied  throughout  France  to  an  asto- 
nishing degree;  and  when  scattered  by  the  persecuting  power  of  Rome, 
they  were  driven  into  Bohemia,  Livonia,  and  Poland,  in  the  former  of 
which  places  we  learn  that  there  were  no  less  than  eighty  thousand  of 
them  at  the  commencement  of  the  fourteenth  century. 

We  are  informed  by  Sleidan,  that  the  Bohemians  were  divided,  on 
the  article  of  religion,  into  three  classes,  or  sects.  The  first  were  such 
as  acknowledged  the  pope  of  Rome  to  be  head  of  the  church,  and  vicar 
of  Jesus  Christ;  the  second  were  those  that  received  the  eucharist  in 
both  kinds,  and  in  celebrating  mass,  read  some  things  in  the  vulgar 
tongue,  but  in  all  other  matters  differ  nothing  from  the  church  of  Rome ; 
the  third  were  those  who  went  by  the  name  of  Picards  or  Beghardi — • 
these  called  the  pope  of  Rome  and  all  his  party  antichrist,  and  the 
whore  that  is  described  in  the  Revelation,  (ch.  xvii.)  They  admitted, 
says  he,  of  nothing  but  the  Bible,  as  the  ground  of  their  doctrine;  they 
■chose  their  own  priests  and  bishops,  denied  marriages  to  no  man,  per- 
formed no  offices  for  the  dead,  and  hnd  but  very  few  holidays  and  ceremo- 
nies.* It  is  obvious,  therefore,  that  the  latter  class  alone  were  the  ge- 
nuine Waldenses,  and  that  the  second  were  a  species  of  dissenting- con- 
formists, differing  but  little  from  our  English  Episcopalians.  It  is  pro- 
per the  reader  should  keep  this  distinction  clearly  in  view ;  he  will 
otherwise  fall  into  a  mistake  which  is  very  prevalent,  respecting  the 
principles  of  John  Huss  and  Jerome  of  Prague,  who  are  generally  sup- 
posed to  have  belonged  to  the  sect  of  the  Waldenses,  though,  in  fact, 
they  ranked  with  the  second  class  mentioned  by  Sleidan,  and  never  gave 
up  the  communion  of  the  church  of  Rome.  They  were  in  Bohemia 
what  WicklifF  was  in  England,  members  of  the  established  church,  dis- 
satisfied with  its  corruptions,  and  strenuous  advocates  for  a  reform  both 
in  its  doctrine  and  discipline,  like  many  of  the  evangelical  clergy  in  our 
day,  but  without  the  virtue  of  dissenting  from  its  communion,  and  of 
bearing  a  public  and  decided  testimony  to  its  antichristian  spirit  and 
constitution.  The  whole  of  the  history  of  these  Reformers,  which  is 
so  circumstantially  given  by  L'Enfant,  in  his  history  of  the  council  of 
Constance,  and  with  such  demonstrable  impartiality,  affords  unques- 
tionable proof  of  the  truth  of  this  observation. t 

When  or  by  whom  the  gospel  was  first  preached  in  Bohemia,  is  a 
very  doubtful  point.  That  Paul  preached  the  Gospel  in  Illyricum,  and 
that  Titus  visited  Dalmatia,  are  things  capable  of  proof  from  Rom.  xv. 
19. — 2  Tim.  iv.  10.  And  hence  the  Bohemians  infer,  that  it  was 
preached  in  all  the  countries  of  Sclavonia  in  the  first  ages  of  Christian- 

*  Sleidan's  History  of  the  Reformation,  b.  iii.  p.  53. 
f  History  of  the  Council  of  Constance,  vol.  \.  passim. 
35* 


414  History  of  the  Christian  Church. 

ity.*  They  say  that  St.  Jerome,  a  native  of  Illyricum,  translated  the 
Scriptures  into  his  native  tongue,  and  that  all  the  nations  of  Sclavonian 
extraction  use  that  translation  to  this  day,  just  as  the  Latin  church  use 
the  Vulgate ;  and  further,  that  their  bishops  and  martyrs  are  mentioned 
in  the  early  ages  of  the  church.  But  whatever  of  truth  there  may  be 
in  this,  it  is  certain  that  Bohemia  partook  of  the  general  corruption,  and 
was  immersed  in  darkness  and  superstition,  when  Waldo  and  his  friends 
sought  an  asylum  in  that  kingdom,  and  in  the  year  1176  formed  a 
colony  at  Saltz  and  Laun,  on  the  river  Eger.  These  Waldenses  found 
the  Bohemians  tenacious  of  the  rites  and  ceremonies  of  the  Greek 
church,  which  are  scarcely  less  superstitious  than  those  of  the  church 
•of  Rome ;  but  they  endeavoured  to  convince  them  of  their  defects  of 
the  religious  exercises,  and  introduced  among  them  the  knowledge  of 
the  Christian  faith  in  its  purity,  according  to  the  word  of  God.t  Popery 
was  not  fully  established  in  Bohemia  till  the  fourteenth  century,  and 
then  not  by  the  consent  of  the  Bohemians  ;  but  by  the  power  and  artifice 
of  the  Emperor  Charles  IV.  Two  of  his  chaplains  endeavoured  to 
persuade  his  Majesty  to  curb  the  pope  and  reform  the  church,  but  they 
were  both  banished  for  their  officious  zeal.  One  of  them,  whose  name 
was  Janovius,  and  had  studied  at  Paris,  being  a  person  of  piety  and  erudi- 
tion, was  a  very  hearty  friend  to  reform,  and  both  preached  and  pub- 
lished against  the  antichristian  hypocrisy  of  the  times  :  but  as  he  knew 
the  world,  and,  by  residing  at  court,  thoroughly  understood  the  motives 
and  views  of  great  men,  he  comforted  his  friends  with  these  remarkable 
words  just  before  he  expired.  "  The  fury  of  the  enemies  of  truth  now 
prevails  against  us,  but  it  will  not  always  be  so  :  a  mean  people  will 
arise  without  sword  or  power,  and  against  them  they  will  never  be 
able  to  prevail."  A  saying  full  of  wisdom,  and  confirmed  by  the  ex- 
perience of  ages  ;  for  reformation  of  abuses  rarely  proceeds  from  those 
that  are  in  possession  of  power.  By  the  banishment  of  these  two 
eminent  men,  the  voice  of  reform  was  silenced.  Ignorance,  profligacy, 
and  vice,  prevailed  amongst  all  orders  of  men  in  the  national  church: 
the  Inquisition  was  introduced  for  the  purpose  of  enforcing  despotism 
in  the  civil  government,  and  uniformity  of  opinion  in  matters  of  religion. 
The  consequence  was,  that  multitudes  withdrew  themselves  from 
the  public  places  of  worship,  and  followed  the  dictates  of  their 
own  consciences  by  worshipping  God  in  private  houses,  woods,  and 
caves.  Here  they  were  persecuted,  dragooned,  drowned,  and  killed  ; 
and  thus  matters  went  on  till  the  appearance  of  John  Huss,  and  Jerome 
of  Prague.;}; 

It  was  in  the  latter  part  of  the  life  of  Wickliff,  that  king  Richard  II. 
of  England  married  Ann,  the  sister  of  Winceslaus,  king  of  Bohemia  ; 
and  in  consequence  of  this  family  alliance,  a  free  intercourse  was  open- 
ed between  the  two  kingdoms.  About  the  same  time  John  Huss,  who 
had  been  a  student  in  the  University  of  Prague,  where  he  had  taken  his 

*  Crantz's  History  of  the  Bohemian  Brethren,  p.  13. 
j-  Paul  Stransky,  de  Repub.  Bohem.  p.  272. 

*  Crantz's  History,  p.  1.  sect.  4.  and  Robinson's  Eccles.  Researches,  p.  480. 
Svnopsis  Hist.  Persecut.  Eccles.  Bohem.  cap.  vii. 


State  of  religion  in  Bohemia.  415 

degrees,  became  a  zealous  disciple  of  Wickliff.  He  was  born  in  the 
village  of  Hussinctz;  in  1373,  of  parents  not  in  affluent  circumstances; 
at  the  age  of  twenty  he  was  raised  to  the  dignity  of  professor  in  the 
University  of  Prague,  and  in  1400  appointed  preacher  in  one  of  the 
largest  churches  of  that  city.  He  was  a  person  of  eminent  abilities, 
and  of  still  more  eminent  zeal :  his  talents  were  popular,  his  life  irre- 
proachable, and  his  manners  the  most  affable  and  engaging.  He  was 
the  idol  of  the  populace ;  but  in  proportion  as  he  attracted  their  esteem 
and  regard,  he  drew  upon  himself  the  execration  of  the  priests. 

Peter  Payne,  principal  of  Edmund  Hall,  in  the  University  of  Oxford, 
a  man  equally  distinguished  for  his  talents  and  his  inflexible  opposition 
to  the  friars,  appears  to  have  been  the  instrument  of  first  conveying  into 
Bohemia  the  writings  of  our  countryman  Wickliff,  of  which  he  was  a 
great  admirer.  Payne  is  said  to  have  been  a  good  disputant,  and  to 
have  signalized  himself  in  a  controversy  with  Walden,  the  Carmelite, 
on  the  subjects  of  pilgrimage,  the  eucharist,  images,  and  relics,  &c.  Sic. 
—in  consequence  of  which  he  became  so  obnoxious  to  the  clergy,  that 
he  was  obliged  to  quit  the  University  and  flee  into  Bohemia,  where  he 
carried  with  him  a  number  of  Wickliffs  tracts,  which  were  highly  es- 
teemed by  Huss,  Jerome,  and  the  greater  part  of  the  University  of 
Prague.  The  introduction  of  WicklifTs  writings,  however,  into  that 
University,  gave  great  offence  to  the  Archbishop  of  Prague,  who  issued 
his  orders  that  every  person  that  was  in  possession  of  them  should 
bring  the  books  to  him,  in  order  that  such  as  contained  any  thing  here- 
tical might  be  burnt !  And  we  are  accordingly  told  that  two  hundred 
volumes  of  them,  finely  written,  and  adorned  with  costly  covers  and 
gold  borders,  probably  belonging  to  some  of  the  nobility,  were  com- 
mitted to  the  flames,  by  Archbishop  Sbynko ;  a  conduct  which  excited 
great  disgust  in  the  minds  of  the  students  of  the  University  of  Prague, 
and  of  Huss  in  particular,  who  took  every  opportunity  to  persuade  the 
members  of  the  University  that  the  conduct  of  the  archbishop  was  an 
infringement  on  the  rights,  liberties,  and  privileges  of  their  Seminary, 
whose  members  had  a  right  to  read  all  sorts  of  books  without  molesta- 
tion. Huss  and  his  friends  consequently  appealed  from  the  mandate 
of  the  archbishop  to  Gregory  XII.  who  was  then  acknowledged  pope 
in  Germany ;  and  the  latter  cited  the  archbishop  to  Rome.  The  pre- 
late, however,  informed  his  holiness  how  deeply  the  writings  of  Wick- 
liff had  taken  root  in  Bohemia,  on  which  he  obtained  a  bull  authorizing 
him  to  prevent  the  propagation  of  Wickliffs  doctrine  in  his  diocese  ; 
at  the  same  time  condemning  them  in  the  most  pointed  manner  as 
heretical,  and  issuing  processes  against  four  eminent  doctors  of  the 
university,  who  had  refused  to  deliver  up  the  writings  of  Wickliff 
which  were  in  their  possession,  and  prohibiting  them,  notwithstanding 
their  ecclesiastical  dignities,  from  preaching  in  any  congregation.  Huss , 
and  the  members  of  the  university,  entered  a  protest  against  these  pro- 
ceedings, and  on  the  25th  of  June,  1410,  appealed  from  the  sentence  of 
the  archbishop  to  the  court  of  Rome.  The  affair  was  carried  before 
pope  John  XXIII.  who  granted  a  commission  to  Cardinal  Colonna  to 
cite  Huss  to  appear  personally  before  him  at  Rome,  and  there  answer 
to  the  accusations  laid  against  him  of  preaching  both  errors  and  here- 


416  History  of  the  Christian  Church. 

sies.  Huss  desired  to  be  excused  a  personal  appearance,  and  so  greatly 
was  he  favoured  in  Bohemia,  that  king  Winceslaus,  his  queen,  the 
nobility,  and  the  University  at  large,  joined  in  a  request  to  the  pope, 
that  he  would  dispense  with  such  an  appearance ;  and  moreover,  that 
he  would  not  suffer  the  kingdom  of  Bohemia  to  be  subject  to  the  impu- 
tation of  heresy,  but  permit  them  to  preach  the  gospel  with  freedom  in 
their  places  of  worship  ;  and  that  he  would  send  legates  to  Prague  to 
correct  any  presumed  abuses,  the  expense  of  which  should  be  defrayed 
by  the  Bohemians.* 

Three  proctors  were  despatched  to  Rome  to  tender  Huss's  apology 
to  his  holiness  ;  but  the  excuses  alleged  were  deemed  insufficient,  and 
Huss  being  declared  contumacious,  was  accordingly  excommunicated. 
This  excommunication  extended  also  to  his  disciples  and  friends  ;  he 
himself  was  declared  a  promoter  of  heresy,  and  an  interdict  was  pro- 
nounced against  him  !  From  these  proceedings  he  appealed  to  a  fu- 
ture council ;  and  notwithstanding  the  decision  of  the  court  of  Rome, 
he  retired  to  Hussinetz,  the  place  of  his  nativity,  where  he  boldly  con- 
tinued to  propagate  his  sentiments  both  from  the  pulpit  and  by  means 
of  his  pen.  The  letters  which  he  at  this  time  wrote,  are  very  numer- 
ous ;  he  also  drew  up  a  Treatise  defending  the  character  and  writings 
of  Wickliff,  and  justifying  his  own  conduct  in  reading  his  works. 

The  extraordinary  state  of  affairs  at  this  juncture,  in  reference  to  the 
chair  of  St.  Peter,  tended  for  awhile  to  screen  Huts  from  the  ven- 
geance of  his  adversaries,  by  diverting  their  attention  from  him.  In 
the  year  1378,  Pope  Gregory  XI.  died,  and  was  succeeded  by  the 
archbishop  of  Barri,  a  Neapolitan,  who  assumed  the  name  of  Urban 
VI.  This  pontiff,  a  man  of  a  haughty  temper,  began  his  reign  in  so 
arbitrary  a  manner,  that  he  alienated  from  him  the  affections  of  his  sub- 
jects ;  and  his  own  cardinals  so  highly  resented  his  behaviour  that  they 
set  aside  his  election,  and  chose  Clement  VII.  in  his  room.  The  con- 
sequence was,  that  Urban  refusing  to  vacate  his  office,  there  were  two 
popes,  laying  an  equal  claim  to  St.  Peter's  chair,  each  strenuously  ex- 
erting himself  to  strengthen  his  party ;  their  quarrel  immediately  be- 
came, in  the  opinion  of  their  deluded  votaries,  the  cause  of  God;  each 
found  adherents  in  every  part  of  Europe,  and  much  human  blood  was 
spilt  in  the  contest.  During  a  period  of  more  than  twenty  years  were 
these  ambitious  prelates  roaming  up  and  down  Europe,  like  wolves  or 
beasts  of  prey,  until  at  length,  to  put  a  termination  to  this  disgraceful 
schism,  Alexander  V.  was  elected  to  the  popedom,  in  hopes  that  by 
this  event  the  other  two  popes  would  relinquish  their  claims.  But 
restless  ambition  intervened  :  neither  of  them  would  give  up  his  power, 
and  from  this  time  the  church  was  governed,  if  such  a  state  of  anarchy 
may  be  called  government,  by  three  popes  at  a  time — their  names  now 
were  John,  Gregory,  and  Benedict.  With  a  view  to  heal  this  fatal 
schism,  and  repair  the  disorders  that  had  sprung  up  during  its  continu- 
ance as  well  as  to  bring  about  a  reformation  of  the  clergy,  which  was 
now  loudly  and  generally  called  for,  in  the  year  1414,  the  Emperor 

*  Dupin's  Eccles  Hist,  xvth  cent.  Lewis's  Life  of  Wickliff.  Rolfs  Lives  of 
the  Reformers,  p.  13. 


Huss  arrested  and  imprisoned.  417 

Sigismund  convened  the  council  of  Constance.  Hither,  from  all  parts 
of  Europe,  princes  and  prelates,  clergy,  laity,  regulars  and  seculars 
flocked  together.  Fox,  the  martyrologist,  has  given  us  a  humorous 
catalogue  of  the  grotesque  assembly.  "  There  were,"  says  he,  "  arch- 
bishops and  bishops  346 ;  abbots  and  doctors  564 ;  princes,  dukes, 
earls,  knights,  and  squires  16,000;  prostitutes  450;  barbers  600;  mu- 
sicians, cooks,  and  jesters  320." 

The  council  of  Constance  was  assembled  Nov.  16,  1414,  to  deter- 
mine the  dispute  between  the  three  contending  factions  for  the  papacy, 
and  thither  Huss  was  cited  to  appear,  in  order  to  justify  his  conduct 
and  writings.  The  Emperor  Sigismund,  brother  and  successor  of 
Winceslaus,  encouraged  Huss  to  obey  the  summons,  and  as  an  induce- 
ment to  his  compliance,  sent  him  a  passport  with  assurance  of  safe 
conduct,  permitting  him  to  come  freely  to  the  council,  and  pledging 
himself  for  his  safe  return.  Huss  consented,  and  in  all  the  cities 
through  which  he  passed  he  caused  placards  to  be  issued,  stating  that 
lie  was  going  to  the  council  to  answer  all  the  accusations  that  were 
made  against  him,  inviting  his  adversaries  to  meet  him  there. 

No  sooner  had  Huss  arrived  within  the  pope's  jurisdiction,  than,  re- 
gardless of  the  emperor's  passport,  he  was  arrested  and  committed 
close  prisoner  to  a  chamber  in  the  palace.  This  violation  of  common 
law  and  justice  was  noticed  by  the  friends  of  Huss,  who  had,  out  of 
the  respect  they  bore  his  character,  accompanied  him  to  Constance. 
They  urged  the  imperial  safe-conduct ;  but  the  pope  replied,  that  he 
never  granted  any  safe-conduct,  nor  was  he  bound  by  that  of  the  em- 
peror.* 

*  As  the  affair  of  the  safe-conduct,  on  which  the  aggravation  of  the  injuries 
done  to  Huss  so  greatly  depends,  is  placed  in  different  lights  by  Protestant  and 
Popish  writers,  it  may  not  be  improper  to  inquire  into  the  merits  of  it,  and  to 
lay  before  the  reader  the  principal  topics  of  the  argument  on  both  sides  of  the 
question. 

In  answer  to  the  Protestants'  exclamations  against  so  notorious  a  breach  of 
faith,  the  Papist  thus  apologizes: 

"  We  allow,"  says  Maimburgh,  that  "  Huss  obtained  a  safe-conduct  from  the 
•emperor:  but  for  what  end  did  he  obtain  it?  Why,  to  defend  his  doctrine.  If 
his  doctrine  was  indefensible,  his  pass  was  invalid." 

"It  was  always,"  says  Rosweide,  a  Jesuit,  "supposed,  in  the  safe-conduct  that 
justice  should  have  its  course. — Besides,"  cry  a  number  of  apologizers,  "the 
emperor  plainly  exceeded  his  powers.  By  the  canon-law  he  could  not  grant  a 
pass  to  a  heretic  ;  and  by  the  decretals  the  council  might  annul  any  imperial  act. 
"Nay,  farther,"  says  Morery,  "  if  we  examine  the  pass,  we  shall  find  it,  at  best, 
a  promise  of  security  only  till  his  arrival  at  Constance;  or,  indeed,  rather  a  mere 
recommendation  of  him  to  the  cities  through  which  he  passed:  so  that,  in  fact, 
it  was  righteously  fulfilled." 

To  all  this  the  Protestant  thus  replies: — "Be  it  granted,  (which  is,  in  truth, 
gTanting  too  much)  that  the  safe-conduct  implied  a  liberty  only  of  defending  his 
doctrine;  yet  it  was  violated,  we  find,  before  that  liberty  was  given — before  that 
doctrine  was  condemned,  or  even  examined.  And  though  the  emperor  might 
exceed  his  power  in  granting  a  pass  to  a  heretic,  yet  Huss  was,  at  this  time,  only 
suspected  of  heresy.  Nor  was  the  imperial  act  annulled  by  the  council  till  after 
the  pass  was  violated.  Huss  was  condemned  in  the  fifteenth  session,  and  the 
safe-conduct  decreed  invalid  in  the  nineteenth.  With  regard  to  the  deficiency 
of  the  safe-conduct,  which  is  Morery's  apology,  it  doth  not  appear  that  it  was 


418  History  of  the  Christian  Church. 

Jerome  of  Prague  was  the  intimate  friend  and  companion  of  Huss  ; 
inferior  to  him  in  age,  experience,  and  authority,  but  his  superior  in  all 
liberal  endowments.  He  was  born  at  Prague  and  educated  in  that  uni- 
versity. Having  finished  his  studies,  he  travelled  into  many  countries 
of  Europe,  where  he  acquired  great  esteem  for  his  talents  and  virtues, 
particularly  for  his  graceful  elocution,  which  gave  him  great  advan- 
tages in  the  public  seminai'ies.  The  universities  of  Prague,  of  Paris, 
of  Cologne,  and  of  Heidelberg,  conferred  upon  him  the  degree  of  mas- 
ter of  arts  :  and  having  made  the  tour  of  the  continent,  he  visited  Eng- 
land, where  he  obtained  access  to  the  writings  of  Wickliff,  which  he 
copied  out,  and  returned  with  them  to  Prague.* 

As  Jerome  had  distinguished  himself  by  an  active  co-operation  with 
Huss  in  all  his  opposition  to  the  abominations  of  the  times,  he  was 
cited  before  the  council  of  Constance  on  the  17th  of  April,  1415,  at 
the  time  his  friend  Huss  was  confined  in  a  castle  near  that  city.  Arriv- 
ing shortly  afterwards  in  Constance,  or  the  neighbourhood,  he  learnt 
how  his  friend  had  been  treated,  and  what  he  himself  had  to  expect ; 
on  which  he  prudently  retired  to  Iberlingen,  an  imperial  city,  from 
whence  he  wrote  to  the  emperor  and  council,  requesting  a  safe-con- 
duct, but  not  obtaining  one  to  his  satisfaction,  he  was  preparing  to  re- 
turn into  Bohemia,  when  he  was  arrested  at  Hirschaw  and  conveyed  to 
Constance.  Every  one  knows  the  fate  of  these  two  eminent  men. 
They  were  both  condemned  by  the  council  to  be  burnt  alive,  and  the 
sentence  was  carried  into  effect.  Huss  was  executed  on  the  7th  July, 
1415  ;  and  Jerome  on  the  20th  May,  1416.  The  former  sustained  his 
fate  with  the  most  heroic  fortitude,  praying  for  his  merciless  perse- 
cutors.      Previous  to    his    execution  l-»o    «"»*-  L=it*-~.  *~    l~~  ^:-„a     :„. 

Bohemia,  winch  attord  a  gratifying  representation  of  the  frame  of  his 
mind.     The  following  is  an  extract  from  one  of  them. 

"  My  dear  friends,  Let  me  take  this  last  opportunity  of  exhorting 
you  to  trust  in  nothing  here,  but  give  yourselves  up  entirely  to  the 
service  of  God.  Well  am  I  authorized  to  warn  you  not  to  trust  in 
princes,  nor  in  any  of  the  children  of  men  ;  for  there  is  no  help  in 
them.  God  alone  remaineth  steadfast :  whatever  he  promises  he  will 
undoubtedly  perform.  For  myself,  on  his  gracious  promise  I  trust. 
Having  laboured  as  his  faithful  servant,  I  am  not  afraid  of  being  de- 
serted by  him.  '  Where  I  am,  says  the  gracious  Redeemer,  there  shall 
my  servant  be.'     May  the  God  of  heaven  preserve  you  !     This  is  pro- 

ever  an  apology  of  ancient  date.  Huss,  it  is  certain,  considered  the  safe-conduct 
as  a  sufficient  security  for  his  return  home;  and,  indeed,  so  much  is  implied  in 
the  very  nature  of  a  safe-conduct.  What  title  would  that  general  deserve,  who 
should  invite  his  enemy  into  his  quarters  by  a  pass,  and  then  seize  him?  Rea- 
soning-, however,  apart,  let  us  call  in  fact:  Omni  prorsus  impedimenta  remoto, 
transire,  stare,  morari  et  hf.dire  Mere  permittatis  sibique  et  suis,  are  the  very 
words  of  the  safe-conduct." 

In  conclusion,  therefore,  we  cannot  but  judge  the  emperor  to  have  been  guilty 
•of  a  most  notorious  breach  of  faith.  The  blame,  however,  is  generally  laid,  and 
with  some  reason,  upon  the  council,  who  directed  his  conscience.  What  true 
son  of  the  church  would  dare  to  oppose  his  private  opinion  against  the  unani- 
mous voice  of  a  general  council? 

*  Dupin's  Eccles.  History,  p.  121. 


Poggio's  account  of  Jerome's  defence.  419 

bably  the  last  letter  I  shall  be  enabled  to  write,  having  reason  to  think 
I  shall  to-morrow  be  called  upon  to  answer  with  my  life.  Sigismund 
(the  emperor)  hath  in  all  things  acted  deceitfully.  I  pray  God  to  for- 
give him  !  You  have  heard  in  what  severe  terms  he  hath  spoken 
of  me." 

If  we  may  credit  the  Catholic  writers,  Jerome  at  first  displayed  less 
magnanimity  than  his  friend  Huss.  The  dread  of  suffering  intimidated 
him,  and  he  showed  a  disposition  to  concede  his  opinions  to  his  Ca- 
tholic interrogators,  who,  perceiving  symptoms  of  this  compliant  tem- 
per about  him,  craftily  availed  themselves  of  it,  and  by  procrastinating 
his  trial  from  month  to  month,  they  hoped  ultimately  to  recover  him 
from  his  heresy.  In  this,  however,  they  were  disappointed.  His 
mind  gradually  resumed  all  its  wonted  vigour;  and  instead  of  yielding 
his  principles  to  his  persecutors,  he  avowed  them  in  the  boldest  man- 
ner, and  supported  them  with  increasing  confidence  to  the  last.  Poggio 
Bracciolini,  the  Florentine  secretary,  who  attended  the  council,  and 
was  a  spectator  of  all  he  relates,  gave  a  pretty  circumstantial  account  of 
the  whole  of  this  tragical  affair,  in  a  letter  to  his  friend  Aretin,  the 
pope's  secretary,  and  it  is  too  interesting  to  be  omitted. 

Letter  from  Poggio  of  Florence  to  Leonard  Jlretin. 

"  In  the  midst  of  a  short  excursion  into  the  country,  I  wrote  to  our 
common  friend;  from  whom,  I  doubt  not,  you  have  had  an  account 
of  me. 

"  Since  my  return  to  Constance,  my  attention  has  been  wholly  en- 
gaged by  Jerome,  the  Bohemian  heretic,  as  he  is  called.  The  elo- 
quence and  learning  which  this  person  has  employed  in  his  own 
defence,  are  so  extraordinary,  that  I  cannot  forbear  giving  you  a  short 
account  of  him. 

"To  confess  the  truth,  I  never  knew  the  art  of  speaking  carried  so 
near  the  model  of  ancient  eloquence.  It  was,  indeed,  amazing  to  hear 
with  what  force  of  expression,  with  what  fluency  of  language,  and 
with  what  excellent  reasoning,  he  answered  his  adversaries  :  nor  was 
I  less  struck  with  the  gracefulness  of  his  manner,  the  dignity  of  his 
action,  and  the  firmness  and  constancy  of  his  whole  behaviour.  It 
grieved  me  to  think  so  great  a  man  was  labouring  under  so  atrocious 
an  accusation.  Whether  this  accusation  be  a  just  one,  God  knows  : 
for  myself,  I  inquire  not  into  the  merits  of  it ;  resting  satisfied  with 
the  decision  of  my  superiors.  But  I  will  just  give  you  a  summary  of 
his  trial. 

"  After  many  articles  had  been  proved  against  him,  leave  was  at 
length  given  him  to  answer  each  in  its  order.  But  Jerome  long  refus- 
ed, strenuously  contending  that  he  had  many  things  to  say  previously 
in  his  defence ;  and  that  he  ought  first  to  be  heard  in  general,  before  he 
descended  to  particulars.  When  this  was  overruled,  '  Here,'  said  he, 
standing  in  the  midst  of  the  assembly,  'here  is  justice — here  is  equity. 
Beset  by  my  enemies,  I  am  already  pronounced  a  heretic ;  I  am  con- 
demned before  I  am  examined.  Were  you  gods  omniscient,  instead  of 
an  assembly  of  fallible  men,  you  could  not  act  with  more  sufficiency. 


420  History  of  the  Christian  Church. 

Error  is  the  lot  of  mortals  ;  and  you,  exalted  as  you  are,  are  .  subject 
to  it.  But  consider,  that  the  higher  you  are  exalted,  of  the  more  dan- 
gerous consequence  are  your  errors.  As  for  me,  I  know  I  am  a  wretch 
below  your  notice  ;  but  at  least  consider,  that  an  unjust  action,  in  such 
an  assembly,  will  be  of  dangerous  example.' 

"  This,  and  much  more,  he  spoke  with  great  elegance  of  language, 
in  the  midst  of  a  very  unruly  and  indecent  assembly :  and  thus  far,  at 
least,  he  prevailed  ;  the  council  ordered,  that  he  should  first  answer  ob- 
jections, and  promised  that  he  should  then  have  liberty  to  speak.  Ac- 
cordingly all  the  articles  alleged  against  him  were  publicly  read,  and 
then  proved ;  after  which  he  was  asked,  whether  he  had  aught  to  ob- 
ject? It  is  incredible  with  what  acuteness  he  answered;  and  with 
what  amazing  dexterity  he  warded  off  every  stroke  of  his  adversaries. 
Nothing  escaped  him  :  his  whole  behaviour  was  truly  great  and  pious. 
If  he  were,  indeed,  the  man  his  defence  spoke  him,  he  was  so  far  from 
meriting  death,  that,  in  my  judgment,  he  was  not  in  any  degree  culpa- 
ble. In  a  word,  he  endeavoured  to  prove,  that  the  greater  part  of  the 
charges  were  purely  the  invention  of  his  adversaries.  Among  other 
things,  being  accused  of  hating  and  defaming  the  holy  see,  the  pope, 
the  cardinals,  the  prelates,  and  the  whole  estate  of  the  clergy,  he 
stretched  out  his  hands,  and  said,  in  a  most  moving  accent,  '  On  which 
side,  reverend  fathers,  shall  I  turn  me  for  redress  ?  whom  shall  I  implore  ? 
whose  assistance  can  I  expect  ?  which  of  you  hath  not  this  malicious 
charge  entirely  alienated  from  me  ?  which  of  you  hath  it  not  changed 
from  a  judge  to  an  inveterate  enemy?  It  was  artfully  alleged  indeed  ! 
Though  other  parts  of  their  charge  were  of  less  moment,  my  accusers 
might  well  imagine,  that  if  this  were  fastened  on  me,  it  could  not  fail  of 
drawing  upon  me  the  united  indignation  of  my  judges.' 

"  On  the  third  day  of  this  memorable  trial,  what  had  passed  was  re- 
capitulated: when  Jerome,  having  obtained  leave,  though  with  some 
difficulty,  to  speak,  began  his  oration  with  a  prayer  to  God ;  whose 
assistance  he  pathetically  implored.  He  then  observed,  that  many  ex- 
cellent men,  in  the  annals  of  history,  had  been  oppressed  by  false  wit- 
nesses, and  condemned  by  unjust  judges.  Beginning  with  profane  his- 
tory, he  instanced  the  death  of  Socrates,  the  captivity  of  Plato,  the  ba- 
nishment of  Anaxagoras,  and  the  unjust  sufferings  of  many  others:  he 
then  instanced  the  many  worthies  of  the  Old  Testament  in  the  same 
circumstances — Moses,  Joshua,  Daniel,  and  almost  all  the  prophets; 
and  lastly  those  of  the  New — John  the  Baptist,  St.  Stephen,  and  others, 
who  were  condemned  as  seditious,  profane,  or  immoral  men.  An  un- 
just judgment,  he  said,  proceeding  from  a  layic  was  bad;  from  a  priest, 
worse ;  still  worse  from  a  college  of  priests  ;  and  from  a  general  coun- 
cil, superlatively  bad.  These  things  he  spoke  with  such  force  and 
emphasis,  as  kept  every  one's  attention  awake. 

"  On  one  point  he  dwelt  largely.  As  the  merits  of  the  cause  rested 
entirely  upon  the  credit  of  witnesses,  he  took  great  pains  to  show,  that 
very  little  was  due  to  those  produced  against  him.  He  had  many  ob- 
jections to  them,  particularly  their  avowed  hatred  to  him;  the  sources 
of  which  he  so  palpably  laid  open,  that  he  made  a  strong  impression 
upon  the  minds  of  his  hearers,  and  not  a  little  shook  the  credit  of  the 


Jerome's  conduct  before  the  Council.  421 

witnesses.  The  whole  council  was  moved,  and  greatly  inclined  to  pity, 
if  not  to  favour  him.  He  added,  that  he  came  uncompelled  to  the  coun- 
cil ;  and  that  neither  his  life  nor  doctrine  had  been  such,  as  gave  him 
great  reason  to  dread  an  appearance  before  them.  Difference  of  opinion, 
he  said,  in  matters  of  faith,  had  ever  arisen  among  learned  men,  and 
was  always  esteemed  productive  of  truth,  rather  than  of  error,  where 
bigotry  was  laid  aside.  Such,  he  said,  was  the  difference  between 
Austin  and  Jerome  :  and  though  their  opinions  were  not  only  different, 
but  contradictory,  yet  the  imputation  of  heresy  was  never  fixed  on 
either. 

"Every  one  expected,  that  he  would  now  either  retract  his  errors, 
or  at  least  apologize  for  them;  but  nothing  of  the  kind  was  heard  from 
him :  he  declared  plainly,  that  he  had  nothing  to  retract.  He  launched 
out  into  a  high  encomium  of  Huss,  calling  him  a  holy  man,  and  lament- 
ing his  cruel  and  unjust  death.  He  had  armed  himself,  he  said,  with 
a  full  resolution  to  follow  the  steps  of  that  blessed  martyr,  and  to  suffer 
with  constancy  whatever  the  malice  of  his  enemies  could  inflict.  'The 
perjured  witnesses,'  said  he, '  who  have  appeared  against  me,  have  won 
their  cause :  but  let  them  remember,  they  have  their  evidence  once 
more  to  give,  before  a  tribunal  where  falsehood  can  be  no  disguise.' 

"  It  was  impossible  to  hear  this  pathetic  speaker  without  emotion. 
Every  ear  was  captivated,  and  every  heart  touched.  But  wishes  in  his 
favour  were  vain;  he  threw  himself  beyond  a  possibility  of  mercy. 
Braving  death,  he  even  provoked  the  vengeance  which  was  hanging 
over  him.  '  If  that  holy  martyr,'  said  he,  speaking  of  Huss,  '  used  the 
clergy  with  disrespect,  his  censures  were  not  levelled  at  them  as  priests, 
but  as  wicked  men.  He  saw  with  indignation  those  revenues,  which 
had  been  designed  for  charitable  ends,  expended  upon  pageantry  and 
riot.' 

"Through  this  whole  oration  he  showed  a  most  amazing  strength  of 
memory.  He  had  been  confined  almost  a  year  in  a  dungeon :  the  se- 
verity of  which  usage  he  complained  of,  but  in  the  language  of  a  great 
and  good  man.  In  this  horrid  place  he  was  deprived  of  books  and  pa- 
per. Yet,  notwithstanding  this,  and  the  constant  anxiety  which  must 
have  hung  over  him,  he  was  at  no  more  loss  for  proper  authorities  and 
quotations,  than  if  he  had  spent  the  intermediate  time  at  leisure  in  his 
study. 

"His  voice  was  sweet,  distinct,  and  full :  his  action  every  way  the 
most  proper,  either  to  express  indignation  or  to  raise  pity ;  though  he 
made  no  affected  application  to  the  passions  of  his  audience.  Firm  and 
intrepid,  he  stood  before  the  council,  collected  in  himself ;  and  not  only 
contemning,  but  seeming  even  desirous  of  death.  The  greatest  charac- 
ter in  ancient  story  could  not  possibly  go  beyond  him.  If  there  is  any 
justice  in  history,  this  man  will  be  admired  by  all  posterity.  I  speak 
not  of  his  errors:  let  these  rest  with  him.  What  I  admired  was  his 
learning,  his  eloquence,  and  amazing  acuteness.  God  knows  whether 
these  things  were  not  the  ground-work  of  his  ruin. 

"Two  days  were  allowed  him  for  reflection;  during  which  time 
many  persons  of  consequence,  and  particularly  my  lord  cardinal  of  Flo- 
36 


422  History  of  the  Christian  Church. 

rence,  endeavoured  to  bring  him  to  a  better  mind.  But  persisting  ob- 
stinately in  his  errors,  he  was  condemned  as  a  heretic. 

With  a  cheerful  countenance,  and  more  than  stoical  constancy,  he 
met  his  fate ;  fearing  neither  death  itself,  nor  the  horrible  form  in  which 
it  appeared.  When  he  came  to  the  place,  he  pulled  off  his  upper  gar- 
ment, and  made  a  short  prayer  at  the  stake ;  to  which  he  was  soon 
after  bound,  with  wet  cords  and  an  iron  chain,  and  enclosed  as  high  as 
his  breast  in  faggots. 

"  Observing  the  executioner  about  to  set  fire  to  the  wood  behind  his 
back,  he  cried  out,  '  Bring  thy  torch  hither.  Perform  thy  office  be- 
fore my  face.     Had  I  feared  death,  I  might  have  avoided  it.' 

"  As  the  wood  began  to  blaze,  he  sang  a  hymn,  which  the  violence 
of  the  flame  scarce  interrupted. 

"  Thus  died  this  prodigious  man.  The  epithet  is  not  extravagant. 
I  was  myself  an  eyewitness  of  his  whole  behaviour.  Whatever  his 
life  may  have  been,  his  death,  without  doubt,  is  a  noble  lesson  of  phi- 
losophy. 

"  But  it  is  time  to  finish  this  long  epistle.  You  will  say  I  have  had 
some  leisure  upon  my  hands;  and  to  say  the  truth,  I  have  not  much  to 
do  here.  This  will,  I  hope,  convince  you,  that  greatness  is  not  wholly 
confined  to  antiquity.  You  will  think  me,  perhaps,  tedious ;  but  I 
could  have  been  more  prolix  on  a  subject  so  copious. — Farewell,  my 
dear  Leonard." 

Constance,  May  20. 

The  news  of  these  barbarous  executions  quickly  reached  Bohemia, 
where  it  threw  the  whole  kingdom  into  confusion,  and  a  civil  war  was 
kindled  from  the  ashes  of  the  martyrs.  As  to  Winceslaus,  the  king, 
he  was  seldom  sober,  and  paid  no  regard  to  the  condition  of  his  sub- 
jects. The  nobility  were  divided  into  factions  ;  some  zealous  to  resent 
the  insults  that  had  been  offered  to  the  nation  by  the  proceedings  at 
Constance,  and  to  repel  the  forces  that  had  been  introduced  into  the 
kingdom  by  the  authority  of  the  pope,  with  a  view  to  the  suppression 
of  heresy  in  Bohemia,  and  to  compel  that  fierce  nation  to  establish  uni- 
formity in  religion.  Sigismuud,  the  emperor,  had  many  respectable 
qualities ;  but  he  had  lent  himself  wholly  to  the  papacy  at  the  council, 
and  in  consequence  of  the  disgust  which  his  conduct  had  excited,  the 
Bohemians  revolted,  and  under  the  banners  of  a  very  intrepid  leader, 
John  Ziska,  defended  their  opinions  not  only  with  arguments  but  with 
arms  also.  At  first  the  populace  were  only  a  harmless  inquisitive  star- 
ing multitude;  but  as  the  Catholic  priests  proceeded  to  publish  in  the 
churches,  bulls  from  the  pope,  exhorting  all  kings,  princes,  dukes, 
lords,  citizens,  and  others,  to  take  up  arms  against  heresy,  conjuring 
them  by  the  wounds  of  Christ  to  extirpate  heretics,  and  promising  the 
forgiveness  of  all  sins  to  any  person  who  should  kill  a  Bohemian  here- 
tic, the  people  seceded  in  great  multitudes,  retired  to  the  distance  of 
about  five  miles  from  Prague,  where  they  held  meetings  for  public  wor- 
ship, elected  their  own  teachers,  and  had  the  Lord's  supper  administer- 
ed to  them  at  three  hundred  tables,  formed  by  laying  boards  upon  casks, 
the  number  of  communicants  amounting  to  forty  thousand. 


Proceedings  in  Bohemia.  423 

Their  leader,  John  Ziska,  was  of  a  noble  family,  brought  up  at  court, 
and  in  high  reputation  for  wisdom,  courage,  the  love  of  his  country,  and 
the  fear  of  God.  Fugitives  daily  resorted  to  him  from  all  parts,  and 
put  themselves  under  his  protection.  At  one  time  four  hundred  poor 
men,  who  had  lived  in  the  mountains  for  the  sake  of  enjoying  religious 
liberty,  came  down  to  Pragtfe,  with  their  wives  and  children,  and 
ranged  themselves  under  the  banners  of  Ziska.  It  is  highly  probable 
that  these  were  Waldenses,  the  descendants  of  those  who  had  settled 
in  remote  parts  of  the  kingdom  more  than  two  hundred  and  fifty  years 
before.  Freedom  from  the  Austrian  yoke,  deliverance  from  the  tyranny 
of  Rome,  and  the  full  enjoyment  of  civil  and  religious  liberty,  were  the 
objects  for  which  Ziska  avowedly  contended,  and  his  army  presently 
consisted  of  forty  thousand  men. 

iEneas  Sylvius,  who  afterwards  ascended  the  pontifical  chair  under 
the  title  of  Pius  II.  had  travelled  over  the  whole  empire  ;  and  by  him 
we  are  informed  that  the  churches  and  religious  houses  in  Bohemia, 
were  more  numerous,  more  spacious,  more  elegant  and  sumptuous, 
than  in  any  other  part  of  Europe  ,  and  that  the  images  in  public 
places,  and  the  habits  of  the  priests,  were  covered  with  jewels  and 
precious  stones.  Ziska  commenced  his  work  of  reform  with  attacking 
these.  He  demolished  the  images,  discharged  the  monks,  who,  he  said, 
were  only  fattening  like  swine  in  sties,  converted  cloisters  into  bar- 
racks, conquered  several  towns  and  garrisoned  Cuthna,  defeated  the 
armies  of  the  emperor  in  several  battles,  and  gave  law  to  the  kingdom 
of  Bohemia  till  the  time  of  his  death,  which  happened  in  1424.  He 
encamped  his  followers  on  a  rocky  mountain  about  ten  miles  from 
Prague,  which  he  soon  after  fortified  with  a  wall,  and  within  that  the 
people  built  houses.  This  mountain  he  called  Tabor  (after  Mount  Ta- 
bor in  the  Holy  Land)  and  thence  his  followers  obtained  the  name  of 
Taborites. 

When  Ziska  found  himself  dying,  he  gave  orders  that  a  drum  should 
be  made  of  his  skin  ;  and  what  is  equally  extraordinary,  his  orders 
were  faithfully  obeyed.  Ziska's  skin,  after  undergoing  the  necessary 
preparations,  was  converted  into  a  drum,  which  was  long  the  symbol 
of  victory  to  his  followers.  Procopius,  a  Catholic  priest,  converted  by 
the  writings  of  one  of  the  disciples  of  Huss,  revived  the  spirits  of  the 
Bohemian  brethren,  many  of  whom,  after  the  death  of  Ziska,  had  re- 
treated to  caves  and  mountains.  Uniting  the  military  with  the  sacer- 
dotal character,  this  champion  supported  the  cause  of  his  party  with 
great  courage  and  bravery,  but  fell  in  a  battle  with  the  Catholics.  Yet 
so  terrible  had  the  name  of  the  Hussites  become  to  the  emperor  Sigis- 
mund,  that,  despairing  to  reduce  them  by  the  power  of  his  arms,  he 
entered  into  a  compromise,  allowing  them  the  use  of  the  cup  in  the 
eucharist,  the  deprivation  of  which  had  been  a  principal  source  of 
complaint ;  together  with  a  general  amnesty,  and  a  confirmation  of 
their  privileges.  But  verbal  and  even  written  promises  are  easily  re- 
tracted, where  there  exists  no  power  of  enforcing  their  accomplish- 
ment ;  and  a  right  avails  nothing  without  a  remedy.  The  dispersed 
brethren  ceased  to  be  formidable.  Sigismund  renewed  his  tyranny. 
His  immediate  successors  on  the  imperial  throne  were,  like  himself, 


424  History  of  the  Christian  Church. 

zealous  Catholics,  and  the  friends  and  followers  of  Hnss  continued  to 
be  the  subjects  of  frequent  persecutions  till  the  times  of  Luther. 

Crantz,  in  his  history  of  the  Bohemian  brethren,  informs  us,  that 
after  the  death  of  Ziska,  his  followers  divided  themselves  again,  accord- 
ing to  the  diversity  of  their  opinions  and  views,  into  Calixtines,  Ta- 
borites,  and  Orphans ;  while  such  as,  with  a  distinguished  zeal,  urged 
an  entire  reformation  were  termed  Zealots.  In  times  of  distress,  how- 
ever, they  all  united  against  their  common  enemy  ;  and  the  latter,  un- 
able to  carry  the  point  against  them,  granted  to  their  deputies,  at  the 
council  of  Basil,  in  1433,  the  terms  contained  in  the  following  four  ar- 
ticles, which  goes  by  the  name  of  The  Bohemian  Compactata,  or 
terms  of  agreement.  1.  That  the  word  of  God  shall  be  freely  preach- 
ed by  able  ministers,  according  to  the  Holy  Scriptures,  without  any 
human  invention.  That  the  Lord's  supper  shall  be  administered  unto 
all  in  both  kinds,  and  divine  worship  performed  in  the  mother-tongue. 
3.  That  open  sins  shall  be  openly  punished,  according  to  the  law  of 
God,  without  respect  of  persons.  4.  That  the  clergy  should  exercise 
no  worldly  dominion,  but  confine  themselves  to  preaching  the  gospel.* 

But  notwithstanding  these  concessions,  it  appears  evident  that  mat- 
ters remained  in  a  very  unsettled  state  among  the  Bohemians  about  the 
middle  of  the  century.  The  leading  person  in  ecclesiastical  affairs  was 
Rokyzan,  archbishop  of  Prague,  a  man  of  no  principle  whatever.  The 
contentions  of  parties  ran  high;  and  this  metropolitan,  wearied  with 
perpetual  applications  for  reformation,  which  he  found  it  quite  imprac- 
ticable to  carry  into  effect,  at  length  advised  such  as  were  dissatisfied 
with  the  existing  order  of  things  to  retire  to  the  lordship  of  Lititz,  be- 
tween Silesia  and  Moravia,  about  twenty  miles  from  Prague  ; — a  place 
which  had  been  laid  waste  by  the  ravages  of  war,  where  they  might 
establish  their  own  regulations  respecting  divine  worship,  choose  their 
own  ministers,  and  introduce  their  own  discipline  and  order,  according 
to  their  own  conscience  and  judgment.  Numbers  adopted  his  sugges- 
tion, and  in  1457,  they  formed  themselves  into  a  society  bearing  the 
name  of  the  Unitas  Fratrtjm,  or  United  Brethren,  binding  themselves 
at  the  same  time  to  a  rigorous  church  discipline,  and  resolving  to  suffer 
all  things  for  conscience  sake  ;  and  instead  of  defending  themselves,  as 
the  Taborites  had  done,  by  force  of  arms,  their  only  weapons  were  to 
be  prayer  and  reasonable  remonstrance  against  the  rage  of  their  ene- 
mies.! 

It  is  highly  probable  that  when  the  archbishop  offered  them  this  in- 
dulgence, he  had  little  expectation  that  they  would  be  able  to  carry  the 
project  into  effect ;  it  was  merely  an  alternative  which  relieved  him 
from  a  momentary  embarrassment,  and  probably  that  was  all  he  was 
concerned  about;  but  if  so,  he  found  himself  disappointed.  Three 
years  had  not  elapsed  ere  their  numbers  were  considerable  ;  pious  per- 
sons flocked  to  them,  not  only  from  different  parts  of  Bohemia,  but 
even  from  every  distant  quarter  of  the  whole  empire ;  and  churches 
were  gathered  every  where  throughout  Bohemia  and  Moravia.'  Many 
of  the  ancient  Waldenses,  who  had  been   lurking  about  in  dens  and 

»  Crantz's  History,  p.  19.  f  Ibid,  part  ii.  p.  23. 


Increase  of  the  United  Brethren.  425 

caves  of  the  earth,  as  well  as  upon  the  tops  of  the  mountains,  now 
came  forward  with  alacrity,  and  joining  themselves  to  the  "  United 
Brethren,"  became  eminently  serviceable  to  the  newly-formed  societies, 
inconsequence  of  their  more  advanced  state  of  religious  knowledge  and 
experience.  Many  of  the  new  converts  renounced  the  baptism  of  in- 
fants, and  were  baptized  by  the  pastors  before  they  were  received  into 
church  communion.* 

The  archbishop  had  not  foreseen  the  consequences  of  settling  these 
people  on  the  crown  lands.  The  multiplication  of  their  numbers,  and 
their  growing  influence,  soon  drew  upon  them  the  attention,  and  ex- 
cited the  rancour  of  the  Catholic  party.  A  clamour  against  him  ensu- 
ed ;  and  the  Waldenses,  Picards,  and  other  opprobrious  names,  by 
which  they  were  stigmatized,  became  too  numerous  and  too  scanda- 
lous for  an  archbishop  to  patronize ;  he  therefore  found  it  necessary  to 
treat  them  with  indifference  and  keep  them  at  a  distance.  Scarcely  had 
three  years  transpired  from  the  establishment  of  the  society  of  "  The 
United  Brethren,"  than  a  terrible  persecution  arose  against  them  in 
Bohemia  and  Moravia,  and  they  were  called  to  prove  "  what  manner 
of  spirit  they  were  of."  They  were  declared  by  the  state  unworthy  of 
the  common  rights  of  subjects;  and,  in  the  depth  of  winter,  expelled 
from  their  houses  in  towns  and  villages,  with  the  forfeiture  of  all  their 
goods.  Even  the  sick  were  cast  into  open  fields,  where  numbers  per- 
ished through  cold  and  hunger.  They  threw  them  into  prisons,  with 
a  view  to  extort  from  them,  by  means  of  the  severity  of  their  suffer- 
ings, a  confession  of  seditious  designs,  and  an  impeachment  of  their 
accomplices :  and  when  nothing  could  be  extorted  from  them,  they 
were  maimed  in  their  hands  and  feet,  inhumanly  dragged  at  the  tails  of 
horses  and  carts,  and  quartered  or  burnt  alive.  During  this  persecu- 
tion, those  who  had  it  in  their  power  to  do  so,  retired  into  woods,  for- 
tresses, and  caves  of  the  earth,  where  they  held  their  religious  assem- 
blies, elected  their  own  teachers,  and  endeavoured  to  strengthen  and 
edify  one  another.  The  parent  society  at  Lititz,  being  less  molested 
than  those  in  other  places,  did  not  cease  to  send  messengers  and  letters 
to  their  persecuted  brethren,  with  the  view  of  strengthening  their  faith 
and  exhorting  them  to  patience.  In  process  of  time  the  storm  subsided, 
though  not  until  nearly  every  society  of  the  Brethren  in  Bohemia  was 
scattered  or  dispersed,  and  both  the  king  and  archbishop  were  removed 
from  the  stage  of  life.t 

*  Comenii  Synopsis  Hist.  Persecutionum  Eccles.  Bohem.  cap.  18.  and  Ca- 
meharius  de  ecclesiis  fratrum  narratio,  p.  87. 

"Isthxc  rebaptisatio,  jam  dictis  tot  causis  usurpata  et  introducta  a  nostris, 
duravit  in  ecclesia  nostra  ad  hxc  usque  tempora."  Jlpologia  verse  doctrinse  co- 
rum  qui  vulgo  appellantur  Waldenses  et  Picardi.  D.  G.  M.  Brandebar,  Anno 
1532.  Par.  iv.  de  Baptismo. 

"  Initio  crescente  in  cxtu  multitudinum  hominum,  et  ex  diversamm  religionum 
professionibus  accedente,  si  quis  forte  de  veritate  baptismi  christian!  dubitarent, 
et  animo  suo  angerentur,  et  conscientiam  haberent  malam,  eos  expetantes  hoc 
curarunt  denuo  baptizandos,  exigendo  et  sincerx  fidaei  confessionem  et  promis- 
sionem  de  observatione  discipline  et  vita:  sanctitate.  Quem  confitendi  promit* 
tendique  morem  prisca  ecclesia  religiosissime  tenuit.     Camerahius,  ubi  supra. 

j  Robinson's  Eccles.  Researches,  p.  501. 
36* 


426  History  of  the  Christian  Church. 

Uladislaus,  prince  of  Poland,  was  now  elected  to  the  crown  of  Bo- 
hemia, and  being  a  mild  and  tolerant  prince,  little  inclined  to  persecu- 
tion, the  exiled  brethren  returned  to  their  own  homes,  and  resumed 
their  occupations.  Under  this  amiable  monarch  they  cultivated  their 
lands,  applied  themselves  to  literature,  and  for  some  years  enjoyed 
prosperity  as  well  as  peace.  According  to  the  testimony  of  one  of 
their  bitter  enemies,  "  They  took  such  deep  root,  and  extended  their 
branches  so  far  and  wide,  that  it  was  impossible  to  extirpate  them." 
In  the  year  1500,  there  were  two  hundred  congregations  of  the  United 
Brethren  in  Bohemia  and  Moravia.  Many  counts,  barons,  and  noble- 
men joined  their  churches,  who  built  them  meeting  houses  in  their 
cities  and  villages.  They  got  the  Bible  translated  into  the  Bohemian 
tongue,  and  printed  at  Venice  ;  when  that  edition  was  disposed  of,  they 
got  two  more  printed  at  Nuremberg,  and  finding  the  demand  for  the 
Holy  Scriptures  continuing  to  increase,  they  established  a  printing 
office  at  Prague,  another  at  Bunzlau  in  Bohemia,  and  a  third  at  Kralitz 
in  Moravia,  -where  at  first  they  printed  nothing  but  Bohemian  Bibles. 

Although  the  king  of  Bohemia  was  extremely  anxious  to  preserve 
peace  and  harmony  among  his  subjects,  whether  Catholics,  Calixtines, 
or  the  United  Brethren,  he  found  it  no  easy  task  to  accomplish  his 
wishes  in  that  respect.  "  Every  morning  when  he  rose,"  says  a  late 
writer,  "  and  every  evening  when  he  retired  to  rest,  he  put  up  this 
petition  to  God,  '  Give  peace  in  my  time,  O  Lord!'  A  prayer  worthy 
of  a  king,  but  Uladislaus  did  not  know  that  to  attain  the  object  of  his 
prayer  he  ought  to  discharge  his  chaplains."  The  clergy  were  per- 
petually teazing  him  for  an  edict  against  heretics,  and  poisoning  his 
mind  with  false  representations  of  their  sentiments  and  conduct ;  and 
they,  at  length,  succeeded  in  obtaining  a  severe  edict  against  them. 
The  Brethren  immediately  drew  up  an  apology,  which  they  presented 
to  the  king ;  and  he,  with  his  usual  lenity,  ordered  his  clergy  to  con- 
verse with  the  Picards,  and  endeavour  to  reclaim  them  by  reason  ;  but 
by  all  means  to  maintain  peace  among  themselves.  An  order  was  con- 
sequently issued,  requiring  the  principal  ministers  of  the  Brethren  in 
Prague  to  hold  a  conference,  on  an  appointed  day,  with  some  of  the 
Catholic  clergy  ;  but  early  on  the  morning  of  that  day,  Martin  Pocza- 
tecius,  the  principal  enemy  of  the  Brethren,  died  suddenly,  and  the 
conference  was  postponed. 

As  the  king  was  understood  to  be  tolerant  in  his  principles,  the 
Brethren  thought  that  a  confession  of  their  faith  might  probably  produce 
some  good,  and  they  accordingly  drew  one  up  and  sent  it  to  his  majes- 
ty, who  was  then  in  Hungary.  It  did  not,  however,  answer  the  end 
at  court ;  for  the  Catholic  bishops  had  recourse  to  a  stratagem,  which 
unhappily  succeeded  to  their  wishes.  The  king  was  passionately  fond 
of  his  queen,  who  was  at  this  time  in  an  advanced  state  of  pregnancy  ; 
and  the  bishops  and  prelates  having  a  great  ascendancy  over  the  queen, 
they,  therefore,  most  humbly  and  earnestly  entreated  her  to  obtain 
from  the  king  an  edict  to  suppress  the  Picards,  for  they  assured  them- 
selves that,  at  such  a  time,  he  would  not  deny  her  majesty  any  request, 
or  occasion  her  a  moment's  pain.  The  king  one  day  entering  her 
apartment,  the  queen  mildly  asked  the  favour.     The  monarch  looked 


Bohemian  Brethren  persecuted.  427 

sad  and  sorrowful,  but  remained  silent.  Bossack,  an  Hungarian  bishop, 
began  instantly  to  write  in  the  king's  presence  ;  and  the  edict  was  soon 
prepared  and  signed.  The  moment,  however,  that  the  humane  mon- 
arch had  put  his  name  to  the  instrument,  he  quitted  the  room,  retired 
to  his  closet,  fell  on  his  knees,  burst  into  tears,  and  besought  the  Al- 
mighty to  forgive  him,  and  to  frustrate  the  sanguinary  purposes  of  these 
bishops  against  innocent  men.  At  first  the  States  would  not  allow  this 
edict  the  force  of  law,  so  jealous  were  the  Bohemians  of  their  liberties  ; 
and  it  took  four  years  to  bring  them  to  consent  to  a  statute  which 
prohibited  the  "  United  Brethren"  from  holding  any  religious  assem- 
blies, public  or  private  ;  commanded  that  their  meeting-houses  should 
all  be  shut  up :  that  they  should  not  be  allowed  either  to  preach  or 
print ;  and  that  within  a  given  time  they  should  all  hold  religious 
communion  with  either  the  Calixtines  or  the  Catholics. 

Although  the  Catholic  party  had  so  far  succeeded  as  to  obtain  this 
persecuting  edict,  they  did  not  immediately  reap  from  it  all  the  happy 
fruits  that  they  expected.  The  Bohemians  were  a  bold  and  intrepid 
race  of  men,  and  not  easily  daunted.  The  king  and  wiser  part  of  the 
magistrates,  did  not  go  heartily  into  the  clerical  measures  of  depopula- 
tion and  destruction;  and  though  the  dominant  party  were  so  strong 
that  the  king  durst  not  openly  protect  the  Brethren,  he  was  obliged  to 
wink  at  the  cruel  use  that  was  made  of  this  persecuting  statute  by  some 
bigoted  magistrates ;  but,  upon  the  whole,  the  pacific  inclination  of  the 
court  was  generally  understood,  and  people  acted  accordingly.  Some 
emigrated  ;  others  retired  and  worshipped  God  as  formerly,  in  remote 
places  and  in  small  companies  ;  some  ran  all  risks,  and  many  fell  into  the 
hands  of  their  enemies  and  were  punished.  A  Bohemian  nobleman 
caught  six  poor  men  at  their  devotions,  in  a  small  village :  he  accordingly 
had  them  taken  up,  and  brought  before  the  parish-priest  to  be  examined. 
The  latter  asked  but  one  question,  namely,  whether  they  Avould  submit 
to  him  as  a  shepherd  of  souls  ?  they  answered  to  this,  that  "  Christ  was 
the  shepherd  of  their  souls" — upon  which  they  were  convicted  on  the 
statute  against  heresy,  made  in  the  twentieth  year  of  their  sovereign 
lord  the  king,  and  instantly  committed  to  the  flames.  This  is  a  fair 
specimen  of  their  proceedings,  and  it  is  needless  to  enlarge  or  multiply 
instances. 

In  this  manner  the  affairs  of  the  Brethren  proceeded  until  Luther  be- 
gan the  Reformation  in  Gemiany  ;  at  which  time  it  would  appear,  that 
a  continued  series  of  persecutions  had  wasted  the  churches,  and  nearly 
exhausted  the  survivors  of  their  fortitude  and  patience  ;  insomuch  that 
the  Brethren  appear  to  have  been  meditating  a  compromise  with  the 
Catholic  church,  under  certain  modifications  ;  and  actually  wrote  to 
Luther  for  his  advice  on  the  subject,  in  the  year  1522.  Sleidan  has 
furnished  us  with  the  substance  of  the  letter  which  Luther  returned  in 
reply,  and  it  is  of  sufficient  interest  to  merit  insertion. 

He  informs  them  that  the  name  of  Bohemians  had  been  some  time 
very  odious  unto  him,  so  long  as  he  had  been  ignorant  that  the  pope 
was  Antichrist :  but  that  now,  since  God  had  restored  the  light  of  the 
gospel  to  the  world,  he  was  of  a  far  different  opinion,  and  had  declared 
as  much  in  his  books ;  so  that  at  present  the  pope  and  his  party  were 


428  History  of  the  Christian  Church. 

more  incensed  against  him  than  against  them  ;  that  his  adversaries  had 
many  times  given  it  out  that  he  had  removed  into  Bohemia,  which  he 
oftentimes  wished  to  have  done  ;  but  that  lest  they  should  have  aspersed 
his  progress,  and  called  it  a  flight,  he  had  altered  his  resolution.  That 
as  matters  now  stood,  there  were  great  hopes  that  the  Germans  and 
Bohemians  might  profess  the  doctrine  of  the  gospel,  and  the  same  re- 
ligion ;  that  it  was  not  without  reason  that  many  were  grieved  to  see 
them  so  divided  into  sects  among  themselves  ;  but  that  if  they  should 
again  make  defection  to  popery,  sects  would  not  only  not  be  removed, 
but  even  be  increased  and  more  diffused,  for  that  sects  abounded  no 
where  more  than  among  the  Romanists  ;  and  that  the  Franciscans  alone 
were  an  instance  of  this,  who  in  many  things  differed  among  themselves, 
and  yet  all  lived  under  the  patronage  and  protection  of  the  church  of 
Rome.  That  his  kingdom  was,  in  some  manner,  maintained  and  sup- 
ported by  the  dissensions  of  men  ;  which  was  the  reason  also  that 
made  him  set  princes  together  by  the  ears,  and  afford  continual  matter 
of  quarrelling  and  contention  ;  that,  therefore,  they  should  have  special 
care,  lest  whilst  they  endeavour  to  crush  those  smaller  sects,  they  fell 
not  into  far  greater,  such  as  the  popish,  which  were  altogether  incurable, 
and  from  which  Germany  had  been  lately  delivered.  That  there  was 
no  better  way  of  removing  inconveniences,  than  for  the  pastors  of  the 
churches  to  preach  the  pure  word  of  God  in  sincerity.  That  if  they 
could  not  retain  the  weak  and  giddy  people  in  their  duty,  and  hinder 
their  desertion,  they  could  at  least  endeavour  to  make  them  steadfast  in 
receiving  the  Lord's  supper  in  both  kinds,  and  in  preserving  a  venera- 
tion for  the  memory  of  John  Huss,  and  Jerome  of  Prague ;  for  that  the 
pope  would  labour  chiefly  to  deprive  them  of  these  two  things ;  where- 
fore if  any  of  them  should  relent,  and  give  up  both  to  the  tyrant,  it 
would  be  ill  done  of  them.  But  that  though  all  Bohemia  should  apos- 
tatize, yet  he  would  celebrate  and  commend  the  doctrine  of  Huss  to  all 
posterity.  That,  therefore,  he  prayed  and  exhorted  them  to  persevere 
in  that  way  which  they  had  hitherto  defended  with  the  loss  of  much 
blood,  and  with  the  highest  resolution,  and  not  cast  a  reproach  upon 
the  flourishing  gospel  by  their  defection.  That  although  all  things 
were  not  established  among  them,  as  they  ought  to  be,  yet  God  would 
not  be  wanting,  in  time,  to  raise  up  some  faithful  servants  of  his,  who 
would  reform  what  was  amiss,  provided  they  continued  constant,  and 
utterly  rejected  the  uncleanness  and  impiety  of  the  Romish  papacy.* 

Mr.  Robinson  thus  recapitulates  the  history  of  the  Bohemian  breth- 
ren. 

"Authentic  records  in  France  assure  us,  that  a  people  of  a  certain 
description  were  driven  from  thence  in  the  twelfth  century.  Bohemian 
records  of  equal  authenticity  inform  us,  that  some  of  the  same  descrip- 
tion arrived  in  Bohemia  at  the  same  time  and  settled  near  a  hundred 
miles  from  Prague,  at  Saltz  and  Laun,  on  the  river  Eger,  just  on  the 
borders  of  the  kingdom.  Almost  two  hundred  years  after,  another  un- 
doubted record  of  the  same  country  mentions  a  people  of  the  same  de- 
scription, some  as  burnt  at  Prague,  and  others  as  inhabiting  the  borders 

*  Sleidan's  History  of  the  Reformation,  p.  58.] 


Luther's  advice  to  the  Bohemians.  429 

of  the  kingdom ;  and  a  hundred  and  fifty  years  after  that,  we  find  a 
people  of  the  same  description  settled  by  connivance  in  the  metropolis, 
and  in  several  other  parts  of  the  kingdom.  About  one  hundred  and 
twenty  years  lower,  we  find  a  people  in  the  same  country  living  under 
the  protection  of  law  on  the  estate  of  Prince  Lichetenstein  exactly  like 
all  the  former,  and  about  thirty  or  forty  thousand  in  number.  The 
religious  character  of  this  people  is  so  very  different  from  that  of  all 
others,  that  the  likeness  is  not  easily  mistaken.  They  had  no  priests, 
but  taught  one  another.  They  had  no  private  property,  for  they  held 
all  things  jointly.  They  executed  no  offices,  and  neither  exacted  nor 
took  oaths.  They  bore  no  arms,  and  rather  chose  to  suffer  than  resist 
wrong.  They  held  every  thing  called  religion  in  the  church  of  Rome 
in  abhorrence,  and  worshipped  God  only  by  adoring  his  perfections, 
and  endeavouring  to  imitate  his  goodness.  They  thought  Christianity 
wanted  no  comment;  and  they  professed  the  belief  of  that  by  being 
baptized,  and  their  love  to  Christ  and  one  another  by  receiving  the 
Lord's  supper.  They  aspired  at  neither  wealth  nor  power,  and  their 
plan  was  industry.  We  are  shown  Low  highly  probable  it  is  that  Bo- 
hemia afforded  them  work,  wages,  and  a  secure  asylum,  which  were 
all  they  wanted.  If  these  be  facts,  they  are  facts  that  do  honour  to  hu- 
man nature;  they  exhibit  in  the  great  picture  of  the  world  a  few  small 
figures  in  a  back  ground,  unstained  with  the  blood,  and  unruffled  with 
the  disputes  of  their  fellow  creatures."* 

*  Ecclesiastical  Researches,  p.  527. 


(     430     ) 


CHAPTER  VI. 


HISTORY    OF    THE     WALDENSES    CONTINUED    FROM    THE    MIDDLE    OF    THE 
FOURTEENTH  TO  THE  CLOSE  OF  THE  SEVENTEENTH  CENTURY. 


SECTION  I. 

HISTORY    OF    THE    WALDENSES,  FROM    THE   MIDDLE  OF  THE  FOURTEENTH? 
TO  THE  END  OF  THE  FIFTEENTH  CENTURY. A.  D.   1350 1500. 

It  has  been  pertinently  remarked  by  a  late  writer,  that  in  reading 
the  history  of  every  country,  there  are  certain  periods  at  which  the 
mind  naturally  pauses,  to  meditate  upon  and  consider  them,  with  re- 
ference, not  only  to  their  immediate  effects,  but  to  their  more  remote 
consequences.*  This  remark  is  as  applicable  to  the  history  of  the 
Christian  church,  as  it  is  to  that  of  any  particular  country.  I  have  en- 
deavoured to  conduct  the  reader  through  the  mazes  and  labyrinths  of 
that  history,  during  a  period  of  nearly  fourteen  hundred  years,  in  which 
time  we  have  traversed  a  dreary  wilderness,  through  a  dark  and  be- 
nighted season,  until  we  are  at  length  brought  to  approach  the  confines 
of  light— the  morning  of  the  Reformation.  In  entering  upon  the  last 
chapter  of  this  book,  it  may  be  no  unprofitable  employ,  therefore,  for 
us  to  pause,  and  take  a  review  of  the  existing  state  of  Europe,  at  this 
interesting  period,  in  reference  to  the  great  concern  of  religion.  The 
picture,  indeed,  has  been  already  sketched  by  an  able  artist,  and  pro- 
bably I  cannot  do  better  than  present  it  to  the  reader. 

"  The  state  of  religion  at  this  time  was  truly  deplorable.  Ecclesias- 
tical government,  instead  of  that  evangelical  simplicity  and  fraternal 
freedom  which  Jesus  Christ  and  his  apostles  had  taught,  was  now  be- 
come a  spiritual  domination  under  the  form  of  a  temporal  empire.  An 
innumerable  multitude  of  dignities,  titles,  rights,  honours,  privileges, 
and  pre-eminences  belonged  to  it,  and  were  all  dependent  on  a  sove- 
reign priest,  who,  being  an  absolute  monarch,  required  every  thought 
to  be  in  subjection  to  him.  The  chief  ministers  of  religion  were  ac- 
tually become  temporal  princes ;  and  the  high-priest,  being  absolute 
sovereign  of  the  ecclesiastical  state,  had  his  court  and  his  council,  his 
ambassadors  to  negotiate,  and  his  armies  to  murder — his  flock.  The 
clergy  had  acquired  immense  wealth  ;  and,  as  their  chief  study  was 
either  to  collect  and  to  augment  their  revenues,  or  to  prevent  the  alien- 
ation of  their  estates,  they  had  constituted  numberless  spiritual  corpo- 
rations, with  powers,  rights,  statutes,  privileges,  and  officers.     The 

*  Fox's  History  of  James  II. — Introduction,  p.  5. 


State  of  Religion  prior  to  the  Reformation.  431 

functions  of  the  ministry  were  generally  neglected,  and  of  consequence, 
gross  ignorance  prevailed.  All  ranks  of  men  were  extremely  depraved 
in  their  morals,  and  the  pope's  penitentiary  had  published  the  price  of 
every  crime,  as  it  was  rated  in  the  tax-book  of  the  Roman  chancery. 
Marriages,  which  reason  and  scripture  allowed,  the  pope  prohibited, 
and  for  money  dispensed  with  those  which  both  forbade.  Church  bene- 
fices were  sold  to  children,  and  to  laymen,  who  then  let  them  to  under 
tenants,  none  of  whom  performed  the  duty  for  which  the  profits  were 
paid :  but  all  having  obtained  them  by  simony,  spent  their  lives  in 
rleecing  the  flock  to  repay  themselves.  The  power  of  the  pontiff  was 
so  great,  that  he  assumed,  and  what  was  more  astonishing,  he  was  suf- 
fered to  exercise,  a  supremacy  over  many  kingdoms.  When  monarchs 
gratified  his  will,  he  put  on  a  triple  crown,  ascended  a  throne,  suffered 
them  to  call  him  Holiness,  and  to  kiss  his  feet.  When  they  disobliged 
him,  he  suspended  all  religious  worship  in  their  dominions ;  published 
false  and  abusive  libels,  called  bulls,  which  operated  as  laws,  to  injure 
their  persons  ;  discharged  their  subjects  from  obedience ;  and  gave 
their  crowns  to  any  who  would  usurp  them.  He  claimed  an  infallibi- 
lity of  knowledge,  and  an  omnipotence  of  strength  ;  and  he  forbade  the 
world  to  examine  his  claim.  He  was  addressed  by  titles  of  blasphemy, 
and  though  he  owned  no  jurisdiction  over  himself,  yet  he  affected  to 
extend  his  authority  over  heaven  and  hell,  as  well  as  over  a  middle 
place  called  purgatory,  of  all  which  places  he  said  he  kept  the  keys. 
This  irregular  church-polity  was  attended  with  quarrels,  intrigues, 
schisms,  and  wars. 

"  Religion  itself  was  made  to  consist  of  the  performance  of  numer- 
ous ceremonies,  of  Pagan,  Jewish,  and  Monkish  extraction,  all  which 
might  be  performed  without  either  faith  in  God,  or  love  to  mankind. 
The  church  ritual  was  an  address,  not  to  the  reason,  but  to  the  senses 
of  men  ;  music  stole  the  ear,  and  soothed  the  passions  ;  statues,  paint- 
ings, vestments,  and  various  ornaments,  beguiled  the  eye ;  while  the 
pause  which  was  produced  by  that  sudden  attack  which  a  multitude  of 
objects  made  on  the  senses,  on  entering  a  spacious  decorated  edifice, 
was  enthusiastically  taken  for  devotion.  Blind  obedience  was  first 
allowed  by  courtesy,  and  then  established  by  law.  Public  worship 
was  performed  in  an  unknown  tongue,  and  the  sacrament  was  adored 
as  the  body  and  blood  of  Christ.  The  credit  of  the  ceremonial  pro- 
duced in  the  people  a  notion  that  the  performance  of  it  was  the  prac- 
tice of  piety,  and  religion  degenerated  into  gross  superstition.  Vice, 
uncontrolled  by  reason  or  scripture,  retained  a  Pagan  vigour,  and  com- 
mitted the  most  horrid  crimes  ;  and  superstition  atoned  for  them,  by 
building  and  endowing  religious  houses,  and  by  bestowing  donations 
on  the  church.  Human  merit  was  introduced,  saints  were  invoked, 
and  the  perfections  of  God  were  distributed  by  canonization,  among 
the  creatures  of  the  pope. 

"  The  pillars,  that  supported  this  edifice,  were  immense  riches,  aris- 
ing, by  imposts,  from  the  sins  of  mankind ;  idle  distinctions  between 
supreme  and  subordinate  adoration ;  senseless  axioms,  called  the  divi- 
nity of  the  schools  ;  preachments  of  buffoonery,  or  blasphemy,  or  both ; 
cruel  casuistry,  consisting  of  a  body  of  dangerous  and  scandalous  mo- 


432  History  of  the  Christian  Church. 

rality  ;  false  miracles  and  midnight  visions ;  spurious  books  and  paltry 
relics  ;  oaths,  dungeons,  inquisitions,  and  crusades.  The  whole  was 
denominated  the  holy  catholic  and  apostolic  church,  and  laid  to 
the  charge  of  Jesus  Christ."*  These  things  premised,  we  now  return 
to  the  history  of  the  Waldenses. 

About  the  year  1400,  a  violent  outrage  was  committed  upon  the 
Waldenses  who  inhabited  the  valley  of  Pragela,  in  Piedmont,  by  the 
Catholic  party  resident  in  that  neighbourhood.  The  attack,  which 
seems  to  have  been  of  the  most  furious  kind,  was  made  towards  the 
end  of  the  month  of  December,  when  the  mountains  were  covered  with 
snow,  and  thereby  rendered  so  difficult  of  access,  that  the  peaceable  in- 
habitants of  the  valleys  were  wholly  unapprized  that  any  such  attempt 
was  meditated ,  and  the  persecutors  were  in  actual  possession  of  their 
caves,  ere  the  former  seem  to  have  been  apprized  of  any  hostile  de- 
signs against  them.  In  this  pitiable  plight  they  had  recourse  to  the 
only  alternative  which  remained  for  saving  their  lives — they  fled  to 
one  of  the  highest  mountains  of  the  Alps,  with  their  wives  and  chil- 
dren, the  unhappy  mothers  carrying  the  cradle  in  one  hand,  and  in  the 
other  leading  such  of  their  offspring  as  were  able  to  walk.  Their  in- 
human invaders,  whose  feet  were  swift  to  shed  blood,  pursued  them  in 
their  flight,  until  night  came  on,  and  slew  great  numbers  of  them,  be- 
fore they  could  reach  the  mountains.  Those  that  escaped,  were,  how- 
ever, reserved  to  experience  a  fate  not  more  enviable.  Overtaken  by 
the  shades  of  night,  they  wandered  up  and  down  the  mountains,  cover- 
ed withi  snow,  destitute  of  the  means  of  shelter  from  the  inclemencies 
of  the  weather,  or  of  supporting  themselves  under  it  by  any  of  the  com- 
forts which  Providence  has  destined  for  that  purpose  :  benumbed  with 
cold,  they  fell  an  easy  prey  to  the  severity  of  the  climate,  and  when 
the  night  had  passed  away,  there  were  found  in  their  cradles,  or  lying 
upon  the  snow,  fourscore  of  their  infants,  deprived  of  life,  many  of  the 
mothers  also  lying  dead  by  their  sides,  and  others  just  upon  the  point 
of  expiring.  During  the  night,  their  enemies  were  busily  employed 
in  plundering  the  houses  of  every  thing  that  was  valuable,  which  they 
conveyed  away  to  Susa.  A  poor  woman,  belonging  to  the  Waldenses, 
named  Margaret  Athode,  was  next  morning  found  hanging  upon  a  tree  ! 
This  seems  to  have  been  the  first  general  attack  that  was  made  by 
the  Catholics  on  the  Waldenses  of  Piedmont;  for  though  the  former 
had  repeatedly  availed  themselves  of  the  edicts  of  the  emperors,  the 
bulls  of  the  popes,  and  the  promptitude  of  inquisitorial  zeal,  to  disturb 
their  peace,  and  put  many  of  them  to  death,  during  the  three  preceding 
centuries,  yet  such  had  been  the  protection  afforded  them  by  the  Dukes 
of  Savoy,  that  the  rage  of  their  adversaries  was  happily  restricted  to 
the  occasional  apprehension  of  a  few  solitary  heretics,  for  whose  good 
they  never  failed  to  light  up  the  fires  as  often  as  opportunity  was  af- 
forded them.  But  the  outrageous  attack  that  was  now  made  upon  them 
was  a  novelty,  and  it  made  a  lasting  impression  on  their  minds.  They 
had  experienced  nothing  like  it,  say  their  own  historians,  either  in  their 

•  Memoirs  of  the  Reformation  in  France,  prefixed  to  Saurin's  Sermons,  trans- 
lated by  Robinson,  vol.  i. 


Persecution  of  the  Waldenses  in  France.  433 

own  time,  or  that  of  their  forefathers ;  and  for  more  than  a  century  af- 
terwards, they  were  wont  to  speak  of  it  as  of  a  dreadful  scene  which 
was  still  present  to  their  view  :  and  from  generation  to  generation,  they 
continued  to  relate,  with  deep  impressions  of  horror,  that  sudden  sur- 
prise which  had  occasioned  so  much  affliction  and  calamity  among 
them.* 

From  that  period,  until  about  the  year  1487,  the  Waldenses  of  Pied- 
mont appear  to  have  remained,  in  a  great  measure,  unmolested  in  the 
profession  of  their  religion.  But  scenes  of  far  more  extensive  cruelty 
were  awaiting  them,  as  will  hereafter  be  shown  ;  it  is,  however,  ne- 
cessary for  us  first  to  take  a  view  of  the  proceedings  against  their  breth- 
ren in  other  quarters. 

The  persecution  which  had  so  furiously  raged  against  them  in 
France,  during  the  earlier  part  of  the  thirteenth  century,  as  detailed  in 
a  former  section,  and  which  may  be  said  to  have  deluged  the  earth  with 
their  blood,  had  not  wholly  succeeded  in  extirpating  the  Waldenses  from 
that  country.  The  valleys  of  Fraissiniere,  Argentiere,  and  Loyse,t 
seem  to  have  abounded  with  them  in  the  year  1450,  at  which  time  a 
Franciscan  monk,  armed  with  inquisitorial  authority  by  the  archbishop 
of  Ambrun,  was  sent  on  a  mission  of  persecution,  and  to  drive  them 
from  the  neighbourhood.  Such  was  the  ardour  with  which  this  zealot 
proceeded  in  his  measures,  that  scarcely  any  persons  in  those  valleys 
escaped  being  apprehended  either  as  heretics  or  as  their  abettors. 
Those  of  them  who  were  not  of  the  profession  of  the  Waldenses,  had 
recourse  to  the  king  of  France,  Louis  XL  beseeching  him  to  interfere, 
and,  by  his  authority,  put  a  stop  to  the  course  of  such  persecutions. 
The  monarch  listened  to  their  application,  and  issued  his  royal  letters, 
in  which  he  pointedly  condemns  the  conduct  of  the  inquisitors,  who  by 
measures  the  most  vexatious  had  molested  the  persons,  and  possessed 
themselves  of  the  property  of  innocent  subjects,  whom  they  had,  with, 
that  intent,  falsely  accused  of  heresy,  and  annoyed  with  process  upon 
process,  both  in  the  parliament  of  Dauphiny  and  of  several  other 
countries. 

Perrin  has  preserved  a  copy  of  these  royal  letters,  in  his  History  of 
the  Waldenses  :  and  they  are  entitled  to  regard  from  the  disclosure 
which  they  make  of  the  scandalous  procedure  of  those  agents  of  the 
court  of  Rome.  A  short  extract  will  show  the  complexion  of  the 
whole.  Thus  his  majesty  proceeds  :  "And,  whereas,  in  order  to  obtain 
the  confiscation  of  the  goods  of  those  whom  they  charge  with  the  said 
crime  [of  heresy]]  several  of  the  judges,  and  even  of  the  inquisitors  of 
the  faith — are  continuing  to  send  out  processes  against  several  poor 
people,  without  any  just  or  reasonable  cause  ;  and  have  put  some  upon 
the  rack,  calling  them  to  answer  without  any  previous  informations 
lodged  against  them ;  and  have  condemned  them  for  crimes  of  which 

*  Vig'naux's  Memoirs  of  the  Waldenses — Perrin's  Hsit.  des  Vaudois,  b.  ii.  ch. 
iii. — Pierre  Gilles  Hist.  Eccles.  c.  4. — Morland's  Churches  of  Piedmont,  p.  194. 

f  The  reader  should  not  forget  the  pleasing1  picture  which  Thuanus  has  sketch- 
ed of  the  inhabitants  of  these  valleys,  and  which  has  been  already  quoted.  See 
pages  349 — 350  of  this  volume. 

37 


434  History  of  the  Christian  Church. 

they  were  not  guilty,  as  hath  afterwards  been  discovered;  while  from 
others  they  have  exacted  large  sums  of  money  to  obtain  their  liberty, 
and  molested  and  troubled  them  by  divers  unjust  and  illegal  means,  to 
the  injury  not  only  of  the  said  supplicants,  but  also  of  us  and  the  whole 
republic  of  our  country  of  Dauphiny,"  &c.  &c. — the  king,  therefore, 
puts  a  stop  to  such  disgraceful  proceedings ;  orders  that  all  suits  com- 
menced against  such  persons  as  can  give  proof  of  their  innocence  be 
dismissed,  and  that  restitution  be  made  for  any  injury  they  may  have 
sustained.* 

But  the  zeal  or  avarice  of  the  archbishop  of  Ambrun,  and  his  inqui- 
sitorial colleagues,  was  so  far  from  being  damped  by  his  majesty's  let- 
ters, that  they  proceeded  Avith  more  energy  than  ever.  They  dexter- 
ously contrived  to  convert  a  certain  clause  of  the  letters,  into  an  autho- 
rity for  their  cruel  proceedings,  and  found  in  it  an  entire  justification  of 
all  their  conduct;  in  consequence  of  which  they  resisted  every  appli- 
cation for  redress  or  remuneration.  Attempts  were  repeatedly  made  by 
some  of  these  oppressed  people  to  regain  the  property  of  which  they 
had  been  despoiled;  but  though  their  cause  was  patronized,  both  by 
this  monarch  and  by  his  successor,  Charles  VIII.  they  never  could 
obtain  a  remedy. 

Innocent  VIII.  was  raised  to  the  pontifical  chair  in  the  year  1414, 
and  soon  after  invested  Albert  de  Capitaneis,  archdeacon  of  Cremona, 
with  full  powers  to  act  as  his  legate  and  commissioner.  According  to 
the  usual  practice  of  the  popes  on  their  accession  to  office,  this  pontiff 
issued  his  bull  for  the  extirpation  of  heresy,  pointing  it  particularly 
against  the  Waldenses,  and  arming  Albert  with  authority  to  carry  his  will 
into  effect.  Having  recounted,  in  a  long  preamble,  the  titles  which  be- 
longed to  himself  and  to  his  "beloved  son  Albert,"  he  thus  proceeds  : 
"  Our  hearty  desires  chiefly  tend  to  this,  that  as  touching  those,  for 
the  gaining  of  whom  to  the  church,  the  supreme  Maker  of  all  things 
was  pleased  to  undergo  human  infirmities,  we  to  whom  he  hath  com- 
mitted the  care  and  government  of  his  flock,  may,  with  all  watchful  in- 
dustry endeavour  to  withdraw  them  from  the  precipices  of  error,  that 
providing  for  their  salvation,  as  it  shall  please  God  to  favour  us  with 
grace,  we  may  continually  labour,  that  the  Catholic  faith  may,  in  our 
times,  be  propagated,  and  the  evil  of  heresy  be  rooted  out  from  the 
borders  of  the  faithful."  After  this  precious  specimen  of  dissimulation, 
his  holiness  condescends  to  be  a  little  more  explicit.  "  We  have 
heard,"  says  he,  "  and  it  is  come  to  our  knowledge,  not  without  much 
displeasure,  that  certain  sons  of  iniquity,  followers  of  that  abominable 
and  pernicious  sect  of  malignant  men,  called  the  Poor  of  Lyons,  or 
Waldenses,  who  have  long  ago  endeavoured  in  Piedmont  and  other 
places,  to  ensnare  the  sheep  belonging  to  God,  to  the  perdition  of  their 
souls,  having  damnably  risen  up,  under  a  feigned  pretence  of  holiness — 
being  given  up  to  a  reprobate  sense,  and  made  to  err  greatly  from  the 
way  of  truth — committing  things  contrary  to  the  orthodox  faith,  offen- 
sive to  the  eyes  of  Divine  Majesty,  and  which  occasion  a  great  hazard 
of  souls,"  &c.  &c.     "  We,  therefore,  having  determined  to  use  all  our 

*  Perrin's  History,  b.  ii.  ch.iii. 


Papal  bull  against  the  Waldenses.  435 

endeavours,  and  to  employ  all  our  care,  as  we  are  bound  by  the  duty 
of  our  pastoral  charge,  to  root  up  and  extirpate  such  a  detestable  sect — 
that  the  hearts  of  believers  may  not  be  damnably  perverted  from  the 
catholic  church — have  thought  good  to  constitute  you,  at  this  time,  for 
the  cause  of  God  and  the  faith,  the  Nuncio  Commissioner  of  us  and  of 
the-apostolic  see,  within  the  dominions  of  our  beloved  son  Charles, 
Duke  of  Savoy — to  the  end  that  you  should  induce  the  followers  of  the 
most  wicked  sect  of  the  Waldenses,  and  all  others  polluted  with  hereti- 
cal pravity — to  abjure  their  errors,  &c.  And,  calling  to  your  assistance 
all  archbishops  and  bishops,  seated  in  the  said  duchy  [of  Savoy]  whom 
the  Most  High  hath  called  to  share  with  us  in  our  cares — with  the  in- 
quisitor, the  ordinaries  of  the  place,  their  vicars,  &c. — you  proceed  to 
the  execution  thereof  against  the  aforenamed  Waldenses,  and  all  other 
heretics  whatever,  to  rise  up  in  arms  against  them,  and  by  a  joint  com- 
munication of  processes,  to  tread  them  under  foot  as  venomous  adders  ; 
diligently  providing  that  the  people  committed  to  their  charge  do  per- 
severe in  the  profession  of  the  true  faith — bending  all  your  endeavours, 
and  bestowing  all  your  care  towards  so  holy  and  so  necessary  an  exter- 
mination of  the  same  heretics."  In  this  style  the  pontiff  proceeds 
through  several  succeeding  pages,  giving  directions  for  the  raising  of 
an  army  of  crusaders,  appointing  generals  and  officers  to  command  it 
— issuing  instructions  how  to  seize  the  effects  of  all  heretics,  and  dis- 
pose of  the  booty,  &c.  &c.  and  at  length  he  thus  closes  the  address  to 
Albert.   "  Thou,  therefore,  beloved  son,  taking  upon  thee  with  a  devout 

mind  tlic  buidcu  uf  so  meritorious  a  work,  show  thyself,  ill  the  execu- 
tion thereof,  so  careful  in  word  and  deed,  and  so  diligent  and  studious, 
that  the  much  wished-for  fruits  may,  through  the  grace  of  God,  re- 
dound unto  thee  from  thy  labours,  and  that  thou  mayestnot  only  obtain 
the  crown  of  glory  which  is  bestowed  as  a  reward  on  those  that  prose- 
cute pious  causes,  but  that  thou  mayest  also  ensure  the  approbation  of 
us  and  of  the  apostolic  see."* — Given  at  Rome,  at  St.  Peter's,  27  Apr. 
1487,  and  the  3d  of  our  popedom. 

Albert  was  no  sooner  vested  with  his  high  commission,  than  he  pro- 
ceeded to  the  south  of  France,  where  he  called  to  his  aid  the  king's 
lieutenant  in  the  province  of  Dauphiny,  who  lost  no  time  in  levying 
troops  for  his  service,  at  the  head  of  whom  he  himself  marched,  as  di- 
rected by  Albert,  in  the  valley  of  Loyse.  The  inhabitants,  apprized  of 
their  approach,  fled  into  their  caves  at  the  tops  of  the  mountains,  car- 
rying with  them  their  children,  and  whatever  valuables  they  had,  as 
well  as  what  was  thought  necessary  for  their  support  and  nourish- 
ment. The  lieutenant  finding  the  inhabitants  all  fled,  and  that  not  an 
individual  appeared  with  whom  he  could  converse,  at  length  discovered 
their  retreats,  and  causing  quantities  of  wood  to  be  placed  at  their  en- 
trances, ordered  it  to  be  set  on  fire.  The  consequence  was,  that  four 
hundred  children  were  suffocated  in  their  cradles,  or  in  the  arms  of 
their  dead  mothers,  while  multitudes  to  avoid  dying  by  suffocation,  or 
being  burnt  to  death,  precipitated  themselves  headlong  from  their  ca- 
verns upon  the  rocks  below,  where  they  were  dashed  in  pieces  ;  or 

*  Morland's  Churches  of  Piedmont,"  p.  188—198. 


436  History  of  the  Christian  Church. 

if  any  escaped  death  by  the  fall,  they  were  immediately  slaughtered  by 
the  brutal  soldiery.  "  It  is  held  as  unquestionably  true,"  says  Perrin, 
"  amongst  the  Waldenses  dwelling  in  the  adjacent  valleys,  that  more 
than  three  thousand  persons,  men  and  women,  belonging  to  the  valley 
of  Loyse,  perished  on  this  occasion.  And,  indeed,  they  were  wholly 
exterminated,  for  that  valley  was  afterwards  peopled  with  new  inhabi- 
tants, not  one  family  of  the  Waldenses  having  subsequently  resided  in 
it;  which  proves  beyond  dispute,  that  all  the  inhabitants,  and  of  both 
sexes,  died  at  that  time."* 

Having  completed  their  work  of  extermination  in  the  valley  of  Loyse, 
they  next  proceeded  to  that  of  Fraissiniere  ;  but  Albert's  presence  and 
that  of  the  army  being  found  necessary  in  another  quarter,  he  appointed 
as  his  substitute  in  these  valleys  a  Franciscan  monk,  who,  in  the  year 
1489,  began  to  exhibit  fresh  informations  against  the  inhabitants  of 
Fraissiniere.  He  cited  them  to  appear  before  him  at  Ambrun  ;  but 
disregarding  his  citation,  they  were  first  excommunicated,  then  anathe- 
matized, and  lastly,  condemned  as  contumacious  heretics,  to  be  deliver- 
ed over  to  the  secular  power,  and  their  goods  confiscated.  A  counsellor, 
of  the  name  of  Ponce,  attended  on  this  occasion  in  behalf  of  the  par- 
liament of  Dauphiny,  the  object  of  which  was  supposed  to  be  that  of 
precluding  any  appeal  being  made  from  this  mixt  judgment.  The  sen- 
tence was  pronounced  at  the  great  church  of  Ambrun,  and  afterwards 
fixed  upon  the  door  of  the  church — to  which  were  appended  thirty-two 
articles  of  the  faith  of  the  Waldenses,  chiefly  relating  to  the  mass,  pur- 
gatory, the  invocation  uf  saints,  pilgrimagoo,   the  ubscivaiioc  of  foaets, 

the  distinction  of  meats  on  certain  days,  &c.  on  all  of  which  subjects 
they  were  regarded  as  heretical.  To  these,  indeed,  were  added  some 
detestable  charges,  concerning  incest  and  uncleanness,  but  which,  as 
they  never  had  the  semblance  of  probability  to  support,  or  even  render 
them  plausible,  I  deem  it  unnecessary  to  particularize. 

The  persecution  which  ensued,  is  said  to  have  been  extremely  se- 
vere. For  the  Waldenses  being  condemned  as  heretics  by  the  inquisi- 
tor; Ponce,  the  counsellor,  and  Oronce,  the  judge,  committed  them 
to  the  flames,  as  fast  as  they  were  apprehended,  without  permitting 
them  to  make  any  appeal.  The  number  of  sufferers  was  also  consider- 
ably augmented  on  another  ground;  for,  whoever  presumed  to  intercede 
in  their  behalf,  though  it  were  the  child  for  the  parent,  or  the  parent  for 
the  child,  he  was  instantly  committed  to  prison,  and  himself  prosecuted 
as  a  favourer  of  heretics.! 

While  these  merciless  proceedings  were  going  on  against  the  Wal- 
denses in  France,  Albert  de  Capatineis  had  advanced  in  the  year  1488, 
at  the  head  of  eighteen  thousand  soldiers,  against  the  valleys  of  Pied- 
mont. The  invading  army  was  also  joined  by  many  of  the  Piedmon- 
tese  Catholics,  who  hastened  to  it  from  all  parts,  allured  by  the  specious 
promise  of  obtaining  the  remission  of  their  sins,  and  the  hope  of  shar- 
ing in  the  sweets  of  plunder.  The  more  effectually  to  get  possession 
of  the  country,  the  enemy's  forces  were  divided  into  detachments,  and 
inarching  in  different  directions  against  Angrogne,  Lucerne,  La  Perouse, 

*  Perrin's  History,  b.  ir.  ch.  iii.  j  Ibid. 


Attack  on  the  Waldenses  in  Piedmont.  437 

St.  Martin,  Praviglerm,  and  Biolet,  which  is  in  the  marquisate  of  Sa- 
luces  ;  thus,  as  it  were,  encompassing  the  whole  of  the  valleys.  They 
also  raised  troops  in  Dauphiny,  to  overrun  the  valley  of  Pragela.  But 
the  Waldenses,  armed  with  wooden  targets  and  crossbows,  availing 
themselves  of  the  advantages  of  their  situation,  every  where  defended 
the  passes  of  their  mountains,  and  repulsed  their  invaders — "  the  wo- 
men and  children  on  their  knees,  during  the  conflict,  entreating  the 
Lord  to  protect  his  people." 

When  information  of  this  affair  was  brought  to  the  Duke  of  Savoy, 
his  heart  was  touched  with  compassioivtowards  his  subjects.  He  was 
convinced  they  had  always  been  a  loyal  and  obedient  people,  and  he 
candidly  distinguished  between  the  resistance  which  on  this  occasion, 
his  subjects  had  made,  and  a  spirit  of  sedition  and  turbulence.  They 
sent  a  deputation  to  wait  upon  him,  and  explain  the  motives  of  their 
conduct ;  at  the  same  time  offering  an  apology  for  whatever  might  seem 
improper.  The  prince  accepted  their  apology  and  forgave  them  what 
was  passed.  But  having  been  informed  that  their  young  children  were 
born  with  black  throats — that  they  were  hairy,  and  had  four  rows  of 
teeth,  with  only  one  eye,  and  that  placed  in  the  middle  of  their  fore- 
head, he  commanded  some  of  them  to  be  brought  before  him  to  Pigne- 
rol,  where,  being  satisfied  by  ocular  demonstration,  that  the  Waldenses 
were  not  monsters,  he  blamed  himself  for  being  so  easily  imposed  upon 
by  the  clergy  of  the  Catholic  church,  as  to  credit  such  idle  reports ; 
and,  at  the  same  time,  declared  his  determination  to  protect  them  hence- 
forward in  the  undisturbed  possession  of  those  privileges  which  had 
been  allowed  their  ancestors,  and  which  the  rest  of  his  subjects  in  Pied- 
mont still  enjoyed.* 

But  though  this  declaration  sufficiently  manifested  the  kind  intentions 
of  the  prince  towards  his  subjects,  he  seems  to  have  wanted  the  power 
necessary  for  carrying  them  into  effect.  The  inquisitors,  who  lay  in 
ambush  in  a  convent  near  Pignerol,  issued  their  processes  daily  against 
the  AValdenses,  and  as  often  as  they  could  apprehend  any  of  them  they 
were  delivered  over  for  punishment  to  the  secular  power.  In  this  way 
they  continued  to  harass  them  in  that  quarter  until  the  year  1532.  And 
it  appears  from  their  history,  that  by  these  means  a  visible  impression 
was  made  upon  their  public  church-meetings.  The  fear  of  the  inquisi- 
tors had  imperceptibly  led  them  to  study  to  avoid  publicity ;  and  in 
process  of  time  they  assembled  for  worship  wholly  in  private.  In  the 
year  last  mentioned,  however,  they  seem  to  have  been  sensibly  struck 
with  the  impropriety  of  this  mode  of  procedure ;  for  upon  reviewing 
the  existing  state  of  matters  among  them,  they  came  to  the  determina- 
tion no  longer  to  conceal  their  meetings  for  worship,  but  resolved  that 
their  elders  should  preach  the  gospel  openly  and  boldly,  unawed  by  the 
apprehension  of  danger  from  their  adversaries. 

The  Duke  of  Savoy,  instigated  by  the  archbishop  and  the  inquisitor 
of  Turin,  seems  to  have  taken  umbrage  at  this  re-appearance  in  public 
of  the  Waldenses  ;  for,  on  being  told  of  it,  he  so  far  yielded  to  the  soli- 
citations of  the  clergy,  as  to  despatch  one  of  his  officers  at  the  head  of 

*  Perrin's  History,  b.  ii.  ch.  iii.  Morland's  History,  p.  223. 
37* 


438  History  of  the  Christian  Church. 

five  hundred  men,  horse  and  foot,  who,  before  the  inhabitants  were  ap- 
prized, entered  the  valleys,  pillaging,  plundering,  and  laying  waste 
whatever  came  in  their  way.  The  unsuspecting  people  were,  at  the 
time  the  army  approached,  industriously  employed  about  the  cultivation 
oftheir  lands.  But  recovering  from  the  panic  into  which  they  had  been 
thrown  by  this  unexpected  attack,  they  took  courage,  and  every  man 
quitting  his  plough  and  his  agricultural  pursuits,  they  fled  to  the  passes 
of  their  mountains,  which  they  secured ;  and  then  arming  themselves 
with  slings  and  stones,  encountered  their  invaders  so  manfully  that  they 
compelled  them  to  flee,  leaving  their  booty  behind,  and  many  of  their 
men  dead  upon  the  field. 

When  the  news  of  this  reached  the  Duke  of  Savoy,  he  remarked  that 
experience  had  sufficiently  shown  it  to  be  an  improper  plan  to  attempt 
to  reclaim  and  subdue  the  inhabitants  of  Piedmont  by  military  force; 
the  strength  of  their  country,  and  their  intimate  acquaintance  with  the 
defiles  and  passes  of  the  mountains  giving  them  an  infinite  advantage 
over  their  assailants  ;  and,  therefore,  while  the  skin  of  one  of  the  Wal- 
denses  was  to  be  purchased  at  the  expense  of  the  lives  of  a  dozen  of  his 
other  subjects,  it  was  foolish  to  proceed  in  that  way.  He  consequently, 
declined  employing  his  military  force  any  more  against  them,  and  re- 
linquished it  to  the  inquisitors  after  heresy,  to  apprehend  them  two  or 
three  at  a  time,  as  they  came  in  or  went  out  of  the  valleys.* 

I  believe  I  must  here  interrupt  the  narrative,  for  the  purpose  of  in- 
troducing a  short  extract  from  that  lively  French  writer,  Monsieur  Vol- 
taire, in  which  he  furnishes  us  with  an  estimate  of  the  character  of  the 
Waldenses  in  France,  of  whom  we  have  been  speaking.  It  is  interest- 
ing to  compare  the  opinions  of  different  writers  upon  any  particular 
subject;  and  the  reader  cannot  be  displeased  at  having  the  opportunity 
of  seeing  how  nearly,  on  this  topic,  those  of  Voltaire,  a  man  of  no  re- 
ligion, coincided  with  the  sentiments  of  the  liberal  Sleidan,  and  the  in- 
comparable Thuanus,  to  both  of  whom  we  have  already  had  occasion 
to  advert,  and  shall  again  in  the  sequel. 

"  In  the  twelfth  century,"  says  Voltaire,  "  there  was  one  Peter 
Waldo,  a  rich  merchant  of  Lyons,  whose  piety  and  errors  are  said  to 
have  given  rise  to  the  Vaudois,  (Waldenses.)  This  man  having  retired 
with  several  poor  people,  whom  he  maintained,  to  the  desert  valleys 
betwixt  Provence  and  Dauphine,  acted  both  as  their  high-priest  and 
father,  instructing  them  in  his  doctrine,  in  which  he  differed  very  little 
from  the  Albigenses,  or  from  Wickliff,  John  Huss,  Luther,  and  Zuin- 
glius,  in  regard  to  several  of  the  chief  articles.  These  men  lived  a 
great  while  in  obscurity,  busied  in  the  culture  of  barren  lands,  which, 
with  indefatigable  industry,  they  rendered  fit  for  corn  and  pasture  :  a 
proof  of  our  being  greatly  to  blame,  if  through  neglect,  we  suffer  any 
part  of  France  to  be  uncultivated.  The  neighbouring  grounds  were  let 
to  them  on  leases ;  and  they  improved  them  by  their  labour,  so  as  to 
maintain  themselves,  and  to  enrich  their  landlords,  who  never  com- 
plained of  their  behaviour.  In  the  space  of  250  years,  their  number 
increased  to  near  18,000,  who  were  dispersed  in  thirty  small  towns, 

*  Morlancl's  History,  p.  224. 


Voltaire's  account  of  the  JValdenses.  439 

besides  hamlets.  All  this  was  the  fruit  of  their  industry.  There  were 
no  priests  among  them,  no  quarrels  about  religious  worship,  no  law- 
suits;  they  determined  their  differences  among  themselves.  None  but 
those  who  repaired  to  the  neighbouring  cities  knew  that  there  existed 
any  such  things  as  mass  or  bishops.  They  prayed  to  God  in  their 
own  jargon;*  and,  being  continually  employed,  they  had  the  happiness 
to  know  no  vice.  This  peaceful  state  they  enjoyed  for  above  200 
years,  since  the  wars  against  the  Albigenses,  with  which  the  nation 
had  been  wearied.  When  mankind  have  long  rioted  in  cruelty,  their 
fury  abates  and  sinks  into  languor  and  indifference ;  as  we  see  con- 
stantly verified  both  in  the  case  of  individuals  and  whole  nations.  Such 
was  the  tranquillity  which  the  Waldenses  enjoyed,  when  the  reformers 
of  Germany  and  Geneva  came  to  hear  that  there  were  others  of  the  same 
persuasion  as  themselves.  Immediately  they  sent  some  of  their  minis- 
ters, a  name  given  to  the  curates  of  the  Protestant  churches,  to  visit 
them  ;  and  since  then,  the  Waldenses  are  but  too  well  known. "t  So 
far  Mons.  Voltaire,  whose  narrative,  considering  the  principles  of  the 
author,  is  as  candid  and  correct  as  could  reasonably  be  expected. 

Of  the  number  of  persons  who  professed  the  faith  of  the  Waldenses, 
both  within  and  without  the  valleys  of  Piedmont,  at  the  beginning  of 
the  sixteenth  century — the  period  when  Luther  broke  off  from  the 
church  of  Rome  and  began  the  Reformation  in  Germany,  it  would  be 
impossible  to  attain  any  certainty.  But  it  is  presumed  the  reader  will 
have  seen  enough  in  the  preceding  pages  to  satisfy  him,  that  the  opin- 
ion which  has  so  currently  prevailed  among  us,  of  the  almost  total  ex- 
tinction of  the  Christian  profession,  in  its  purity,  at  the  time  of,  and  for 
ages  preceding,  the  Lutheran  reformation,  is  altogether  a  popular  error. 
There  was  a  period,  in  the  history  of  ancient  Israel,  when  idolatry  and 
profaneness  appeared  to  have  so  wholly  deluged  the  land,  that  the 
prophet  Elijah  was  led  to  consider  himself  as  a  solitary  worshipper  of 
the  true  God,  in  the  midst  of  the  creation.  Yet  the  Lord  had  reserved 
to  himself  seven  thousand  souls  who  had  not  bowed  the  knee  to  Baal, 
although  unknown  to  the  prophet.  It  appears  from  what  Voltaire  has 
just  remarked,  and,  indeed,  an  attentive  reader  of  the  works  of  Luther 
and  his  associates  will  easily  perceive,  that  their  minds  laboured  under 
a  somewhat  similar  mistake  as  to  their-  own  case.  It  was  not  without 
surprise  they  learnt,  that  there  were  numbers  around  them,  in  every 
country,  opposed  to  the  corruptions  of  the  church  of  Rome,  and  sighing 
in  secret  for  a  reform.  It  may  also  be  added,  that  Protestants  in  every 
succeeding  age  have   but  too  implicitly  imbibed  their  error.;};     The 


*  What  Mons.  Voltaire  means  by  this  uncouth  speech  is,  that  the  Waldenses 
had  no  liturgy  or  forms  of  public  prayer. 

•j-  Voltaire's  Universal  History,  vol.  ii.  p.  338,  12mo.  edit.  Edin.  1782. 

|  I  might  instance  in  proof  of  this  fact,  even  in  our  own  times,  Mr.  Cox's  in- 
teresting Life  of  Melancthon,  recently  published.  The  author  of  that  work  does 
indeed  speak  of  "  Waldus,  Wickliff,  Huss,  and  Jerome  of  Prague,"  as  of  im- 
perishable names  ;  and  he  adds,  "but  in  vain  did  they  struggle  against  the  torrent 
of  corruption  that  deluged  the  earth.  They  could  oppose,  in  their  respective 
times  and  stations,  but  a  momentary  resistance,  and  were  swept  away.  Their  ef- 
forts, indeed,  produced  some  effects,  but  they  were  evanescent,  for  'darkness 


440  History  of  the  Christian  Church. 

blessed  God  hath  never  left  himself  without  witnesses  in  the  world ;  and 
even  during  the  reign  of  Antichrist — a  period  of  the  most  general  and 
awful  defection  from  the  purity  of  his  worship,  he  had  reserved  to  him- 
self thousands  and  tens  of  thousands  of  such  as  kept  his  commandments 
and  the  faith  of  Jesus.  Nor  is  there  any  thing  in  this  to  occasion  our 
surprise.  The  real  followers  of  Christ  are  subjects  of  a  kingdom  that 
is  not  of  this  world.  And  having  no  national  establishment,  nor  aim- 
ing at  worldly  power,  their  principles  and  conduct  have  seldom  been 
thought  .worthy  of  regard  by  the  world,  except  in  so  far  as  their  public 
testimony  against  it  has  subjected  them  to  persecution.  The  true  pro- 
fession of  Christianity  leads  its  friends  to  cultivate  peace  and  union 
among  themselves,  and,  like  its  divine  author,  to  avoid  all  turbulence 
and  faction  in  the  state. 

But  amidst  the  rubbish  of  error,  as  a  late  writer  has  justly  remarked, 
which  had  accumulated  century  after  century  till  the  Reformation,  God 
determined  to  erect  the  temple  of  Truth,  and  his  providence  cleared  an 
ample  space,  chose  a  variety  of  workmen,  and  reared  the  admirable 
structure.  And  as  in  the  erection  of  a  building,  it  is  necessary  that 
there  be  different  kinds  of  labourers,  all  co-operating  together  and  all 
essential  to  complete  the  undertaking,  so  it  was  requisite,  in  erecting 
this  great  edifice,  to  prepare  and  to  employ  persons  very  differently 
constituted,  but  all  capable  of  useful  co-operation.  If  the  Reformation 
claimed  the  steady  efforts  of  true  courage  and  inextinguishable  zeal,  it 
ought  also  to  be  remembered,  that  it  no  less  required  a  proportion  of 
nice  discernment,  elegant  taste,  and  literary  skill ; — if  a  superstition 
which  invested  a  mortal  with  the  prerogative  of  infallibility,  were  to  be 
attacked  and  levelled  with  the  dust,  the  ignorance  which,  with  its 
characteristic  blindness  supported  that  superstition,  was  at  the  same 
time  to  be  dethroned  and  demolished  ; — if  old  abuses  were  to  be  re- 
moved, and  a  new  order  of  things  to  be  introduced  and  systematized,  it 
was  desirable  to  find  not  only  a  nervous,  but  a  polished  mind,  at  once 
to  clear  away  the  rubbish  of  error,  and  clothe  unwelcome  novelties  with 
attractive  beauty ; — in  a  word,  if  existing  circumstances  called  for  a 
Luther,  they  also  demanded  a  Melancthon.* 

In  the  year  1530,  George  Morel,  one  of  the  pastors  of  the  church  of 
the  Waldenses,  published  Memoirs  of  the  History  of  their  Churches, 
in  which  he  states,  that  at  the  time  he  wrote,  there  were  above  eight 
hundred  thousand  persons  professing  the  religion  of  the  Waldenses  ;t 

covered  the  earth,  and  gross  darkness  the  people.'  But  when  Luther  appeared," 
&.c.  page  3. 

Now  what  I  object  to,  in  this  statement  is,  that  it  is  calculated  to  mislead  the 
reader,  inasmuch  as  it  has  a  tendency  to  impress  him  with  this  very  erroneous  no- 
tion, that  during  the  twelfth,  thirteenth,  and  fourteenth  centuries,  the  four 
individuals,  whose  names  he  records,  were  the  only  advocates  of  reform.  Thus 
the  thousands,  and  tens  of  thousands,  of  the  Waldenses  and  Albigenses,  who  at 
the  constant  peril,  and  generally  at  the  expense  of  their  lives,  kept  up  a  standing 
testimony  against  the  abominations  of  the  man  of  sin,  are  wholly  overlooked  ! 
This  is  scarcely  pardonable  in  a  Dissenter  who  knew  better,  and  can  only  have 
arisen  from  the  most  culpable  inadvertency. 

*   Cox's  life  of  Melancthon,  p.  38. 

f  Morland's  Evangelical  Churches,  p.  224. 


Estimate  of  the  character  of  Luther.  441 

nor  will  this  appear  an  exaggerated  statement,  if  we  consider  the  view 
that  was  given,  in  the  last  section,  of  their  dispersions  throughout  almost 
every  country  of  Europe — the  immense  numbers  that  suffered  martyr- 
dom;  and  what  was  formerly  mentioned,  that  in  the  year  1315,  namely 
two  centuries  before  this  time,  there  were  eighty  thousand  of  them  in 
the  small  kingdom  of  Bohemia. 

It  seems  reasonable,  however,  to  conclude,  that  the  Waldenses  must 
have  beheld  with  infinite  satisfaction,  the  schism  which  took  place  in  the 
Roman  church,  when  Luther  and  his  associates  withdrew  from  its  com- 
munion. For,  independent,  of  the  labours  of  this  intrepid  reformer, 
the  great  cause  for  which  the  Waldenses  were  contending,  viz.  the 
purity  of  the  doctrines  of  the  gospel,  and  the  simplicity  of  christian  wor- 
ship— was  powerfully  supported  by  a  host  of  learned  men,  who  rose 
up  in  rapid  succession,  and  ranged  themselves  on  the  side  of  Luther. 
Among  these  were  Philip  Melancthon,  John  Ecolampadius,  Martin 
Bucer,  John  Calvin,  Theodore  Beza,  Zuinglius,  Peter  Martyr,  Bullinger, 
and  many  others,  all  advocates  of  reform,  and  men  of  eminent  talents, 
who,  by  their  various  labours,  both  from  the  pulpit  and  the  press,  con- 
tributed greatly  to  disseminate  the  knowledge  of  divine  truth,  and  free 
the  minds  of  their  contemporaries  from  the  slavish  shackles  of  ignorance 
and  superstition. 

But  although  we  may  readily  conceive  the  pleasure  which  it  must 
have  yielded  the  Waldenses,  to  contemplate  the  labours  of  these  great 
men  in  so  glorious  a  cause,  they  do  not  appear  to  have  acted  precipi- 
tately In  interfering  with  them,  or  soliciting  an  union  of  churches.  The 
reformers,  with  all  their  zeal  and  learning,  were  babes  in  spiritual 
knowledge,  when  compared  with  the  more  illiterate  Waldenses — par- 
ticularly in  regard  to  the  nature  of  the  kingdom  of  Christ,  and  its  insti- 
tutions, laws,  and  worship  in  general.  Luther,  for  instance ;  besides 
that  both  he  and  Calvin  always  contended  for  a  form  of  national  Chris- 
tianity— a  principle  which,  the  moment  it  is  received  into  the  mind, 
must  necessarily  darken  it  as  to  the  nature  of  the  kingdom  of  Christ ; 
Luther,  with  all  his  zeal  against  popery,  was  never  able  to  disentangle 
his  own  mind  from  the  inexplicable  doctrine  of  transubstantiation, 
which  he  had  imbibed  in  the  church  of  Rome.  He,  indeed,  changed 
the  name,  but  he  retained  all  the  absurdity  of  the  thing.  He  rejected 
the  word  transubstantiation,  but  insisted  strenuously  on  a  consubstan- 
tiation — that  is,  the  bread  and  wine  were  not  changed  into  the  substance 
of  the  body  and  blood  of  Christ,  but  the  body  and  blood  of  Christ  were 
really  and  actually  present  in  the  elements  of  bread  and  wine,  and 
were  therefore  literally  eaten  and  drank  by  the  communicants  !*     And 

*  It  is  not  intended  by  this  remark,  to  insinuate  any  disparagement  to  the  cha- 
racter of  this  great  reformer,  of  whose  laborious  exertions  in  the  cause  of  truth 
and  virtue  no  one  can  entertain  a  higher  opinion  than  myself.  His  praise  is  in 
all  the  churches,  and  will  be  handed  down  to  the  latest  posterity  with  increasing 
lustre.  Let  me  further  add,  that,  what  appears  to  me  the  most  amiable  and  in- 
teresting part  of  his  character,  seems  to  be  the  least  generally  known  among  us 
in  the  present  day.  To  explain  my  meaning,  I  shall  here  quote  a  passage  from 
the  writings  of  one  of  his  contemporaries,  who  in  a  letter  to  Philip  Melancthon, 
thus  describes  him: 


442  History  of  the  Christian  Church. 

with  respect  to  Calvin,  it  is  manifest,  that  the  leading,  and  to  me  at 
least,  the  most  hateful  feature  in  all  the  multiform  character  of  popery 
adhered  to  him  through  life — I  mean  the  spirit  of  persecution.  Hold- 
ing, as  I  do,  many  doctrinal  sentiments  in  common  with  Calvin,  I  am 
prompted  to  speak  my  opinion  of  him  with  the  less  reserve.  I  regard 
him  as  a  man  whom  the  Creator  had  endowed  with  transcendant  ta- 
lents, and  have  no  doubt  that  he  knew  what  "  flesh  and  blood  could 
never  reveal  to  him."  He  seems  to  have  been  blessed  with  an  extraor- 
dinary insight  into  the  economy  of  human  redemption,  as  revealed  in 
the  sacred  writings  ;  and  his  vast  and  capacious  mind  took  a  compre- 
hensive grasp  of  a  system  which  angels  contemplate  with  wonder  and 
amazement,  and  in  which  they  study  the  manifold  wisdom  of  God. 
No  mere  man,  probably,  ever  surpassed  Calvin,  in  his  indefatigable  la- 
bours, according  to  the  measure  of  his  bodily  strength,  in  making 
known  to  others  the  unsearchable  riches  of  Christ  Jesus,  both  from 
the  pulpit  and  the  press  ;  and  his  bitterest  enemies  cannot  deny  that 
the  progress  of  the  Reformation  was  wonderfully  accelerated  by  his 
means.  Yet,  with  all  these  excellencies,  Calvin  was  a  persecutor ! 
He  had  yet  to  learn,  or  at  least  how  to  practise,  that  simple  lesson  of 
the  kingdom  of  heaven,  "  whatsoever  ye  would  that  men  should  do 
unto  you,  do  ye  even  so  unto  them."  Calvin  could  never  comprehend, 
how  another  man  could  have  as  great  a  right  to  think  wrong,  as  he 
himself  had  to  think  right !  And  that  it  is  the  sole  prerogative  of  the 
King  of  Zion  to  punish  his  enemies  and  the  corrupters  of  his  truth. 
Upon  this  point  his  judgment  was  perverted  by  the  principle  of  his 
education,  and  unhappily  for  his  own  character  and  the  cause  of  truth, 
his  conduct  was  founded  upon  this  erroneous  judgment.  His  behaviour 
throughout  the  whole  affair  of  Servetus,  is  too  well  known  to  need  any 
explanation  in  this  place ;  but  I  conceive  it  to  be  the  imperious  duty  of 
every  friend  to  toleration  and  the  rights  of  conscience,  to  express  their 
marked  abhorrence  of  this  part  of  the  character  of  Calvin.  And  more 
especially  is  it  the  duty  of  those,  the  similarity  of  whose  theological 
creed  to  that  which  he  contended  for,  hath  subjected  them  to  the  im- 
putation of  being  his  followers.    As  an  obscure,  and  humble  individual 

"  I  cannot  sufficiently  admire  the  extraordinary  cheerfulness,  constancy,  faith, 
and  hope  of  this  man,  in  these  trying1  and  vexatious  times.  He  continually 
nourishes  these  good  affections,  hy  a  very  diligent  study  of  the  word  of  God. 
Then  not  a  day  passes  in  which  he  does  not  occupy  in  prayer  at  least  three  of  his 
very  best  hours.  I  once  happened  to  hear  him  at  prayer.  Gracious  God!  What 
spirit  and  what  faith  there  was  in  his  language!  He  petitions  God  with  as  much 
reverence  as  if  he  were  actually  in  the  divine  presence,  and  yet  with  as  firm  a 
hope  and  confidence,  as  he  would  address  a  father  and  a  friend.  '  I  know,'  says 
he,  « thou  art  our  Father  and  our  God;  therefore  I  am  sure  thou  wilt  bring  to 
nought  the  persecutors  of  thy  children.  For  shouldst  thou  fail  to  do  this,  thine 
own  cause,  being  connected  with  ours,  would  be  endangered.  It  is  entirely  thine 
own  concern:  we,  by  thy  providence,  have  been  compelled  to  take  a  part. 
Thou,  therefore,  wilt  be  our  defence.' 

"  Whilst  I  was  listening  to  Luther  praying  in  this  manner  at  a  distance,  my 
soul  seemed  on  fire  within  me,  to  hear  the  man  address  God  so  like  a  friend,  and 
yet  with  so  much  gravity  and  reverence;  and  also  to  hear  him  in  the  course  of 
his  prayer,  insisting  on  the  promises  contained  in  the  Psalms,  as  if  he  were  cer- 
tain his  petitions  would  be  granted." — Coeelst.  I.  275.  Com.  de  Luth.  lxix.  8. 


Sketch  of  Papal  policy.  443 

of  that  class,  I  strenuously  deprecate  every  attempt  to  palliate  the  enor- 
mity of  Calvin's  conduct  in  the  instance  referred  to,  by  pleading,  as 
many  have  done,  that  Socinus  was  as  bitter  a  persecutor  as  himself : 
for  until  it  be  made  apparent  to  my  understanding  how  two  blacks  con- 
stitute one  white,  I  must  regard  such  pleas  as  extremely  ill-judged. 
The  truth  is,  and  it  ought  to  be  avowed,  that  the  conduct  of  Calvin 
admits  of  no  apology  !  It  was  a  violent  outrage  upon  the  laws  of  hu- 
manity as  well  as  upon  the  laws  of  God,  and  has  fixed  a  stigma  upon 
the  character  of  that  otherwise  great  man,  which  will  never  be  oblite- 
rated. But  let  not  the  enemies  of  the  truth,  from  this  take  occasion,  as 
they  too  often  have  done,  to  identify  the  spirit  of  persecution  with  the 
doctrines  which  Calvin  held.  His  conduct,  in  this  particular,  has 
drawn  tears  of  lamentation  and  regret  from  the  eyes  of  thousands,  since 
his  time,  on  account  of  the  reproach  it  has  brought  upon  the  way  of 
truth,  "  causing  it  to  be  evil  spoken  of,"  and  it  will  continue  to  suf- 
fuse with  all  the  consciousness  of  shame,  the  cheeks  of  thousands  yet 
unborn. 


SECTION  II. 

HISTORY  OF  THE  WALDENSES  FROM  THE  END  OF  THE  FIFTEENTH  TO  THE 
MIDDLE  OF  THE    SIXTEENTH  CENTURY  ;    AND  MORE  ESPECIALLY  OF  THE 

PROCEEDINGS    AGAINST    THEM    IN  THE  SOUTH  OF  FRANCE. A.   D.    1500 

—  1550. 

The  history  of  Modern  Europe  does  not  present  us  with  a  more  in- 
teresting period  than  the  commencement  of  the  sixteenth  century,  the 
era  at  which  we  are  now  arrived.  The  sanguinary  proceedings  that 
had  been  carried  on  against  the  Waldenses  in  the  southern  provinces  of 
France,  towards  the  close  of  the  former  century,  had  apparently  ex- 
hausted the  malice  of  the  court  of  Rome  ;  the  heretics,  for  the  moment 
at  least,  were  driven  from  public  view ;  and  the  state  of  the  Catholic 
church  was  more  than  usually  tranquil.  The  empire  and  the  priest- 
hood, which  for  several  centuries  had  been  constantly  in  arms  against 
each  other,  had  depopulated  Italy,  Germany,  and  almost  every  other 
country  in  Europe,  but  the  contest  ended  in  the  triumph  of  the  church. 
The  Roman  pontiffs,  says  a  late  writer,  have  always  possessed  an  ad- 
vantage over  the  other  sovereigns  of  Europe,  from  the  singular  union 
of  ecclesiastical  and  temporal  power  in  the  same  person ;  two  engines- 
which  long  experience  had  taught  them  to  use  with  a  dexterity  equal 
to  that  with  which  the  heroes  of  antiquity  availed  themselves  by  turns 
of  the  shield  and  the  spear.  When  schemes  of  ambition  and  aggran- 
dizement were  to  be  pursued,  the  pope,  as  a  temporal  prince,  could  en- 
ter into  alliances,  raise  supplies,  and  furnish  his  contingent  of  troops, 
so  as  effectually  to  carry  on  an  offensive  war ;  but  no  sooner  was  he 
endangered  by  defeat,  and  alarmed  for  the  safety  of  his  own  govern- 
ment, than  he  resorted  for  shelter  to  his  pontifical  robes,  and  loudly 


444  History  of  the  Christian  Church. 

called  upon  all  Christendom  to  defend  from  violation  the  head  of  the 
holy  church.  These  characters  were  successively  assumed  with  great 
address  and  advantage  ;  and  although  some  difficulties  might  occasion- 
ally arise  in  the  exercise  of  them,  yet  the  world  has  been  sufficiently 
indulgent  to  their  situation ;  nor  has  even  the  shedding  of  Christian 
blood  been  thought  an  invincible  objection  to  the  conferring  on  a  deceas- 
ed pontiff  the  honour  of  adoration,  and  placing  him  in  the  highest 
order  of  sainthood  conferred  by  the  church.* 

At  the  opening  of  the  sixteenth  century  the  pontifical  chair  was  filled 
by  Alexander  VI.  who  died  in  1503,  after  a  reign  of  eleven  years,  leav- 
ing behind  him  a  memory,  says  Voltaire,  more  odious  than  the  Nero's 
or  Caligula's,  because  a  greater  degree  of  guilt  arose  from  the  sanctity 
of  his  character.  He  was  succeeded  by  Julius  II.  who,  after  a  military 
but  successful  reign  of  a  few  years,  gave  place  to  the  celebrated  Leo  X. 
in  whose  pontificate  Luther  commenced  hostilities  with  the  papacy, 
threw  off  his  allegiance  to  the  See  of  Rome,  and  entered  upon  his  career 
of  reform.     A.  D.  1517. 

To  enter  upon  any  thing  like  a  circumstantial  detail  of  the  History 
of  the  Reformation,  would  not  only  demand  much  more  space  than 
can  be  allotted  to  it  in  the  present  undertaking,  but  would  also,  in  a 
great  measure,  be  to  depart  from  my  leading  object.  Nor,  indeed,  is 
such  a  narrative  called  for  by  the  public  exigence.  Any  deficiency  of 
that  kind  which  may  be  experienced  by  the  readers  of  the  present 
work,  may  readily  be  supplied  by  consulting  the  authors  mentioned 
below,*  whose  writings  are  in  the  hands  of  every  scholar.  Instead, 
therefore,  of  treading  this  beaten  track  over  again,  I  shall  only  remark 
upon  it,  that  the  flame  which  was  kindled  throughout  Europe,  at  this 
time,  by  the  preaching  and  writings  of  Luther  and  his  associates,  so 
completely  occupied  the  attention  of  the  Catholic  party  for  about  a  do- 
zen years,  namely,  from  1517  to  1530,  that  the  Waldenses,  both  in 
France  and  Piedmont,  were  happily,  in  a  great  measure,  overlooked. 
But  as  the  conflagration  excited  by  Luther's  hostility  gradually  sub- 
sided, they  began  again  to  attract  the  notice  of  their  adversaries,  and  to 
come  in  for  an  equal  share  of  their  malice  and  malignity ;  of  the  truth 
of  which  the  reader  will  soon  have  abundant  proof. 

In  the  year  1530,  the  Waldenses  seem  to  have  been  entirely  employ- 
ed in  paving  the  way  for  a  more  unreserved  intercourse  between  them 
and  the  German  Reformers.  Such  of  them  as  resided  in  the  south  of 
France,  had,  at  this  time,  been  sustaining  the  fire  of  papal  persecution, 
and  it  would  seem  that  they  had  not  encountered  it  with  their  usual 
fortitude.  Many  amongst  them  had  been  induced  to  shrink  from  the 
cross ;  and  to  avoid  its  inconvenience,  were  fallen  into  the  practice  of 
feigning  a  complaisant  kind  of  acquiescence  with  the  national  forms  of 
worship.  Some  of  the  Waldensian  churches  of  Provence  appear  to 
have  been  deeply  affected  at  seeing  this  Laodicean  conduct  prevail  ;  and 

*  Roscoe's  Life  and  Pontificate  of  Leo  X.  vol.  I.  ch.  i.  The  reference  is  to  the 
case  of  Saint  Leo.  IX 

f  Milner's  History  of  the  Christian  Church,  vol.  iv.  and  Sleidan's  History  of 
the  Reformation.    Robertson's  History  of  Charles  V.  &c.  &c. 


The  Waldenses'  letter  to  Ecolampadius.  445 

to  bring  the  matter  to  its  proper  bearing,  they  commissioned  two  of 
their  pastors,  viz.  George  Morel  and  Peter  Burgoine,  to  confer  with 
the  other  churches  and  with  some  of  the  Reformers  upon  that  subject. 
They  first  visited  their  sister  churches  in  the  neighbouring  provinces 
of  Dauphiny,  and  from  thence  proceeded  on  their  journey  towards 
Germany,  to  have  a  personal  interview  with  John  Ecolampadius, 
minister  of  Basle,  in  Switzerland  ;  with  Martin  Bucer,  at  Strasburgh  ; 
and  Richard  Haller,  at  Berne.  The  churches  sent  letters  by  them,  ex- 
plaining their  situation,  and  asking  their  advice.  The  following  is  an 
extract  of  their  letter  to  Ecolampadius. 

Health  be  to  you,  Mr.  Ecolampadius. 

"  Whereas  several  persons  have  given  us  to  understand  that  He 
who  is  able  to  do  all  things  hath  replenished  you  with  the  blessings  of 
his  Holy  Spirit,  as  conspicuously  appears  by  its  fruits,  we  have  re- 
course to  you  from  a  far  country  under  the  firm  hope  and  confidence, 
that  by  your  means  the  Holy  Spirit  will  enlighten  our  minds  into  the 
knowledge  of  several  things,  concerning  which  we,  at  present,  stand  in 
doubt."  They  then  proceed  to  explain  the  immediate  occasion  of  their 
writing — "  We,  poor  instructers  of  this  small  people,"  say  they, 
"have  sustained,  for  above  these  four  hundred  years,  most  severe 
and  cruel  persecutions,  not  without  signal  marks  of  Christ's  favour,  as 
all  the  faithful  can  testify  ;  for  he  has  often  interposed  for  the  deliver- 
ance of  his  people,  when  under  the  harrow  of  these  cruel  and  severe 
persecutions  ;  and  we  now  come  unto  you  for  advice  and  consolation 
in  this  our  state  of  distress,"  &c.  &c. 

The  particular  subjects  of  difficulty  and  distress  may  be  easily 
gathered  from  the  letter  which  Ecolampadius  wrote  them  in  reply, 
and  which  is  so  excellent  that  I  shall  here  insert  it  entire. 

Ecolampadius  ivishes  the  grace  of  God,  through  Jesus  Christ  his 
Son,  and  the  Holy  Spirit,  to  his  well-beloved  brethren  in  Christ,  called 
Waldenses. 

"  We  understand  that  the  fear  of  persecution  hath  caused  you  to 
conceal  and  dissemble  your  faith.  Now,  with  the  heart  we  believe 
unto  righteousness,  and  with  the  mouth  confession  is  made  unto  salva- 
tion. But  those  who  are  afraid  to  confess  Christ  before  the  world, 
shall  find  no  acceptance  with  God  the  Father ;  for  our  God  is  truth 
without  any  dissimulation ;  and  as  he  is  a  jealous  God,  he  cannot  en- 
dure that  any  of  his  servants  should  take  upon  them  the  yoke  of  anti- 
christ. For  there  is  no  fellowship  or  communion  between  Christ  and 
Belial ;  and  if  you  communicate  with  infidels,  by  going  to  their  abomi- 
nable masses,  you  will  there  hear  blasphemies  against  the  death  and 
sufferings  of  Christ.  For  when  they  boast,  that  by  means  of  such  sa- 
crifices they  make  satisfaction  to  God  for  the  sins  of  both  the  living 
and  the  dead,  what  naturally  follows  from  thence,  but  that  Christ  by 
his  death  hath  not  made  sufficient  expiation  and  satisfaction,  and  con- 
sequently that  Christ  is  not  Jesus — that  is,  not  a  Saviour,  and  that  he 
38 


446  History  of  the  Christian  Church. 

died  for  us  in  vain  ?  That  if  we  participate  of  that  impure  table,  we 
thereby  declare  ourselves  to  be  of  one  and  the  same  body  with  the 
wicked,  however  contrary  we  may  pretend  it  to  be  to  our  wills  and 
inclinations.  And  when  we  say  Amen  to  their  prayers,  do  we  not  deny 
Christ  ? 

"What  death  ought  we  not  rather  to  undergo;  what  torture  and  tor- 
ment ought  we  not  rather  to  endure — nay,  into  what  abyss  of  wo  and 
misery  ought  we  not  rather  to  plunge  ourselves,  than  by  our  presence 
to  testify  our  .consent  to,  and  approbation  of,  the  blasphemies  of  the 
wicked  ?  I  know  that  your  infirmity  is  great;  but  those  who  have  been 
taught  that  they  were  redeemed  by  the  blood  of  Christ,  ought  to  be 
more  courageous,  and  always  to  stand  in  awe  of  Him  who  can  cast  both 
body  and  soul  into  hell.  And  what !  is  it  enough  for  us  to  have  pre- 
served this  life  alone?  Shall  this  be  more  precious  to  us* than  that  of 
Christ  ?  And  are  we  satisfied  with  having  enjoyed  the  delights  and 
pleasures  of  this  world  ?  Are  there  not  crowns  laid  before  us,  and  shall 
we  flinch  back  and  recoil  ?  Who  will  believe  that  our  faith  was  true 
and  sincere,  if  it  want  zeal  and  ardour  in  the  time  of  persecution  ?  We 
beseech  the  Lord  to  increase  your  faith.  But  surely  it  is  better  for  us 
to  lose  our  lives  than  to  be  overcome  by  temptations.  And,  therefore, 
brethren,  I  beseech  you  thoroughly  to  consider  this  matter;  for  if  it  be 
lawful  for  us  to  conceal  our  faith  under  the  tyranny  of  antichrist,  it  must 
be  lawful  so  to  do  under  that  of  the  Turk,  and,  with  Dioclesian,  to 
worship  a  Jupiter  or  a  Venus.  It  would  then  have  been  lawful  for 
Tobit  to  worship  the  calf  in  Bethel — and  what  then  will  become  of  our 
faith  towards  God?  If  we  do  not  pay  to  God  that  honour  which  is  due 
to  him,  and  if  our  lives-be  nothing  else  than  hypocrisy  and  dissimula- 
tion, he  will  spew  us  out.  of  his  mouth,  like  base  and  lukewarm 
wretches.  And  how  shall  we  glorify  the  Lord  in  the  midst  of  suffer- 
ings and  tribulations,  if  we  deny  him  ?  We  must  not,  brethren,  look 
back,  when  once  we  have  put  our  hand  to  the  plough ;  nor  must  we 
yield  to  the  dictates  and  instigations  of  our  flesh,  which  by  prompting 
us  to  sin,  though  it  may  endure  many  things  that  are  distressing  in  this 
world — may,  after  all,  sutler  shipwreck  in  the  haven." 

This  excellent  letter  came  very  opportunely  to  the  aid  of  the  poor 
persecuted  Waldenses,  who  were  immediately  called  to  carry  its  prin- 
ciples into  effect.  Peter  Masson,  one  of  their  pastors,  and  messengers 
of  the  churches,  on  this  occasion,  returning  home,  was  seized  at  Dijon, 
and  condemned  to  death  as  a  Lutheran.  George  Morel  narrowly  es- 
caped with  his  letters  and  papers,  but  arrived  safe  in  Provence,  where 
he  laboured  assiduously  and  with  much  success  in  re-establishing  the 
Waldensian  churches.  But  the  reader  will  best  learn  the  state  of  affairs 
among  the  Waldensian  brethren  in  the  south  of  France,  from  the  year 
1540  to  1550,  by  my  laying  before  him  the  following  extracts  from  two 
eminent  writers,  who  lived  shortly  after  the  events  which  they  have  re- 
corded, and  whose  works  are  of  unquestionable  veracity;  and  I  the 
rather  do  this,  that  I  may  not  be  suspected  of  any  wish  to  exaggerate 
the  sanguinary  proceedings  of  the  Catholic  party  against  the  Waldenses. 
The  following  is  Sleidan's  account. — 

"  In  Provence,  in  France,  there  are  a  people  called  Waldenses,  who, 
by  an  ancient  custom,  acknowledge  not  the  pope  of  Rome,  having  al- 


Persecution  in  the  south  of  France.  447 

ways  professed  a  greater  purity  of  doctrine  ;  and,  since  Luther  appear- 
ed, eagerly  thirsted  after  knowledge.  Many  times  had  they  been  com- 
plained of  to  the  king,  as  despisers  of  magistrates  and  fornentors  of  re- 
bellion, which  envious,  rather  than  true  accusation,  is  by  most  made 
use  of  at  this  day.  They  live  together  in  some  towns  and  villages, 
amongst  which  is  Merindole.  About  five  years  since,  sentence  was 
pronounced  against  them  in  the  parliament  of  Aix,  the  chief  judicature 
of  the  province,  That  they  shall  all  promiscuously  be  destroyed,  that 
the  houses  shall  be  pulled  down,  the  village  levelled  with  the  ground, 
all  the  trees  also  cut  down,  and  the  place  rendered  a  desert.  Now 
though  this  sentence  was  pronounced,  yet  it  was  not  then  put  in  exe- 
cution, William  de  Bellay,  of  Langey,  the  king's  lieutesant  in  Pied- 
mont, with  some  others,  having  represented  the  matter  to  the  king,  as 
a  case  that  ought  to  be  reviewed  by  himself.  But,  at  length,  this  year, 
1545,  John  Meinier,  president  of  the  parliament  of  Aix,  having,  April 
the  12th,  called  the  parliament,  read  to  them  the  king's  letters,  which 
warranted  him  to  put  the  sentence  into  execution.  Now  Meinier  is 
said  to  have  procured  these  letters  by  means  of  the  Cardinal  of  Tour- 
non,  and  the  solicitation  of  Philip  Cortine,  a  proper  agent  in  the  case. 
However,  having  received  them  in  the  month  of  January,  he  did  not 
immediately  produce  them,  but  kept  them  till  a  season  more  proper  for 
the  exploit.  The  letters  being  read,  some  of  the  parliament  were  se- 
lected to  see  the  matter  put  in  execution,  to  whom  Meinier  offered  him- 
self as  assistant,  because  that  in  the  absence  of  Grignian,  the  governor 
of  the  province,  he  had  the  chief  command.  Before  that  time,  he  had 
by  the  king's  orders  raised  forces  for  the  English  war,  and  these  he 
made  use  of  for  his  purpose  :  besides  these,  he  commanded  all  that 
were  able  to  carry  arms  in  Marseilles,  Aix,  Aries,  and  other  populous 
places,  to  repair  to  him,  under  severe  penalties,  if  they  disobeyed,  hav- 
ing assistance  likewise  sent  him  from  the  country  of  Avignon,  under 
the  dominion  of  the  pope.  The  first  attempt  then  was  not  made  upon 
those  of  Merindole,  but  upon  the  country  adjoining  the  town  of  Per- 
tuse.  April  the  thirteenth,  Meinier  attended  by  a  multitude  of  gentle- 
men and  officers,  came  to  Cadeuet.  In  the  mean  time  some  officers 
made  an  irruption  into  one  or  two  villages  upon  the  river  of  La  Dru- 
ance,  and  putting  all  to  fire  and  sword,  plundered  and  carried  away  a 
great  many  cattle.  The  same  also  was  done  in  other  places,  whilst 
those  of  Merindole  seeing  all  in  a  flame  about  them,  left'their  habita- 
tions, flew  into  the  woods,  and  in  great  consternation  spent  the  night  at 
the  village  of  Sainfalaise.  The  inhabitants  of  that  place  were  them- 
selves preparing  to  fly ;  for  the  pope's  vice-legate  had  ordered  some 
officers  to  fall  upon  them,  and  put  them  to  the  sword.  Next  day  they 
advanced  farther  into  the  woods ;  for  they  were  beset  on  all  hands  with 
danger,  Meinier  having  made  it  death  for  any  person  to  aid  or  assist 
them,  and  commanding  them  all,  without  respect,  to  be  killed  wherever 
they  were  found.  The  same  edict  was  in  force  in  the  neighbouring 
places  of  the  pope's  jurisdiction,  and  some  bishops  of  that  country  were 
reported  to  have  maintained  a  great  part  of  those  forces.  They  had  a 
tedious  and  uneasy  journey  of  it  then,  marching  with  their  children  on 
their  backs  and' in  their  arms,  nay,  and  some  in  the  cradle;  poor 


448  History  of  the  Christian  Church. 

women  also  big  with  child  following  them.  When  they  were  got  to  the 
appointed  place,  whither  many  in  that  forlorn  condition  had  fled,  they 
had  intelligence  not  long  after,  that  Meinier  was  mustering  together  all 
his  forces,  that  he  might  fall  upon  them,  and  this  news  they  learnt  to- 
wards the  evening.  Wherefore,  consulting  together  what  was  best  to 
be  done,  they  resolved  upon  the  spot,  because  the  ways  were  rough  and 
difficult,  to  leave  their  wives,  daughters,  and  little  children  there,  with 
some  few  to  bear  them  company,  amongst  whom  was  one  of  their  min- 
isters, and  the  rest  betook  themselves  to  the  town  of  Mus  :  this  they  did 
in  hope,  that  the  enemy  might  show  some  compassion  towards  a  helpless 
and  comfortless  multitude.  But  what  wailing  and  lamentation,  what  sigh- 
ing and  embracing,  there  was  at  parting,  any  man  may  easily  imagine. 
Having  marched  all  night  long,  and  passed  the  mountain  De  Leberon,  they 
had  the  sad  prospect  of  many  villages  and  farms  all  in  a  flame.  Meinier, 
in  the  meantime,  having  divided  his  forces,  set  about  the  work  ;  and,  be- 
cause he  had  got  intelligence  of  the  place  to  which  those  of  Merindole 
had  betaken  themselves,  he  himself  marched  to  Merindole  and  sent  the 
rest  of  his  men  in  search  and  pursuit  of  them.  But,  before  these  were 
come  into  the  wood,  one  of  the  soldiers,  moved  with,  pity,  ran  before, 
and  from  the  top  of  a  rock,  in  the  place  where  he  judged  the  poor  fugi- 
tives might  have  rested,  he  threw  down  two  stones,  calling  to  them  by 
intervals,  though  he  did  not  see  them,  that  they  should  instantly  fly  for 
their  lives.  And  at  the  same  instant,  two  of  those  who  had  betaken 
themselves  to  Mus  came ;  and  having  got  notice  of  the  enemy's  ap- 
proach, advised  the  minister  of  the  church,  and  the  rest  of  those  few 
guards  that  were  left  with  the  women,  to  be  gone,  having  showed  them 
a  steep  way  through  the  wood,  by  which  they  might  escape  all  danger 
in  their  flight.  Hardly  were  these  gone,  when  the  raging  soldiers 
came  in  shouting  and  making  a  frightful  noise,  and  with  drawn  swords 
preparing  for  the  butchery.  However,  at  that  time  they  forbore  to  kill, 
but  having  committed  many  insolencies,  and  robbed  the  poor  creatures 
of  all  their  money  and  provisions,  they  carried  them  away  prisoners. 
They  had  purposed  to  have  used  them  more  basely,  but  a  captain  of 
horse  prevented  it,  who  by  chance  coming  in,  threatened  them,  and 
commanded  them  to  march  straight  to  Meineir  ;  so  that  they  proceed- 
ed no  farther,  but  leaving  the  women  there,  who  were  about  five 
hundred  in  number,  they  carried  off  the  cattle  and  booty.  In  the 
meantime  Meinier  came  to  Merindole,  and  finding  it  forsaken  by  the 
inhabitants,  he  plundered  and  set  it  on  fire,  which  was  ushered  in  by 
a  very  cruel  action  ;  for  having  found  there  one  single  youth,  he  com- 
manded him  to  be  tied  to  an  olive  tree,  and  there  shot  to  death.  He 
marched  next  to  Cabriere,  and  began  to  batter  the  town  ;  but,  by  the 
mediation  of  Captain  Poulain,  he  persuaded  the  town's  people,  upon 
promise  of  indemnity,  to  open  the  gates  ;  which  being  done,  and  the 
soldiers  let  in,  after  a  little  pause,  all  were  put  to  the  sword,  without 
respect  to  age  or  sex.  Many  fled  to  the  church,  others  to  other  places, 
and  some  into  the  wine-cellar  of  the  castle  ;  but  being  dragged  out  into 
a  meadow,  and  stripped  naked,  they  were  all  put  to  the  sword,  not 
only  the  men,  but  also  the  women,  and  many  of  these  with  child  too. 
Meinier  also  shut  up  about  forty  women  in  a  barn  full  of  hay  and 


Cruelties  against  the  TValdenses  in  France.  449 

straw,  and  then  set  it  on  fire  ;  and  after  that,  the  poor  creatures  having 
attempted,  in  vain,  to  smother  the  fire  with  their  clothes,  which  for 
that  end  they  had  pulled  off,  betook  themselves  to  the  great  window, 
at  which  the  hay  is  commonly  pitched  up  into  the  barn,  with  an  inten- 
tion to  leap  down  from  thence :  but  they  were  kept  in  with  pikes  and 
spears,  so  that  all  of  them  perished  in  the  flames ;  and  this  happened 
on  the  twentieth  of  April.  Meinier  after  this  sent  part  of  his  forces  to 
besiege  the  town  of  Coste  ;  but  when  the)'  were  just  upon  their  march, 
those  were  found,  who,  as  we  said  a  little  before,  had  fled  into  the 
wine-cellar  of  the  castle :  a  noise  being  thereupon  raised,  as  if  there 
had  been  some  ambush  laid,  the  soldiers  were  recalled,  who  put  every 
man  of  them  to  the  sword.  The  number  of  the  slain,  as  well  in  the 
town  as  abroad  in  the  fields,  amounted  to  eight  hundred  !  The  young 
infants  which  survived  the  fury,  were  for  the  most  re-baptized  by  the 
enemy.  Affairs  thus  despatched  at  Cabriere,  the  forces  were  sent  to 
Coste :  the  lord  of  that  town  had  beforehand  agreed  with  the  inhabi- 
tants, that  they  should  carry  their  arms  into  the  castle,  and  in  four 
places  make  breaches  in  the  walls :  which  if  they  did,  he  promised 
them  that  he  would  use  his  interest,  which  he  knew  could  easily  pre- 
vail with  Meinier,  that  they  should  receive  no  damage.  Being  over 
persuaded,  they  obeyed;  and  he  departed  with  a  purpose  seemingly  to 
treat  and  intercede  for  them  ;  but  he  was  not  gone  far  before  the  sol- 
diers met  him,  who  nevertheless  proceeded  in  their  march,  and  attack- 
ed the  place.  At  the  first  onset  they  did  but  little,  but  next  day  they 
more  briskly  renewed  the  assault :  and  having  burnt  all  the  suburbs 
about,  they  easily  became  masters  of  the  place,  and  the  rather,  that  the 
night  before,  most  had  deserted  the  town  and  fled,  having  got  down 
over  the  walls  by  ropes.  After  the  victorious  had  put  all  that  stood  in 
their  way  to  fire  and  sword,  they  ran  into  a  garden  adjoining  the  castle, 
and  there  satiated  their  lust  upon  the  women  and  young  girls  promis- 
cuously, who  in  great  fear  and  consternation  had  fled  thither,  and  for  a 
day  and  night's  time,  that  they  kept  them  shut  up  there,  so  inhumanly 
and  barbarously  did  they  use  them,  that  the  pregnant  women  and 
younger  girls  shortly  after  died  of  it.  In  the  meantime  the  Merindo- 
lians,  and  many  others  who  wandered  with  them  over  the  woods  and 
rocks,  being  taken,  were  either  sent  to  the  galleys,  or  put  to  death,  and 
many  also  were  starved.  Not  far  also  from  the  town  of  Muss,  as  we 
mentioned  before,  some  five-and-twenty  men  had  got  into  a  cave,  and 
kept  lurking  there,  but  being  betrayed,  all  of  them  were  either  smo- 
thered with  smoke  or  burnt :  so  that  no  kind  of  cruelty  was  omitted. 
Some,  however,  that  had  escaped  this  butchery,  got  to  Geneva,  and  the 
places  thereabouts.  When  the  news  of  this  was  brought  into  Germany, 
many  were  highly  offended  thereat ;  and  the  Swiss,  who  are  not  of 
the  popish  religion,  interceded  with  the  French  king,  that  he  would  be 
merciful  to  those  who  had  fled  their  country.  But  the  king  answered 
them,  that  he  had  just  cause  for  what  he  had  done  ;  and  that  what  he  did 
within  his  own  territories,  and  how  he  punished  the  guilty,  concerned 
them  no  more  to  know,  than  it  did  him  what  was  done  amongst  them."* 

*  Sleidan's  History  of  the  Reformation,  b.  xvi. 


450  History  of  the  Christian  Church. 

I  cannot  better  close  this  section  than  by  an  extract  from  an  eminent 
Catholic  writer,  who  was  cotemporary  with  the  dreadful  occurrences 
which  he  has  so  impartially  recorded  ;  and  notwithstanding  its  length, 
and  also  that  it  touches  upon  some  particulars  already  adverted  to  by 
Sleidan,  I  persuade  myself  that  its  importance  and  interesting  nature 
will  more  than  compensate  for  its  prolixity. 

"  When  the  inhabitants  of  Merindole  and  Cabriere,  at  the  report  of 
those  things  which  were  done  in  Germany,  lifted  up  their  crests,  and 
hiring  teachers  out  of  Germany,  discovered  themselves  more  manifestly 
than  they  had  done  before,  they  were  brought  to  judgment  by  the  par- 
liament of  Aix,  at  the  instance  of  the  king's  procurator  ;  but  being  ad- 
monished by  their  friends  and  deterred  by  the  danger  that  undoubtedly 
attended  their  trial,  they  failed  to  appear.  And  having  been  summoned 
for  three  market-days  together,  they  were  condemned  as  contumacious, 
by  a  most  horrible  and  immeasurably  cruel  sentence,  on  the  eighteenth 
day  of  November,  about  the  year  1540,  Bartholomew  la  Chassagne,  a 
lawyer  of  great  reputation,  being  at  that  time  president  of  the  parliament. 
By  that  decree  the  fathers  of  families  were  condemned  to  the  flames, 
and  the  estates,  wives,  children,  and  servants  of  the  condemned  parties 
confiscated  to  the  use  of  the  treasury.  And  because  Merindole  had 
hitherto  been  the  usual  den  and  receptacle  of  such  sort  of  infected  per- 
sons, it  was  ordered,  that  all  the  houses  should  be  laid  level  with  the 
ground,  that  the  subterraneous  caves  and  vaults,  where  they  might  be 
concealed,  should  be  demolished  and  filled  up  ;  that  the  wood  round 
about  it  should  be  cut  down,  and  even  the  very  trees  of  the  gardens ; 
that  the  possessions  of  those  who  dwelt  at  Merindole  should  not  be  so 
much  as  let  for  the  future  to  any  of  the  same  family,  or  even  of  the 
same  name  with  the  former  owners.  The  execution  of  this  cruel  de- 
cree was  committed  to  the  ordinary  judges  of  Aix,  Tournes,  St.  Maxi- 
mim,  and  Apt :  but  it  was  thought  by  most  people  very  proper  to  be 
suspended,  until  in  process  of  time  the  sentence  issued  against  the  ab- 
sent and  contumacious,  should  pass  by  the  laws  and  customs  of  the 
realm  into  a  definite  sentence.  Others,  on  the  contrary,  judged  it 
more  fit  to  be  precipitate,  out  of  hatred  to  the  crime,  and  regard  to  the 
danger  which  that  contagion  certainly  threatened,  if  any  delay  were  in- 
terposed. In  the  first  place  the  bishop  of  Aix  and  Aries  pressed  Chas- 
sagne to  proceed  against  the  rebels  with  an  armed  force,  promising,  in 
their  own  and  the  name  of  the  other  ecclesiastics,  a  great  sum  of  mo- 
ney towards  the  expense  of  that  war.  Whilst  they  disputed  on  each 
side  with  great  warmth,  the  matter  was  put  off,  by  a  method  ridiculous 
enough  in  itself,  but  well  accommodated  to  the  person  with  whom  it 
was  used.  There  was  at  Aix,  Nicholas  Aliens,  a  gentleman  of  Aries, 
of  great  respectability,  and  not  unskilled  in  letters,  an  intimate  friend  of 
Chassagne's,  who,  shocked  at  the  injustice  of  the  decree,  and  greatly 
desiring  to  have  it  respited,  at  a  private  conference,  addressed  himself 
to  the  wavering  president  in  the  following  speech. 

"  You  are  not  ignorant  of  the  discourses  which  every  where  pass  in 
relation  to  the  sentence  lately  issued  against  the  inhabitants  of  Merin- 
dole ;  nor  is  it  my  business  or  inclination  to  give  my  opinion  of  them, 
well  knowing  how  important  it  is  to  a  well  ordered  commonwealth, 


Mice  excommunicated  by  the  clergy.  451 

that  judgments  should  be  solemnly  regarded,  and  not  rashly  called  in 
question.  But  if  we  consider  the  magnitude  of  the  affair,  it  seems 
worthy  of  inquiry,  whether  the  execution  ought  not  to  be  deferred,  and 
the  bitterness  of  the  sentence  mitigated  by  the  advantage  of  a  delay.  As 
various  and  very  considerable  reasons  may  be  alleged  for  that  delay,  I 
have  determined  to  treat  familiarly  with  you,  by  the  help  of  your  own 
arguments,  agreeably  to  that  intimacy  which  subsists  between  us.  Do 
you  not  remember,  whilst  you  were  yet  sitting  only  on  the  lower  bench 
of  justice  at  Autun,  what  you  formerly  thought  in  the  case  of  the  mice  ? 
For  you  have  even  published  a  narrative  of  it ;  and  such  is  your  mo- 
desty and  candour,  that  I  have  observed  you  to  call  to  mind  the  trans- 
actions of  those  times  with  pleasure.  This  is  the  account  you  give. 
When,  in  the  bailliage  of  Autun,  a  great  multitude  of  mice  had  done 
much  damage  by  eating  the  corn,  the  country  people  could  think  of  no 
more  immediate  remedy  for  this  new  disaster,  than  that  the  bishop  or 
his  vicar  should  excommunicate  the  mice.  The  affair  then  being  laid 
before  the  bishop's  vicar,  he  was  of  opinion,  that  the  crier  of  the  court 
should  give  them  three  citations  ;  which  done,  he  was  still  unwilling 
to  pronounce  sentence,  till  the  mice  had  an  advocate  assigned  them, 
who  should  plead  for  them  in  their  absence.  You,  therefore,  under- 
took the  patronage  of  the  mice,  and  in  that  case,  in  pursuance  of  the 
character  which  you  sustained,  you  by  many  arguments  persuaded  the 
judges,  that  the  mice  had  not  been  regularly  summoned  ;  you  obtained 
for  them  that  a  fresh  day  should  be  set  them  by  the  curates  of  the  re- 
spective parishes,  forasmuch  as  the  lives  of  all  the  mice  were  concern- 
ed in  the  issue  of  that  trial.  And  when  you  had  gained  that  point,  you 
again  showed,  that  too  short  a  time  had  been  given  them,  considering 
that  the  mice  who  were  to  appear  were  waylaid  in  every  village  by  the 
cats.  You  then  brought  many  things  out  of  the  Holy  Scriptures  in  de- 
fence of  your  clients,  and  prevailed  at  length  to  have  a  longer  time  as- 
signed them,  in  which  proceeding  you  acquired  great  reputation  for 
equity  and  knowledge  of  the  law.  I  now  call  you  to  your  own  book, 
and  your  own  arguments.  For  what  can  sound  harsher  in  the  ears  of 
mankind,  than  that  you,  who  in  the  case  of  mice  thought  the  due  course 
of  judgment  proper  to  be  observed,  should  think  it  fit  to  be  perverted 
in  a  cause  wherein  the  life,  safety,  and  fortunes  of  men  are  concerned. 
Beware,  therefore,  lest  you  incur  the  fault  of  those  fencing  masters, 
who,  when  they  fight  at  blunts,  observe  the  rules  of  the  science,  and 
often  come  off  conquerors ;  but  when  they  are  to  draw  their  sword 
against  an  enemy,  are  either  so  enraged  or  confounded,  that  they  forget 
their  art,  and  generally  suffer  themselves  to  be  stabbed.  What  you  ob- 
served in  that  ludicrous  process,  when  you  were  yet  but  a  youth,  and 
little  better  than  a  private  person,  will  you  neglect  in  so  serious  an  af- 
fair, at  that  age  and  in  that  station,  wherein  you  have  raised  such  an 
universal  opinion  of  yourself?  Are  the  lives  of  so  many  wretched  men 
so  cheap  a  thing,  that  they  shall  find  a  harder  fate  at  your  hands,  now 
you  are  judge,  than  the  mice  formerly  experienced  under  your  patron- 
age ?  I  do  not  speak  of  their  innocence.  But  yqu  yourself  know  how 
many  things  they  are  maliciously  and  wrongfully  charged  with,  and 
that  in  other  respects  they  are  diligent  worshippers  of  God,  and  never 


452  History  of  the  Christian  Church. 

refuse  to  pay  their  landlords  their  dues,  nor  to  yield  tribute  or  obe- 
dience to  the  prince  or  the  magistrate.  Therefore,  by  the  friendship 
which  is  betwixt  us,  I  conjure  you  again  and  again  maturely  to  weigh 
these  reasons,  and  to  persuade  yourself,  that  in  a  cause  which  respects 
the  life  and  death  and  fortunes  of  men,  no  delay  can  be  too  long.* 

"  By  this  speech  Aliens  prevailed  with  Chassagne  to  respite  the 
business,  and  to  dismiss  the  troops  which  had  already  rendezvoused  in 
great  numbers,  until  he  could  know  the  mind  of  the  king  ;  who  being 
informed  of  the  decree  by  William  du  Bellay  Sieur  de  Langey,  lieute- 
nant general  in  Piedmont,  commanded  the  latter  to  inform  himself  of 
the  case,  and  to  transmit  him  an  account  of  it.  Accordingly,  after  due 
inquiry,  he  made  this  discovery,  that  the  Vandois,  or  Waldenses,  were 
a  people,  who  about  three  hundred  years  before  had  hired,  of  the  own- 
ers, a  rocky  and  uncultivated  part  of  the  country,  which  by  dint  of 
pains  and  constant  tillage,  they  had  rendered  productive  of  fruits  and  fit 
for  cattle  ;  that  they  were  extremely  patient  of  labour  and  want;  abhor- 
ring all  contentions  ;  kind  to  the  poor  ;  that  they  paid  the  prince's  taxes, 
and  their  lord's  dues  with  the  greatest  exactness  and  fidelity  ;  that  they 
kept  up  a  show  of  divine  worship  by  daily  prayer  and  innocence  of 
manners ;  but  seldom  came  to  the  churches  of  the  saints,  unless  by 
chance  when  they  went  to  the  neighbouring  towns  for  traffic  or  other  bu- 
siness ;  and  whenever  they  set  their  feet  in  them,  they  paid  no  adoration 
to  the  statues  of  God  or  the  saints,  nor  brought  them  any  tapers  or  other 
presents  ;  nor  ever  entreated  the  priests  to  say  mass  for  them,  or  the 
souls  of  their  relations  ;  nor  crossed  their  foreheads,  as  is  the  manner 
of  others  ;  that  when  it  thundered  they  never  sprinkled  themselves  with 
holy  water,  but,  lifting  up  their  eyes  to  heaven,  implored  the  assistance 
of  God  ;  that  they  never  made  religious  pilgrimages,  nor  uncovered  their 
heads  in  the  public  ways  before  the  crucifixes  :  that  they  performed 
their  worship  in  a  strange  manner,  and  in  the  vulgar  tongue ;  and  lastly, 
paid  no  honour  to  the  Pope  or  the  bishops,  but  esteemed  some  select 
persons  of  their  own  number  as  priests  and  doctors.  When  this  report 
was  made  to  Francis,  on  the  eighth  day  of  February,  he  despatched  an 
arret  to  the  parliament  of  Aix,  wherein,  having  pardoned  all  past  crimes, 
he  allowed  the  Waldenses  the  space  of  three  months,  within  which 
time  they  were  required  publicly  to  revoke  their  opinions  :  and  that  it 

*  That  this  whimsical  circumstance,  namely,  the  excommunication  of  the  mice 
by  the  spiritual  court,  actually  took  place,  as  related  by  our  author,  can  admit  of 
no  reasonable  doubt.  Nor,  indeed,  ought  it  that  the  cause  of  the  poor  mice  was 
successfully  pleaded  by  this  eminent  counsellor.  The  question,  however,  will 
naturally  strike  a  reflecting1  mind,  "Were  the  inhabitants  of  the  country,  who 
indicted  the  mice  for  misdemeanor,  really  in  eaAest  in  this  ludicrous  affair;  or 
was  it  only  what,  in  modern  style,  is  called  a  hoax  upon  the  clergy  ?"  For  my- 
self, I  have  little  doubt  that  the  latter  was  the  case;  and  that  both  the  indictment 
and  the  pleadings  of  the  counsel  were  designed  to  burlesque  the  proceedings  of 
the  Catholic  clergy,  in  the  treatment  of  the  heretics.  The  main  difliculty  is  to 
believe  that  the  clergy  themselves  could  be  so  stupid  as  not  to  see  it  in  this  light. 
And  I  am  perfectly  aware  that,  in  the  present  enlightened  era,  an  historian  is  in 
danger  of  shocking  the  credibility  of  his  readers  even  while  he  impartially  re- 
lates the  mummery  that  was  prevalent  among  the  Catholics  of  those  days:  Wit- 
ness the  feast  of  the  ass,  mentioned  in  my  first  volume.  Authob. 


Character  of  the  Waldenses.  453 

might  be  known  who  they  were  that  were  willing  to  reap  the  benefit  of 
the  amnesty,  it  was  ordered  that  chosen  persons  out  of  the  towns  and 
villages  should  appear  at  Aix,  in  the  name  of  the  rest  of  the  multitude, 
and  publicly  abjure  their  error:  if  they  persisted  in  it,  the  parliament 
were  empowered  and  commanded  to  punish  them  after  the  example  of 
former  ages,  and  if  need  were,  to  call  in  the  military  officers  to  their 
aid.  The  arret  being  read  in  the  senate,  Francis  Chais  and  William 
Armand  came  to  Aix,  in  the  name  of  the  people  of  Merindole,  and  pre- 
sented a  petition  to  the  parliament,  that  the  cause  might  be  reheard  and 
examined  by  a  disputation  of  divines  ;  contending  that  it  was  unjust, 
that,  before  they  were  convicted,  tney  should  confess  themselves  here- 
tics, or  be  condemned  unheard.  La  Chassagne,  in  whose  breast  his 
friend's  advice  had  made  a  deep  impression,  calling  aside  the  deputies  in 
the  presence  of  the  king's  advocates,  admonished  them  to  acknowledge 
their  error,  and  not  by  their  excessive  obstinacy  lay  the  judges  under 
the  necessity  of  dealing  with  them  more  harshly  than  agreed  with  their 
inclinations  :  But  as  they  still  continued  to  press  La  Chassagne  to  take 
cognizance  of  their  opinions,  he  at  length  obtained  of  those  stubborn 
people,  that  they  should  present  the  heads  of  their  doctrine  to  the  par- 
liament, who  would  transmit  them  to  his  majesty.  The  townsmen  of 
Cabrieres,  in  the*county  of  Venaisoin,  were  attacked  at  the  same  time 
by  those  of  Avignon ;  and,  as  they  were  all  concerned  in  the  common 
danger,  they  drew  up  a  common  profession  of  their  religion,  resembling 
Luther's  in  the  most  points,  and  sent  one  copy  to  Francis,  who  put  it 
into  the  hands  of  Castellain  to  be  examined  by  him,  and  another  to  Car- 
dinal James  Sadolet,  bishop  of  Carpentras ;  who,  being  of  a  pious  and 
mild  disposition,  received  the  suppliants  with  great  humanity,  and  in- 
genuously declared,  that  whatever  else  they  were  charged  with,  beyond 
what  was  contained  in  that  book,  were  mere  slanders  invented  to  create 
them  ill-will ;  for  that  after  a  thorough  inquiry  he  had  gained  a  perfect 
knowledge  of  that  matter ;  but  that  in  the  book  that  was  offered,  there 
seemed  to  be  many  things  which  might  be  mended  by  a  small  altera- 
tion, and  others  reflecting  upon  the  Pope  and  the  prelates,  which  might 
be  corrected  by  a  more  temperate  style  :  that  however  he  wished  them 
well;  and  that  it  would  never  be  with  his  good  liking,  if  they  were 
treated  in  an  hostile  manner ;  and  that  he  would  repair,  by  the  first  op- 
portunity, to  his  seat  at  Cabrieres,  and  examine  the  whole  affair  upon 
the  spot.  Besides  these  expressions  he  showed  them  real  marks  of  a 
favourable  and  sincere  regard,  by  repressing  the  deputy  of  Avignon,  who 
was  advancing  with  an  armed  force,  and  admonishing  him  to  retire. 
The  confession  of  the  people  of  Merindole  being  exhibited,  by  a  decree 
of  parliament,  John  Durandi  and  the  bishop  of  Cavaillon  with  some 
other-divines  went  to  Merindole,  to  convince  the  poor  villagers  of  their 
error,  and  to  grant  a  pardon  to  such  as  should,  upon  oath,  renounce  it: 
but  although  they  continued  in  their  obstinate  spirit  of  opposition,  yet, 
as  long  as  Chassagne  lived,  no  violence  was  employed  against  them, 
because  the  king  had  taken  to  himself  the  cognizance  of  the  whole  mat- 
ter: but  when  he  was  carried  off  by  a  sudden  death,  and  succeeded  by 
John  Meinier,  baron  Oppede,  (a  vehement  man,  and  one,  who  for  cer- 
tain affronts  received  from  the  people  of  Cabrieres,  to  whom  some  of 


454  History  of  the  Christian  Church. 

his  farms  were  adjoining,  was  their  bitter  enemy)  the  hatred  against  the 
Waldenses  was  renewed.  This  nobleman,  in  the  absence  of  Lewis  des 
Emars,  count  of  Grignan,  who  had  been  sent  by  the  king  to  the 
diet  of  Worms,  took  upon  himself  the  chief  command  in  Provence,  and 
assured  Francis,  by  letters,  that  the  Waldenses  were  met  together  to 
the  number  of  sixteen  thousand  men,  with  a  design  to  seize  Marseilles, 
and  to  raise  commotions  in  Provence.  He  also  sent  Philip  Courtin,  ap- 
paritor of  the  court,  to  demand,  in  the  name  of  the  king's  advocate,  that 
the  judgment  given  against  the  rebels  might  be  put  in  execution.  The 
king,  exasperated  by  this  information,  and  being  further  instigated  by 
the  Cardinal  de  Tournon,  a  kinsman  to  Grignan,  and  a  bitter  enemy 
to  this  sort  of  men,  sent  letters  to  the  parliament,  in  the  month  of  Jan- 
uary, in  the  year  1545,  whereby  he  permitted  them  to  proceed  against 
the  Merindolians  and  the  rest  of  the  Waldenses,  according  to  law  :  and 
when  the  states  of  the  empire,  by  their  letters  from  Ratisbon,  and  the 
protestant  Swiss  Cantons  were  urgent,  that  not  only  the  penalty,  but  the 
condition  of  acknowledging  their  error  might  be  remitted,  because  there- 
by force  was  afforded  to  resolution  and  conscience,  he  constantly  de- 
nied their  request;  and  when  afterwards  he  was  pressed  by  them  to  be 
merciful  to  the  dispersed  remains  of  those  people,  he  bluntly  answered, 
that  they  ought  not  to  trouble  themselves  with  what  he  did  in  his  own 
country,  or  how  he  punished  delinquents,  any  more  than  he  concerned 
himself  with  their  affairs.  Meinier,  therefore,  having  received  those 
orders,  kept  them  by  him  for  some  time,  in  expectation  of  a  fairer  op- 
portunity :  for  in  the  meanwhile  levies  were  made  every  where  under 
the  pretence  of  the  English  war,  and  he  would  not  suffer  the  secret  to 
be  divulged,  that  so  he  might  fall  upon  them  unawares.  But  when 
things  were  in  readiness,  and  he  had  under  severe  penalties  summoned 
all  those  who  were  capable  of  bearing  arms  at  Aix,  Aries,  Marseilles, 
and  other  populous  towns,  to  come  into  the  field ;  and  when  six  com- 
panies of  foot,  with  a  squadron  of  horse,  commanded  by  Poulain,  and 
other  auxiliary  troops  from  Piedmont  and  Avignon  were  already  assem- 
bled, the  royal  letters  which  had  been  hitherto  suppressed,  were  read  in 
parliament :  whereupon  the  senators,  upon  the  12th  of  April,  decreed  the 
execution  of  the  sentence  passed  upon  the  people  of  Merindole  :  and  the 
business  was  committed  to  the  president,  Francis  de  la  Fons,  with  the 
counsellors  Honore  de  Tributiis,  and  Bernard  de  Badet,  to  whom  was 
joined  Nicholas  Guerin  the  king's  advocate,  and  principal  incendiary  of 
the  war.  Oppede,  the  day  following,  accompanied  wifli  a  great  body 
of  nobles,  repaired  to  the  army  at  Cadenet,  bringing  with  him  four  hun- 
dred pioneers.  The  first  attack  was  made  upon  the  country  adjoined 
to  the  town  of  Pertuys  ;  the  villages  of  Pupin,  La  Mote,  and  St.  Martin, 
near  the  Durance ;  these  were  taken,  pillaged  and  set  on  fire.  On  the 
following  day  the  little  towns  of  Ville-Laure,  Lourmarin,  Gensson, 
Trezemines,  and  La  Roque,  from  whence  the  multitude  had  fled, 
were  cruelly  burnt,  and  all  the  cattle  driven  away.  Then  Oppede 
consulted  about  attacking  Merindole  ;  but  when  the  inhabitants  saw 
the  country  round  about  it  in  flames,  they  fled  into  the  neighbouring 
woods  with  their  wives  and  children ;  which  exhibited  a  most  lament- 
able spectacle,  for  in  those  by-ways  were  to  be  seen  marching,  old 


Attach  on  the  Waldenses  in  Provence.  455 

men  mixed  with  boys,  and  women  carrying  their  crying  infants  in 
cradles,  or  in  their  arms  or  laps.  They  rested  the  first  night  at 
Sanfalaise,  where  also  the  inhabitants  were  preparing  all  things  for 
a  flight,  because  they  knew  that  the  Bishop  of  Cavaillon,  the  pope's 
legate,  had  ordered  his  men  to  massacre  them.  The  next  day  they 
advanced  farther  under  the  security  of  the  thick  woods,  full  of  fears 
from  every  quarter :  for  Oppede  had  outlawed  the  Waldenses,  and 
had  ordered,  under  pain  of  death,  that  none  should  give  them  any  relief, 
but  that  wherever  they  were  found,  they  should  (without  respect  to 
age  or  sex)  be  all  murdered.  And  now  after  an  excessively  long  jour- 
ney, they  had  reached  their  appointed  station,  the  women  being  hardly 
able  to  stand  under  the  burden  of  their  big  bellies,  or  children ;  and 
many  others,  Avho  had  left  their  habitations,  had  flocked  together  at  the 
same  place,  when  towards  night  they  were  informed  Meinier  was  at 
hand  with  all  his  forces.  Hereupon  they  were  obliged  to  take  counsel 
on  a  sudden ;  and  leaving  there  all  the  women  and  feeble  part  of  their 
company,  whom  they  imagined  the  enemy  would  spare,  put  themselves 
again  on  the  way,  whilst  nothing  could  be  heard  but  the  most  dismal 
groans,  with  the  lamentations  and  screamings  of  the  women,  which 
were  re-echoed  by  the  mountains  and  woods,  and  all  things  were  in 
the  utmost  hurry  and  confusion.  When  they  had  spent  the  whole 
night  in  travelling,  at  last  climbing  over  Mount  Lubieres,  and  seeing 
the  villages  every  where  in  flames  and  the  farms  deserted,  they  pro- 
ceeded to  the  town  of  Mtis :  here  Oppede  divided  his  troops  into  two 
parts,  one  of  which  he  sent  to  pursue  the  fugitives,  for  he  had  been 
informed  of  their  flight  by  certain  spies,  and  the  other  he  took  with 
him  to  Merindole.  At  that  juncture  one  of  Oppede's  men,  touched 
with  compassion,  ran  before,  and  from  the  top  of  the  rock,  where  he 
guessed  the  Merindolians  were  settled,  flung  down  two  stones,  and  in 
the  interval  called  out  with  a  miserable  voice  to  them  to  save  them- 
selves by  flight :. immediately  some  persons  went  out  of  Mus,  to  order 
the  pastor  and  the  guides,  who  were  left  with  the  unarmed  multitude, 
to  escape,  showing  them  a  by-way  through  the  brambles ;  and  not 
long  after  Oppede's  men  appeared,  and  full  of  rage,  with  drawn  swords, 
demanded  the  slaughter  of  the  whole  company  ;  they  were  preparing 
to  use  the  women  in  a  still  viler  manner,  but  were  hindered  by  a  cap- 
tain, who  threatened  them  with  death,  if  they  did  not  forbear:  so  after 
they  had  stripped  them  and  drove  away  their  cattle,  they  departed. 
Oppede  entered  the  town  of  Merindole,  now  destitute  of  inhabitants, 
and  finding  there  only  one  youth,  Maurice  Blanc  by  name,  wreaked 
upon  him  that  fury  which  he  could  not  vent  upon  the  whole  body  of 
the  people  ;  and,  tying  him.  to  an  olive-tree,  ordered  him  to  be  cruelly 
shot  to  death :  then,  burning  and  demolishing  the  town,  he  marched 
straightway  to  Cabrieres.  When  the  townsmen,  of  whom  no  more 
than  sixty,  with  about  thirty  women,  were  left  in  the  place,  had  at  first 
shut  their  gates  against  him,  some  great  guns  were  brought  down,  upon 
which  they  surrendered  on  a  promise,  confirmed  by  Poulain  and  the 
lord  of  the  place,  of  having  their  lives  saved :  but  when  the  garrison 
was  admitted  they  were  all  seized,  even  they  who  lay  hid  in  the  dun- 
geon of  the  castle,  or  thought  themselves  secured  by  the  sacredness  of 


456  History  of  the  Christian  Church. 

the  church ;  and  being  dragged  out  from  thence  into  a  hollow  meadow 
were  put  to  death,  without  regard  to  age  or  the  assurances  given :  the 
number  of  the  slain,  within  and  without  the  town,  amounted  to  eight 
hundred :  the  women,  by  the  command  of  Oppede,  were  thrust  into  a 
barn  filled  with  straw,  and  fire  being  set  to  it,  when  they  endeavoured 
to  leap  out  of  the  window,  they  were  pushed  back  by  poles  and  pikes, 
and  miserably  suffocated  and  consumed  in  the  flames.  Thence  they  pro- 
ceeded to  La  Coste,  the  lord  of  which  place  having  passed  his  word  to 
the  townsmen  for  their  safety,  provided  they  carried  their  arms  into 
the  castle,  and  broke  down  their  walls  in  four  places,  the  credulous 
people  did  as  they  were  commanded ;  notwithstanding  which,  on  the 
arrival  of  Oppede,  the  suburbs  being  burnt  and  the  town  taken,  all  that 
were  found  left  in  the  place  were  murdered  to  a  man.  The  women 
who,  to  avoid  the  first  fury  of  the  soldiers,  had  retired  into  a  garden 
near  the  castle,  were  deflowered,  and,  after  the  rage  of  lust  was  extin- 
guished, handled  in  so  cruel  a  manner,  that  most  of  those  who  were 
with  child,  and  even  the  virgins,  died  either  of  grief,  or  by  hunger  and 
torments.  The  men,  who  sheltered  themselves  at  Mus,  being  at  length 
discovered,  underwent  the  same  fate  with  the  others  :  the  remainder  of 
them,  wandering  here  and  there  among  the  woods  and  solitary  moun- 
tains, led  a  wretched  life,  deprived  of  both  wives  and  children  ;  some 
few  escaped,  partly  to  Geneva,  and  partly  to  the  Swiss  Cantons.  In 
all  there  are  twenty-two  villages  reckoned,  which  were  punished  with 
the  last  severity  by  Oppede ;  by  whose  authority  judges  were  again 
selected,  to  make  inquiry  after  the  heretics ;  and  these  condemned  the 
rest  of  those  poor  wretches  either  to  the  gallies,  or  to  the  payment  of 
excessive  fines.  Some,  indeed,  were  absolved  ;  and  among  these  the 
tenants  of  Cental,  who  solemnly  adjured  their  error.  When  these 
things  were  done,  Oppede  and  the  committee  of  judges,  being  terrified 
by  their  conscience,  and  justly  apprehending  that  one  time  or  other 
their  heads  might  be  endangered  by  those  practices,  deputed  the  presi- 
dent De  la  Fons  to  the  king  to  load  the  slaughtered  and  harassed  peo- 
ple with  the  most  execrable  crimes,  and  to  make  it  appear  that,  consi- 
dering the  heinousness  of  their  oflence,  they  had  been  very  gently 
treated.  He  accordingly,  on  the  18th  day  of  August,  by  the  sugges- 
tions (as  it  is  thought)  of  the  Cardinal  de  Tournon,  obtained  an  instru- 
ment from  the  king,  wherein  he  seemed  to  approve  the  punishment  which 
was  taken  of  those  guilty  persons;  of  which,  however,  he  afterwards 
repented.  Many  writers  have  reported,  that,  among  the  last  commands 
which  he  gave  to  his  son  Henry,  he  added  this  expressly,  that  he 
should  make  inquisition  into  the  injuries  done  in  that  cause  by  the  par- 
liament of  Aix  to  the  Provencals;  and,  even  before  he  died,  he  caused 
John  Romano,  a  monk,  to  be  apprehended,  and  commanded  the  parlia- 
ment of  Aix  to  punish  him ;  for  he,  in  the  examination  of  heretics,  in- 
vented anew  kind  of  torture,  ordering  the  tortured  parties  to. put  on 
boots  full  of  boiling  tallow,  and  after  laughing  at  them,  and  clapping  on 
a  pair  of  spurs,  he  would  ask  them,  whether  they  were  not  finely 
equipt  for  a  journey.  But  this  man,  being  Avell-informed  of  the  decree 
of  the  parliament,  fled  to  Avignon ;  where,  though  secured,  as  he  ima- 
gined, from  men,  he  did  not  escape  the  Divine  vengeance,  being  robbed 


Review  of  Papal  Cruelties.  457 

of  all  his  effects  by  his  servants,  and  reduced  to  extreme  poverty,  whilst 
his  body  was  so  overrun  with  filthy  boils,  that  he  wished  for  death, 
which  he  did  not  obtain  until  very  late,  and  after  the  most  horrible  tor- 
ments. 

Upon  the  death,  therefore,  of  Francis,  when  the  Cardinal  de  Tour- 
non  and  the  Count  de  Grignan,  who  had  long  flourished  in  the  king's 
favour,  were  violently  hated  by  those  who  were  placed  about  the  new 
king;  the  Merindolians  and  Waldenses,  who  knew  of  their  disgrace, 
gathering  together  their  remains  into  abody,  formed  a  complaint  of  the 
injustice  and  cruelty  of  the  parliament  of  Aix,  and,  out  of  spite  to  them, 
easily  obtained  to  have  their  cause  heard  over  again.  The  Duke  of 
Guise  was  their  principal  encourager,  who  procured  for  himself  the 
county  of  Grignan  under  the  title  of  a  gift  or  sale  from  Lewis  des  Emars, 
to  exempt  him  from  danger.  For  though  all  things  had  been  acted  in 
the  count's  absence,  as  we  mentioned,  yet  because  they  were  said  to  be 
done  by  Oppede  his  lieutenant,  and  by  his  order,  he  also  himself  was 
brought  into  a  share  of  peril.  The  matter  was  first  debated  in  the  great 
council,  as  it  is  called :  afterwards  when  Oppede,  De  la  Fons,  De  Tri- 
butiis,  Badet,  and  Guerin,  being  called  upon  to  answer,  they  defended 
themselves  by  the  plea  of  a  sentence  past,  against  the  execution  whereof 
the  royal  advocate  had  not  appealed ;  at  length,  by  a  new  arret  of  the 
17th  day  of  March,  the  king  took  the  cause  into  his  own  cognizance. 
And  because  the  question  concerned  the  force  and  authority  of  the  su- 
preme court  of  Aix,  he  committed  the  hearing  both  of  the  matter  itself, 
and  of  the  appeals,  to  the  grand  chamber  of  the  parliament  of  Paris  ; 
where  the  cause  was  publicly  managed,  with  great  contention,  and  be- 
fore a  large  concourse  of  people,  for  fifty  days,  by  James  Aubury  on 
the  part  of  the  Merindolians,  Peter  Robert  for  the  parliament  of  Aix, 
and  Denys  de  Ryants  for  the  king's  advocate.  When  upon  the  men- 
tion of  so  many  horrid  facts  of  which  the  defendants  were  accused,  the 
minds  of  all  men  were  in  the  utmost  attention  and  expectation  of  the 
issue,  they  were  entirely  disappointed  of  their  hopes,  Guerin  alone,  who 
happened  to  be  destitute  of  friends  at  court,  suffering  the  punishment  of 
death.  Oppede,  who  with  Grignan,  escaped  by  the  intercession  of  the 
Duke  of  Guise,  was  restored  to  his  former  post,  together  with  his  col- 
leagues :  but,  in  a  little  time,  being  grievously  afflicted  with  pains  in  the 
bowels,  he  breathed  out  his  sanguinary  soul  in  the  midst  of  the  most 
cruel  torments,  and  paid  the  deserved  penalty,  which  his  judges  had  not 
exacted,  late  indeed,  but  therefore  so  much  the  heavier,  to  God."* 

Such  is  the  relation  of  this  dreadful  scene  of  cruelty,  oppression,  and 
carnage — detailed  not  by  the  poor  persecuted  Waldenses  themselves, 
but  by  a  catholic  historian,  whose  impartiality  and  rigid  adherence  to 
truth  has  never  been  questioned  except  by  his  own  party. 

•  Thuani  Historic/,  sui  temporis,  lib.  vi. 


458  History  of  the  Christian  Church. 


SECTION  III. 

A  VIEW  OF  THE  CONDUCT  OF  THE  COURT  OF  ROME,  AND  THE  OPERATION  OF 
ITS  FAVOURITE  INSTRUMENT,  THE  INQUISITION,  ABOUT  THE  MIDDLE  OF 
THE  SIXTEENTH  CENTURY  ;  INCLUDING  DETAILS  OF  THE  HORRID  CRUEL- 
TIES EXERCISED  TOWARDS  THE  FRIENDS  OF  REFORM,  PARTICULARLY  IN 
SPAIN  AND  THE  NETHERLANDS. A.  D.   1550 1557. 

Having  devoted  a  former  section  to  the  purpose  of  tracing  the  rise, 
spirit,  operation,  and  progress  of  that  infernal  instrument  of  cruelty, 
known  by  the  name  of  the  Inquisition;  that  we  may  not  wholly  lose 
sight  of  the  influence  of  this  engine  of  spiritual  despotism,  we  shall,  for 
a  moment,  suspend  the  immediate  narrative  of  the  Waldenses  in  France 
and  Piedmont,  in  order  that  we  may  take  a  cursory  view  of  the  state 
of  affairs,  in  reference  to  religion,  in  Spain  and  the  Netherlands,  at  the 
period  at  which  we  are  now  arrived,  namely,  about  twenty  years  after 
the  Reformation  by  Luther. 

It  is  scarcely  necessary  for  me  to  state,  that,  in  the  succession  of 
kings  by  whom  Spain  had  been  governed  for  about  the  space  of 
three  hundred  years,  the  popes  of  Rome  had  generally  found  a  race 
of  obsequious  princes,  seldom  reluctant  to  yield  their  concurrence  with 
any  measures  that  might  be  proposed  for  the  destruction  of  heretics. 
But  it  was  now  the  misfortune  of  that  country  to  possess  a  monarch 
whose  zeal  for  the  extirpation  of  heretical  pravity,  surpassed  even 
that  of  popes  and  cardinals.  This  monarch  was  Philip  II.  son  of 
the  emperor  Charles  V.  and  Isabella,  daughter  of  Immanuelthe  Great, 
king  of  Portugal.  He  was  born  on  the  27th  of  May,  1527,  and 
educated  in  Spain,  under  ecclesiastics  noted  for  their  bigotry,  which 
may  account  for  several  of  those  features  in  his  character  that  afterwards 
appeared  so  prominently  in  his  conduct.  He  was  the  most  power- 
ful monarch  of  the  age  ;  for,  besides  the  government  of  Spain,  he 
possessed  the  kingdom  of  Naples  and  Sicily ;  the  duchy  of  Milan, 
Franche  Compte  and  the  Netherlands,  or,  as  they  were  then  gene- 
rally termed,  the  Low  Countries. 

These  provinces,  which,  on  account  of  their  situation,  are  called 
the  Netherlands,  had  been  long  governed  by  their  respective  princes, 
under  the  titles  of  dukes,  marquisses,  or  counts ;  and  under  the 
administration  of  the  princes  of  the  house  of  Burgundy,  they  had 
flourished  in  trade,  commerce,  and  manufactures,  beyond  any  other 
European  state.  No  city  in  those  days,  except  Venice,  possessed 
such  extensive  commerce  as  Antwerp.  It  was  the  great  mart  of  all 
the  northern  nations.  Bruges  was  little  inferior  ;  and  in  the  city  of 
Ghent  there  were  many  thousand  artificers  employed  in  the  woollen 
manufacture,  long  before  the  art  was  known  to  the  English,  from 
whom  the  wool  was  purchased  by  the  industrious  Flemings. 

In  consequence  of  the  constant  intercourse  which  subsisted  between 
Germany  and  the  Netherlands,  we  may  naturally  suppose  that  the 
doctrines  of  the  Reformers  would  be  early  propagated  from  the  for- 
mer to  the  latter  country ;  and,  accordingly  in  the  month  of  May, 


State  of  the  Netherlands.  459 

1521,  even  before  the  days  of  Philip,  his  father,  the  emperor  Charles  V. 
had  published  an  edict,  in  which  all  the  penalties  of  high  treason 
were  pronounced  against  heretics.  In  the  execution  of  this  edict, 
which  Charles  from  time  to  time  renewed,  all  the  fury  of  persecu- 
tion was  exercised  ;  and  it  is  affirmed  by  several  cotemporary  his- 
torians, that,  during  his  reign,  fifty  thousand  of  the  inhabitants  of 
the  Netherlands  were  put  to  death  on  account  of  their  religious  prin- 
ciples.* Those  principles,  however,  far  from  being  extirpated,  became 
more  generally  propagated  and  diffused  amidst  the  severities  which 
were  employed  to  suppress  them. 

Before  the  emperor  Charles  V.  had  resigned  the  reins  of  govern- 
ment to  his  son  Philip,  great  numbers  of  his  subjects  had  begun  to 
retire  from  the  provinces  of  the  Netherlands  and  to  transport  their 
families  and  effects  to  the  neighbouring  states ;  and  when  he  was  in- 
formed of  this,  by  the  regent,  who  was  his  sister,  and  queen  dowa- 
ger of  Hungary,  his  heart  relented  for  the  calamities  of  his  people, 
and  he  dreaded  the  consequences  of  depopulating  a  country  from 
which  he  had  often  received  the  most  effectual  assistance  and  sup- 
port. But  these  considerations  had  no  influence  on  his  son  Philip. 
He  published  the  edicts  of  his  father,  and  ordered  the  magistrates  to 
carry  them  into  rigorous  execution. 

In  these  edicts  it  was  enacted,  that  all  persons  who  held  erroneous 
opinions  in  religion,  should  be  deprived  of  their  offices,  and  degraded 
from  their  rank.  It  was  ordained,  that  whoever  should  be  convicted 
erf  having  taught  heretical  doctrines,  or  of  having  been  present  at  the 
religious  meetings  of  heretics,  should,  if  they  were  men,  be  put  to 
death  by  the  sword  ;  and,  if  women,  be  burned  alive.  Such  were 
the  punishments  denounced  even  against  those  who  repented  of  their 
errors  and  forsook  them  ;  while  all  who  persisted  in  them  were  con- 
demned to  the  flames.  And  even  those  who  afforded  shelter  to  here- 
tics in  their  houses,  or  who  omitted  to  give  information  against  them, 
were  subjected  to  the  same  penalties  as  heretics  themselves. 

But  Philip  could  not  content  himself  with  publishing  and  executing 
these  cruel  edicts.  He  also  established  a  particular  tribunal  for  the  ex- 
tirpation of  heresy,  which,  although  it  was  not  called  by  the  name 
Inquisition,  had  all  the  essentials  of  that  iniquitous  institution.  Per- 
sons were  committed  to  prison  upon  bare  suspicion,  and  put  to  the  tor- 
ture on  the  slightest  evidence.  The  accused  were  not  confronted  with 
their  accusers,  or  made  acquainted  with  the  crimes  for  which  they 
suffered.  The  civil  judges  were  not  allowed  to  take  any  further  con- 
cern in  prosecutions  for  heresy,  than  to  execute  the  sentences  which 
the  inquisitors  pronounced.  The  possessions  of  the  sufferers  were  con- 
fiscated ;  and  informers  were  encouraged  by  an  assurance  of  impunity 
in  case  they  themselves  were  guilty,  and  by  the  promise  of  re- 
wards.! 

That  the  establishment  of  this  arbitrary  tribunal  should  have  excited 

*  F.  Paul's  History  of  the  Council  of  Trent,  b.  v.  Grotius  doubles  the  num. 
ber  ! 

•J-  Grotius,  Annales,  lib.  i. 


460  History  of  the  Christian  Church. 

considerable  commotion  in  the  Netherlands,  can  occasion  no  surprise, 
It  had  created  disturbances  even  in  Spain  and  Italy,  where  civil  liberty- 
was  not  enjoyed  in  the  measure  that  it  was  in  the  Netherlands.  Among 
the  Flemings,  therefore,  it  excited  the  most  terrible  apprehensions ;  they 
considered  it  as  utterly  subversive  of  their  liberty.  But  to  the  griev- 
ances already  enumerated,  the  inhabitants  of  the  Netherlands  further 
complained  that  the  provinces  were  filled  with  Spanish  soldiers,  whose 
insolent  and  rapacious  behaviour  was  intolerable.  And  to  all  these 
causes  of  discontent,  Philip  added  another  by  increasing  the  number 
of  bishopricks  from  five  to  seventeen,  which  was  the  number  of  the 
provinces.  These  new  bishops  were  regarded  as  so  many  new  inquis- 
itors ;  and  their  creation  was  considered  as  an  encroachment  on  the 
privileges  of  the  provinces,  and  a  violation  on  the  part  of  the  king  of 
the  oath  which  he  had  taken  at  his  accession,  to  preserve  the  church  in 
the  condition  in  which  he  found  it.  Such  was  the  state  of  affairs,  when 
Philip,  who  had  for  some  time  taken  up  his  residence  among  his  sub- 
jects in  the  Netherlands,  proposed  in  the  year  1559,  to  quit  the  country 
and  fix  the  seat  of  his  government  in  Spain.  During  his  absence  the 
government  of  the  Netherlands  was  conferred  upon  the  Duchess  of  Par- 
ma, who  was  a  natural  daughter  of  the  late  emperor,  and  who  sustain- 
ed the  title  of  regent. 

As  Philip  did  not  intend  to  return  speedily  to  the  Netherlands,  he 
thought  proper,  before  his  departure,  to  summon  a  convention  of  the 
states,  which  was  accordingly  held  at  Ghent.  He  himself  was  pre- 
sent, accompanied  by  the  new  regent,  at  the  first  opening  of  the  assem- 
bly ;  but  as  he  could  not  speak  the  language  of  the  country,  he  em- 
ployed the  Bishop  of  Arras  to  address  the  deputies  in  his  name.  Among 
other  things,  the  latter  was  instructed  earnestly  to  exhort  the  states  to 
study  to  preserve  the  public  peace  ;  and  to  this  end  he  thought  nothing 
could  conduce  so  much  as  the  extirpation  of  heresy,  which,  whilst  it 
set  men  at  variance  with  God,  put  arms  into  their  hands  against  their 
civil  sovereign.  They  were,  therefore,  strenuously  exhorted  to  main- 
tain the  purity  of  their  ancient  faith ;  and  for  this  purpose,  to  execute 
vigorously  the  several  edicts  published  for  the  suppression  of  heresy. 

The  reply  of  the  deputies  of  the  states  to  this  speech,  contained  the 
warmest  sentiments  of  loyalty,  but  it  was  also  accompanied  with  inti- 
mations, that  they  had  expected  the  foreign  troops  would  have  been  im- 
mediately transported  to  Spain, — that  they  were  unable  to  discover  any 
reason  for  keeping  them  any  longer  in  the  Netherlands,  but  such  as 
filled  their  minds  with  terror.  Their  suspicion  that  the  Inquisition  was 
about  to  be  established  in  the  Netherlands,  excited  the  most  disquieting 
apprehensions.  Some  of  the  deputies  did  not  scruple  to  remonstrate 
openly,  that  the  Netherlands  had  never  been  accustomed  to  an  institu- 
tion of  so  much  rigour  and  severity ;  that  the  people  trembled  at  the 
very  name  of  the  Inquisition,  and  would  fly  to  the  remotest  corners  of 
the  earth  rather  than  submit  to  it;  that  it  was  not  by  fire  and  the  sword, 
but  by  the  gentlest  and  softest  remedies,  that  the  evil  complained  of 
must  be  cured.  Various  representations  of  this  kind  were  addressed  to 
the  king  himself  by  some  of  the  deputies,  who  endeavoured  to  persuade 
him  at  least  to  moderate  the  edicts,  if  he  would  not  entirely  annul 


Proceedings  of  Philip  II.  461 

them  ;  but  on  this  head  Philip  was  inexorable.  And  when  one  of  his 
ministers  reported,  that,  by  persisting  in  the  execution  of  those  edicts, 
he  might  kindle  the  seeds  of  rebellion,  and  thereby  lose  the  sovereignty 
of  the  provinces;  he  replied,  "  That  he  had  much  rather  be  no  king  at 
all,  than  have  heretics  for  his  subjects."* 

His  religion  was,  of  all  superstitions,  the  most  intolerant ;  his  temper 
of  mind,  which  was  naturally  haughty  and  severe;  his  pride  which 
would  have  been  wounded  by  yielding  to  what  he  had  repeatedly  de- 
clared he  would  never  yield ;  his  engagements  with  the  pope,  and  an 
oath  which  he  had  taken  to  devote  his  reign  to  the  defence  of  the  po- 
pish faith  and  the  extirpation  of  heresy;  above  all,  his  thirst  for  des- 
potic power,  with  which  he  considered  the  liberties  claimed  in  religious 
matters  by  the  Protestants  as  utterly  incompatible;  all  these  united 
causes,  rendered  him  deaf  to  the  remonstrances  which  were  made  to 
him,  and  fixed  him  unalterably  in  his  resolution  to  execute  the  edicts 
with  the  utmost  rigour.  He  showed  himself  equally  inflexible  with 
regard  to  the  new  bishopricks :  nor  would  he  consent,  at  this  time,  to 
withdraw  the  Spanish  soldiers.  In  order,  however,  to  lessen  the 
odium  arising  from  his  refusal,  he  offered  the  command  of  these  troops 
to  the  Prince  of  Orange  and  Count  Egmont,  the  two  ablest  and  most 
popular  noblemen  in  the  Netherlands  ;  the  former  of  whom  he  had  ap- 
pointed governor  of  Holland,  Zealand,  and  Utretch :  and  the  latter  of 
Artois  and  Flanders.  Both  of  them  declined  accepting  of  the  offer 
which  was  made  to  them,  and  had  the  courage  to  declare,  that  they  con- 
sidered the  continuance  of  the  troops  in  the  Low  Countries,  after  peace 
had  been  established  in  France,  as  a  violation  of  the  fundamental  laws 
of  the  constitution. 

The  Prince  of  Orange,  so  well  known  in  history  by  the  name  of 
William  the  First,  was  the  representative  of  the  ancient  and  illustrious 
family  of  Nassau  in  Germany.  From  his  ancestors,  one  of  whom  had 
been  Emperor  of  Germany,  he  inherited  several  rich  possessions  in  the 
Netherlands  :  and  he  had  succeeded  to  the  principality  of  Orange  by 
the  will  of  Rene  Nassau  and  Chalons,  his  cousin-german,  in  the  year 
1544.  From  that  time  the  late  emperor  had  kept  him  perpetually  about 
his  person,  and  had  early  discovered  in  him  all  those  extraordinary  ta- 
lents which  rendered  him  afterwards  one  of  the  most  illustrious  person- 
ages of  the  age'. 

It  does  not  appear,  that,  before  the  assembly  of  the  states,  Philip  had 
any  just  ground  for  his  suspicions  of  William's  conduct;  and  there  is 
only  one  circumstance  recorded  to  which  they  can  be  ascribed.  The 
prince  having  been  sent  to  France  as  an  hostage  for  the  execution  of 
some  articles  of  the  peace  of  Chateau-Cambresis,  had,  during  his  resi- 
dence there,  discovered  a  scheme  formed  by  the  French  and  the  Spa- 
nish monarchs  for  the  extirpation  of  the  Protestants.  This  scheme  he 
had  communicated  to  such  of  his  friends  in  the  Netherlands  as  had  em- 
braced the  reformed  religion,  and  from  that  time  the  king  ceased  to 
treat  him  with  his  wonted  confidence.! 

*  JJentivoglio,  lib,  i.  p.  9,  10.  f  Thuanus,  torn.  i.  lib.  xxii.  sect.  10, 


462  History  of  the  Christian  Church. 

On  the  20th  of  August,  1559,  Philip  set  sail  from  the  Netherlands 
with  a  fleet  of  seventy  ships,  and  on  the  29th  arrived  at  Loredo,  in  the 
province  of  Biscay.  He  reached  the  port  in  safety  ;  but  no  sooner  had 
he  landed  than  a  dreadful  storm  arose,  in  which  a  part  of  bis  fleet  was 
shipwrecked ;  above  a  thousand  men  perished,  and  a  great  number  of 
capital  paintings,  statues,  and  other  curious  works  of  art  were  lost, 
which  the  late  emperor,  Charles,  had  been  employed,  during  forty 
years,  in  collecting  in  Germany,  Italy,  and  Flanders.  Philip  thought 
he  could  not,  on  this  occasion,  better  express  his  gratitude  for  his  own 
personal  preservation,  than  by  declaring  his  resolution  to  dedicate  his 
life  to  the  defence  of  the  Catholic  faith  and  the  extirpation  of  heresy ; 
and  such  were  the  feelings  with  which  he  was  animated  when  he  en- 
tered Spain. 

The  Inquisition  had  been  introduced  into  Spain  about  a  century  be- 
fore this  time,  as  hath  already  been  noticed  in  a  former  section  of  this 
work ;  and  it  met  with  the  entire  approbation  and  countenance  of 
Philip,  who  had  imbibed,  in  all  its  virulence,  that  spirit  of  bigotry  and 
persecution  which  gave  it  birth.  He  regarded  heretics  as  the  most 
odious  of  criminals  ;  and  considered  a  departure  of  his  subjects  from 
the  Roman  superstition,  as  the  most  dreadful  calamity  that  could  befal 
them.  He  was,  therefore  determined  to  support  the  inquisitors  with 
all  his  power  ;  and  he  encouraged  them  to  exert  themselves  in  the  ex- 
ercise of  their  office  with  the  utmost  vigilance.  The  zeal  and  diligence 
of  these  men  corresponded  to  the  ardour  with  which  their  sovereign 
was  inflamed  ;  yet  so  irresistible  was  the  spirit  of  inquiry  and  the 
force  of  truth,  that  the  opinions  of  the.  Reformers  had  found  their  way 
into  Spain,  and  were  embraced  openly  by  great  numbers  of  both  sexes, 
among  whom  were  several  priests  and  nuns. 

Before  Philip's  arrival  in  the  city  of  Valladolid,  an  auto-da-fe  had 
been  celebrated,  in  which  a  great  number  of  Protestants  had  been  com- 
mitted to  the  flames.  There  were  still  in  the  prisons  of  the  Inquisition 
more  than  thirty  persons,  against  whom  the  same  dreadful  punishment 
had  been  denounced.  Philip,  eager  to  give  public  proof  as  early  as 
possible  of  his  abhorrence  of  these  innovators,  desired  the  inquisitors  to 
fix  a  day  for  their  execution ;  and  he  resolved  to  witness  it.  The 
dreadful  ceremony  (more  repugnant  to  humanity,  as  well  as  to  the 
spirit  of  the  Christian  religion,  than  the  most  abominable  sacrifices  re- 
corded in  the  annals  of  the  Pagan  world)  was  conducted  with  the  great- 
est solemnity  which  the  inquisitors  could  devise  ;  and  Philip,  attended 
by  his  son  Don  Carlos,  by  his  sister,  and  by  his  courtiers  and  guards, 
sat  within  sight  of  the  unhappy  victims.  After  hearing  a  sermon  from 
the  bishop  of  Zamora,  he  rose  from  his  seat,  and  having  drawn  his 
sword,  as  a  signal,  that  with  it  he  would  defend  the  holy  faith,  he  took 
an  oath  administered  to  him  by  the  inquisitor-general,  to  support  the 
inquisition  and  its  ministers  against  all  heretics  and  apostates,  and  to 
compel  his  subjects  every  where  to  yield  obedience  to  its  decrees. 

Among  the  Protestants  condemned,  there  was  a  nobleman,  of  the 
name  of  Don  Carlos  di  Sessa,  who,  when  the  executioners  were  con- 
ducting him  to  the  stake,  called  out  to  the  king  for  mercy,  saying, 
"  And  canst  thou  thus,  O  king  !  witness  the  torments  of  thy  subjects  ? 


General  Council  at  Trent.  463 

Save  us  from  this  cruel  death  ;  we  do  not  deserve  it."  "  No,"  Philip 
sternly  replied,  "  I  would  myself  carry  wood  to  burn  my  own  son, 
were  he  such  a  wretch  as  thou."  After  which  he  beheld  the  horrid 
spectacle  that  followed,  with  a  composure  and  tranquillity  that  betoken- 
ed the  most  unfeeling  heart. 

This  dreadful  severity,  joined  with  certain  rigid  laws,  enacted  to 
prevent  the  importation  of  Lutheran  books,  soon  produced  the  desired 
effect.  After  the  celebration  of  another  auto-da-fe,  in  which  about  fifty 
Protestants  suffered,  all  the  rest,  if  there  were  any  still  remaining, 
either  concealed  their  sentiments,  or  made  their  escape  into  foreign 
parts.* 

But  though  Philip  had,  for  a  moment  banished  the  heretics  from  his 
Spanish  dominions,  he  had  the  mortification  to  contemplate  the  rapid 
progress  of  heresy  in  almost  every  other  state  in  Europe  ;  and  in  order 
to  obstruct  it,  he  employed  all  his  influence  to  procure  the  convocation 
of  a  general  council  of  the  church.  For  several  centuries  before  the 
Reformation,  and  for  some  time  after  it  had  been  set  on  foot,  the  bigotry 
of  the  Papists  would  not  suffer  them  to  think  of  any  other  means  of 
extirpating  the  opinions  of  the  Protestants,  but  persecution ;  which 
was  exercised  against  them  with  the  same  unrelenting  severity,  as  if 
they  had  been  guilty  of  the  most  atrocious  crimes.  But  it  soon  ap- 
peared how  inadequate  this  barbarous  procedure  was  to  the  purpose 
which  the  Romanists  intended.  Those  bloody  edicts  which  were  pub- 
lished, those  fires  which  were  lighted  up,  and  that  variety  of  torments 
which  priests  and  inquisitors  invented  with  ingenious  cruelty,  served 
in  reality  to  propagate  the  doctrines  against  which  they  were  employ- 
ed, and  contributed  to  enflame,  rather  than  extinguish,  that  ardent  zeal 
with  which  the  Protestants  were  animated.  Being  firmly  persuaded, 
that  the  cause  which  they  maintained,  was  the  cause  of  God  and  truth, 
and  that  their  perseverance  would  be  rewarded  with  a  happy  immor- 
tality, they  courted  their  punishments  instead  of  avoiding  them;  and, 
in  bearing  them,  displayed  a  degree  of  fortitude  and  patience,  which, 
by  exciting  admiration  in  the  beholders,  produced  innumerable  prose- 
lytes to  the  faith  for  which  they  suffered. 

Several  princes  had  been  converted  to  that  faith.  In  some  states 
the  Protestants  had  become  more  numerous  and  powerful  than  their 
opponents  ;  and  in  others,  their  opinions  so  generally  prevailed,  that 
the  Catholic  princes  found  it  no  longer  possible  to  extirpate  them, 
without  depriving  themselves  of  great  multitudes  of  their  most  indus- 
trious subjects,  on  which  the  wealth  and  importance  of  their  states  de- 
pended. The  time  when  persecution  might  have  proved  effectual  was 
past,  and  the  princes  came  at  length  to  perceive  the  necessity  of  having 
recourse  to  some  more  gentle  means  than  had  been  hitherto  employed. 
They  were,  at  the  same  time,  sensible,  notwithstanding  their  preju- 
dices against  the  Reformers,  some  reformation  was  extremely  neces- 
saay ;  they  had  long  borne  with  great  impatience  the  numberless 
encroachments  of  the  court  of  Rome  ;  and  were  convinced,  that  if 
some  abuses  were  removed,  it  would  not  be  impracticable  to  persuade 
many  of  the  Protestants  to  return  into  the  bosom  of  the  church. 

•  Watson's  History  of  Philip  II.  Vol.  I.  b.  iv. 


464  History  of  the  Christian  Church. 

A  general  council  appeared  to  be  the  only  expedient  by  which  this 
important  end  could  be  obtained ;  and  the  late  emperor  Charles  had 
taken  infinite  pains  to  procure  the  convocation  of  that  assembly.  In 
former  times  the  councils  of  the  church  had  been  convened  by  the  em- 
perors themselves  ;  but,  in  the  time  of  Charles,  the  power  of  calling 
them  was,  by  all  true  Catholics,  considered  as  the  peculiar  prerogative 
of  the  popes  ;  who  dreaded  that  such  assemblies  might  derogate  from 
their  usurped  authority,  and  were  therefore  inclined,  if  possible,  to 
prevent  them  from  being  held.  With  the  timid  Clement,  Charles  em- 
ployed all  his  art  and  influence  to  procure  a  council,  but  in  vain.  Paul 
the  Third  was  no  less  averse  to  this  measure  than  Clement ;  but  the 
emperor  being  seconded  by  almost  all  the  Catholic  princes  in  Europe, 
Paul  yielded  to  their  importunities,  and  summoned  a  council  to  meet 
in  Trent.  From  this  place  it  was  afterwards  translated  to  Bologna. 
After  the  death  of  Paul  it  was  again  assembled  in  Trent,  in  1551,  and 
continued  to  be  held  there  till  the  year  following ;  when  it  was  pro- 
rogued for  two  years,  upon  war  being  declared  against  the  emperor  by 
the  Elector  of  Saxony. 

In  the  sessions  which  were  held  under  Paul,  that  fundamental  tenet 
of  the  reformers,  by  which  the  writings  of  the  evangelists  and  apostles 
are  held  to  be  the  only  rule  of  the  Christian  faith,  was  condemned  ;  and 
equal  authority  was  ascribed  to  the  books  termed  Apocryphal,  and  to 
the  oral  traditions  of  the  church.  From  the  manner  in  which  the  de- 
liberations of  this  assembly  were  conducted ;  from  the  nature  of  its  de- 
cisions, and  from  the  blind  attachment  of  a  great  majority  of  its  mem- 
bers to  the  court  of  Rome,  there  was  little  ground  to  hope  for  the 
attainment  of  those  ends  for  which  the  calling  of  it  had  been  so  earnestly 
desired.  But  no  other  expedient  could  be  devised,  which  the  Catholics 
thought  so  likely  to  stop  the  progress  of  heresy  ;  and,  therefore,  as  soon 
as  the  war  between  France  and  Spain  was  concluded,  the  several 
Catholics  began  to  think  seriously  of  the  restoration  of  the  council. 

The  state  of  Europe  at  that  time  seemed,  more  than  ever,  to  require 
the  application  of  some  immediate  remedy.  The  power  and  the  num- 
ber of  the  Protestants  were  every  day  becoming  more  and  more  con- 
siderable. Both  England  and  Scotland  had  disclaimed  allegiance  to  the 
See  of  Rome,  and  new-modelled  their  religion.  In  the  Netherlands 
the  reformers  had  greatly  multiplied  of  late  notwithstanding  the  most 
dreadful  cruelties  had  been  exercised  against  them  ;  and  in  France, 
where  every  province  was  involved  in  the  most  terrible  combustion, 
there  was  ground  to  apprehend,  that  they  would  soon  become  too 
powerful  for  the  Catholics,  and  be  able  to  wrest  from  them  the  reins 
of  government.  The  new  opinions  had  penetrated  even  into  Italy,  and 
had  been  embraced  by  a  considerable  number  of  persons  both  in  Naples 
and  Savoy.  From  the  former  of  these  states  they  were  extirpated  by 
the  unrelenting  severity  of  Philip  ;  who  issued  orders  to  his  viceroy  to 
put  all  heretics  to  death  without  mercy,  and  even  to  pursue  with  fire 
and  sword  a  remnant  of  them  who  had  fled  from  Cosenza,  and  were 
living  quietly  among  the  mountains.* 

•  F.  Paul,  lib.  v. 


Tlie  pope  advises  persecution.  465 

But  the  Duke  of  Savoy,  unwilling  to  deprive  himself  of  so  great  a 
number  of  useful  subjects  as  at  that  time  professed  the  protestant  faith, 
was  inclined  to  attempt  to  enlighten  and  convince  them  ;  and  with  this 
view  he  desired  the  pope's  permission  to  hold  a  colloquy  of  the  princi- 
pal ecclesiastics  in  his  dominions,  on  the  subject  of- religion.  Pius  was 
about  the  same  time  informed,  that  in  France  a  resolution  had  been 
embraced  to  have  recourse  to  the  same  expedient.  He  believed  that 
no  measure  could  be  devised  more  likely  to  prove  fatal  to  that  exclusive 
prerogative  which  he  claimed  of  judging  in  matters  of  religion.  He 
dreaded  that  the  example  of  France  and  Savoy  would  be  quickly  fol- 
lowed by  other  states,  and  the  decrees  of  provincial  synods  substituted 
in  the  place  of  those  of  the  Holy  See.  It  highly  concerned  him,  there- 
fore, to  prevent  this  measure  (so  pernicious  to  his  authority)  from  taking 
place.  Nor  did  he  find  much  difficulty  in  dissuading  the  Duke  of  Savoy 
from  adopting  it.  "  If  the  heretics,"  said  he  to  the  duke's  ambassador, 
"  stand  in  need  of  instruction,  I  will  send  divines  and  a  legate,  by  whom 
they  may  be  both  instructed  and  absolved.  But  your  master  will  find, 
that  they  will  lend  a  deaf  ear  to  all  the  instructions  that  can  be  given 
them,  and  will  put  no  other  interpretation  upon  his  conduct,  but  that 
he  wants  power  to  compel  them  to  submit.  No  good  effect  was  ever 
produced  by  that  lenity  which  he  inclines  to  exercise ;  but  from  ex- 
perience he  may  learn,  that  the  sooner  he  shall  execute  justice  on  these 
men,  and  make  use  of  force  to  reduce  them,  the  more  certain  will  be 
his  success  ;  and  if  he  will  comply  with  the  counsel  which  I  offer,  he 
shall  receive  from  me  such  assistance  as  will  enable  him  to  carry  it 
into  execution."  The  Duke,  who  was  sincerely  attached  to  the  Romish 
faith,  and  closely  connected  with  Philip,  unfortunately  complied  with 
this  violent  counsel,  and  engaged  in  a  bloody  war  with  his  Protestant 
subjects,  of  which  he  had  afterwards  the  greatest  reason  to  repent. 

But  to  return  to  the  state  of  affairs  in  the  Netherlands :  the  seeds  o  f 
discord  which  were  sown  in  that  unhappy  country,  in  the  beginning  of 
the  reign  of  Philip  II.  continued  to  approximate  towards  maturity.  At 
his  departure  from  among  them  he  had  given  strict  orders  to  the  regent 
to  enforce  a  rigorous  execution  of  his  edicts,  and  the  persecutions  were, 
accordingly,  carried  on  as  formerly.  The  council  of  Trent  had  pub- 
lished its  decrees,  and  Philip  resolved  to  have  them  obeyed  throughout 
all  his  dominions.  The  disturbances  which  subsisted  in  the  Low 
Countries,  ought  to  have  deterred  him  from  adding  fuel  to  a  flame  which 
already  burnt  with  so  much  violence.  But  his  bigotry,  together  with 
his  arbitrary  maxims  of  government,  rendered  him  averse  to  every  mild 
expedient,  and  determined  him  to  enforce  obedience  to  the  decrees  in 
the  Netherlands,  as  well  as  in  Spain  and  Italy.  When  the  regent  laid 
his  instructions  on  this  head  before  the  council  of  state,  he  found  the 
counsellors  much  divided  in  their  opinions.  The  Prince  of  Orange 
maintained,  that  the  regent  could  not  require  the  people  of  the  Nether- 
lands to  receive  the  decrees,  because  several  of  them  were  contrary  to 
the  fundamental  laws  of  the  constitution.  He  represented  that  some 
Catholic  princes  had  thought  proper  to  reject  them;  and  proposed  that 
a  remonstrance  should  be  made  to  the  king  on  the  necessity  of  recalling 
his  instructions. 


466  History  of  the  Christian  Church. 

"Let us  not,  by  our  misrepresentations,"  said  he,  "make  him  be- 
lieve the  number  of  heretics  to  be  smaller  than  it  is.  Let  us  acquaint 
him,  that  every  province,  every  town,  every  village  is  full  of  them. 
Let  us  not  conceal  from  him  how  much  they  despise  the  edicts,  and 
how  little  they  respect  the  magistrates  ;  that  he  may  see  how  imprac- 
ticable it  is  to  introduce  the  Inquisition,  and  be  convinced  that  the 
remedy  which  he  would  have  us  to  apply,  would  be  infinitely  worse 
than  the  disease."  He  added,  "  That  although  he  was  a  true  Catholic, 
and  a  faithful  subject  of  the  king,  yet  he  thought  the  calamities  which 
had  been  lately  experienced  in  France  and  Germany,  afforded  a  suffi- 
cient proof  that  the  consciences  of  men  were  not  to  be  compelled  ;  and 
that  heresy  was  not  to  be  extirpated  by  fire  and  sword,  but  by  reasoning 
and  persuasion ;  to  which  it  was  in  vain  to  expect  that  men  would  be 
brought  to  listen,  until  the  present  practice  of  butchering  them  like 
beasts  was  wholly  laid  aside."  He  represented  likewise  the  absurdity 
of  publishing,  on  this  occasion,  the  decrees  of  the  council  of  Trent,  and 
proposed  that  Count  Egmont  should  be  instructed  to  request  the  king 
to  suspend  the  publication  of  them  till  the  present  tumults  were  allayed. 

Many  of  the  other  nobles  set  on  foot,  at  this  time,  a  confederacy  by 
which  they  bound  themselves  to  support  one  another,  in  preventing  the 
Inquisition  from  being  established  in  the  Netherlands.  The  prime 
mover  of  this  expedient  was  Philip  de  Marnix,  Lord  of  St.  Alclegonde, 
a  nobleman  highly  distinguished  for  his  eloquence,  his  address,  and  his 
political  abdities,  who  had  the  merit  of  contributing  more  than  any 
other  person  (the  prince  of  Orange  alone  excepted)  towards  accom- 
plishing that  happy  revolution,  by  which,  the  northern  provinces  were 
rescued  from  the  Spanish  yoke.  By  his  advice,  and  according  to  his 
direction,  a  writing  was  drawn  up,  termed  the  Compromise,  which  is 
here  inserted,  as  it  marks  strongly  the  spirit  by  which  the  people  of 
the  Netherlands  were  animated. 

"  Whereas  certain  malicious  persons,  under  the  cloak  of  zeal  for  the 
Catholic  religion,  but  in  reality  prompted  by  ambition,  pride,  and  ava- 
rice, have  by  their  misrepresentations,  persuaded  our  lord,  the  king,  to 
introduce  into  these  provinces  that  most  pernicious  tribunal  the  Inqui- 
sition, which  is  not  only  contrary  to  all  human  and  divine  laws,  but  ex- 
ceeds in  cruelty  the  most  barbarous  institutions  of  the  most  savage  ty- 
rants in  the  heathen  world;  which  subjects  all  authority  to  that  of  the 
inquisitors,  reduces  all  men  to  a  perpetual  state  of  miserable  slavery, 
and- by  the  visitations  which  it  appoints,  exposes  the  best  men  to  con- 
tinual apprehensions  ;  so  that  if  a  priest,  a  Spaniard,  or  wicked  minion 
of  power,  shall  incline,  he  may,  by  means  of  this  institution,  accuse 
any  man,  however  innocent,  and  cause  him  to  be  imprisoned,  condemn- 
ed, and  put  to  death,  without  being  confronted  with  his  accusers,  and 
without  being  allowed  to  bring  evidence  of  his  innocence,  or  to  speak 
in  his  defence :  for  these  reasons  we  whose  names  are  hereto  sub- 
scribed have  resolved  to  provide  for  the  security  of  our  families,  goods, 
and  persons ;  and  for  this  purpose  we  hereby  enter  into  a  sacred 
league  with  one  another,  promising  with  a  solemn  oath,  to  oppose  with 
all  our  power,  the  introduction  of  the  above-named  Inquisition  into 
these  provinces  ;  whether  it  shall  be  attempted  openly  or  secretly,  and 


The  Compromise.  467 

by  whatever  name  it  shall  he  called,  whether  that  of  Inquisition,  Visi- 
tation, Commission,  or  Edict:  declaring  at  the  same  time,  that  we  are 
far  from  entertaining  the  design  of  attempting  any  thing  prejudicial  to  the 
interestof  our  sovereign  the  king;  but,  on  the  contrary,  that  our  fixed  in- 
tention is,  to  support  and  defend  his  government,  to  maintain  peace, 
and  to  prevent,  to  the  utmost  of  our  power,  all  seditions,  tumults,  and" 
revolts.  This  agreement  we  have  sworn  ;  and  we  hereby  promise  and 
swear  to  maintain  it  for  ever  sacred  ;  and  we  call  Almighty  God  to 
witness,  that  neither  in  word  or  deed  shall  we  ever  weaken  or  counter- 
act it. 

"  We  likewise  promise  and  swear,  mutually  to  defend  one  another, 
in  all  places  and  on  all  occasions,  against  every  attack  that  shall  be 
made,  or  prosecution  that  shall  be  raised,  against  any  individual 
amongst  us,  on  account  of  his  concern  in  this  confederacy.  And  we 
declare,  that  no  pretence  of  the  prosecutors,  who  may  allege  rebellion, 
insurrection,  or  any  other  plea,  shall  exempt  us  from  this  our  oath  and 
promise.  No  action  can  deserve  tho  name  of  rebellion,  that  proceeds 
from  opposition  to  the  iniquitous  decrees  of  the  Inquisition  ;  and,  there- 
fore, whether  any  of  us  be  attacked  directly  on  account  of  opposing 
these  decrees,  or  under  pretence  of  punishing  rebellion  or  insurrection, 
we  hereby  swear  to  endeavour,  by  all  lawful  means,  to  procure  his  de- 
liverance. 

"  In  this  and  every  part  of  our  conduct  regarding  the  inquisition,  our 
meaning  is,  to  submit  to  the  general  opinion  of  our  confederates,  or  to 
that  of  those  who  shall  be  appointed  by  the  rest  to  assist  us  with  their 
counsel. 

"  In  witness  of  this  our  league,  we  invoke  the  holy  name  of  the 
living  God,  as  the  searcher  of  our  hearts ;  humbly  beseeching  him  to 
grant  us  the  grace  of  his  Holy  Spirit,  and  that  all  our  enterprises  may 
be  attended  with  success,  may  promote  the  honour  of  his  name,  con- 
tribute to  the  welfare  of  our  souls,  and  advance  the  peace  and  true  inte- 
rest of  the  Netherlands." 

Such  were  the  terms  of  the  Compromise,  which  was  quickly  circu- 
lated through  the  provinces,  and  subscribed  by  persons  of  all  ranks, 
whether  Catholics  or  Protestants.  Books  were,  at  the  same  time  mul- 
tiplied, in  which  liberty  of  conscience  was  pleaded,  the  absurdities  in 
the  popish  doctrines  and  worship  exposed,  and  hideous  pictures  drawn 
of  the  Inquisition. 

The  regent  felt  great  anxiety  with  regard  to  the  consequence  with 
which  so  much  ill-humour  and  discontent  were  likely  to  be  attended. 
She  had  never  fully  credited  the  representations  which  the  Prince  of 
Orange  and  some  of  her  counsellors  had  often  made  to  her.  And  she 
now  complained  bitterly  of  the  situation  to  which  she  was  reduced  by 
the  orders  sent  from  Spain.  "  For  to  what  purpose  was  it,"  she  add- 
ed, "  to  publish  edicts,  when  I  wanted  power  to  enforce  their  execu- 
cution  '  They  have  served  only  to  increase  the  people's  audacity,  and 
to  bring  my  authority  into  contempt." 

The  Prince  of  Orange,  and  the  counts  Horn  and  Egmont,  had,  ever 
since  the  last  republication  of  the  edicts,  absented  themselves  from  the 
council.     The  regent  now  wrote  to  them  in  the  most  urgent  manner, 


468  History  of  the  Christian  Church. 

requiring  their  attendance.  They  readily  complied ;  and  the  regent, 
after  having  informed  them  of  her  design  in  calling  them  together,  de- 
sired they  would  deliver  their  opinions  without  reserve.  The  Prince 
of  Orange  was  among  the  last  who  rose,  and  he  spoke  as  follows: — 

"  Would  to  heaven,  I  had  been  so  fortunate  as  to  gain  belief,  when 
I  ventured  to  foretel  what  has  now  happened.  Desperate  remedies 
would  not,  in  that  case,  have  been  first  applied,  nor  persons  who  had 
fallen  into  error  been  confirmed  in  it,  by  the  means  employed  to  re- 
claim them.  We  should  not  certainly  think  favourably  of  a  physician's 
prudence,  who,  in  the  beginning  of  a  disease,  when  gentle  remedies 
were  likely  to  prove  effectual,  should  propose  the  burning  or  cutting 
off  the  part  infected.  There  are  two  species  of  inquisition.  The  one 
is  exercised  in  the  name  of  the  pope,  and  the  other  has  been  long  prac- 
tised by  the  bishops.  To  the  latter  men  are,  in  some  measure,  re- 
conciled by  the  power  of  custom ;  and  considering  how  well  we  are 
now  provided  with  bishops  in  all  the  provinces,  it  may  reasonably  be 
expected  that  this  sort  will  alone  be  found  sufficient.  The  former  has 
been,  and  will  for  ever  be,  an  object  of  abhorrence,  and  ought  to  be 
abolished  without  delay. 

"  With  respect  to  those  edicts  which  have  been  so  often  published 
against  the  innovators  in  religion,  hearken  not  to  me,  but  to  your  own 
experience,  which  will  inform  you,  that  the  persecutions  to  which 
they  have  given  rise,  have  served  only  to  increase  and  propagate  the 
errors  against  which  they  have  been  exercised.  The  Netherlands  have 
for  several  years  been  a  school,  in  which,  if  we  have  not  been  ex- 
tremely inattentive,  we  may  have  learned  the  folly  of  persecution. 
Men  do  not  for  nothing  forego  the  advantages  of  life;  much  less  do 
they  expose  themselves  to  torture  and  death  for  nothing.  The  con- 
tempt of  death  and  pain,  exhibited  by  heretics  in  suffering  for  religion, 
is  calculated  to  produce  the  most  powerful  effects  upon  the  minds  of 
spectators.  It  works  on  their  compassion,  it  excites  their  admiration 
of  the  sufferers,  and  creates  in  them  a  suspicion  that  truth  must  cer- 
tainly be  found  where  they  observe  so  much  constancy  and  fortitude. 
Heretics  have  been  treated  with  the  same  severity  .in  France  and  Eng- 
land as  in  the  Low  Countries.  But  has  it  been  attended  there  with 
better  success  1  On  the  contrary,  is  there  not  reason,  there  as  well  as 
here,  to  say  what  was  said  of  the  Christians  of  old,  That  the  blood  of 
the  martyrs  is  the  seed  of  the  church.  The  emperor  Julian,  the  most 
formidable  enemy  that  Christianity  ever  had,  was  fully  sensible  of  the 
truth  of  this.  Harassing  and  tormenting  could  only  serve,  he  knew, 
to  inflame  that  ardent  zeal  which  he  wanted  to  extinguish.  He  had  re- 
course, therefore,  to  the  expedient  of  ridicule  and  contempt ;  and  this 
he  found  to  be  more  effectual.  The  Grecian  empire  was,  at  different 
periods,  infected  with  heresies  of  various  kinds.  iErius  taught  errors 
in  the  reign  of  Constance  ;  Nestorius  in  that  of  Theodosius  ;  Arius  in 
that  of  Constantine.  No  such  punishments  were  inflicted,  either  on 
the  heresiarchs  themselves  or  on  their  disciples,  as  are  now. practised 
in  the  Netherlands  ;  and  yet  where  are  all  those  false  opinions  now, 
which  the  first  broachers  were  at  so  much  pains  to  propagate  ?  Such 
is  the  nature  of  heresy,  if  it  rests,  it  rusts;  but  he  who  rubs  it,  whets  it. 


Speech  of  the  Prince  of  Orange.  469 

Let  it  be  neglected  and  overlooked,  it  will  soon  lose  the  charm  of  no- 
velty ;  and  with  that,  it  will  lose  the  greatest  part  of  its  attractive, 
power.  But  they  are  not  the  examples  only  of  heathen  princes  which 
I  would  recommend  to  the  regent's  imitation.  In  complying  with  my 
advice,  she  will  tread  in  the  footsteps  of  onr  late  glorious  emperor,  her 
father  ;  who,  from  experience,  was  convinced,  that  gentle  measures 
were  more  likely  to  prove  effectual  than  severe  ones  ;  and  therefore 
adopted  the  former,  in  preference  to  the  latter,  for  several  years  before 
his  resignation. 

"The  king  himself  appeared,  at  a  certain  period,  inclined  to  make 
trial  of  mild  expedients.  But,  through  the  influence  of  the  bishops  and 
other  ecclesiastics,  he  has  changed  his  views.  Let  these  men  answer  for 
their  conduct  if  they  can.  For  my  own  part,  I  am  entirely  satisfied 
that  it  is  impossible  to  root  out  the  present  evils  in  the  Netherlands  by 
force,  without  shaking  the  state  from  its  foundation.  I  conclude  with 
reminding  you  of  what  we  have  all  heard  frequently,  That  the  Pro- 
testants in  the  Low  Countries  have  opened  a  correspondence  with 
those  in  France.  Let  us  beware  of  irritating  them  more  than  we  have 
already  done,  lest,  by  imitating  the  French  Catholics  in  their  severity, 
we,  like  them,  involve  our  country  in  the  dreadful  miseries  of  a  civil 
war." 

The  regent  finding  that  her  situation  became  every  day  more  critical, 
informed  the  king  of  it,  who  immediately  sent  the  Duke  of  Alva,  a  no- 
bleman of  the  most  imperious  character,  tyrannical  and  vindictive  iu 
the  extreme,  to  execute  his  pleasure  in  the  Netherlands,  armed  with 
full  power  to  punish  or  to  pardon  crimes  of  every  sort.  He  began  his 
administration  with  publishing  a  declaration,  that  a  month  should  be 
allowed  to  the  reformers  for  preparing  to  leave  the  country,  without  re- 
ceiving, during  that  space,  any  trouble  or  molestation,  and  at  the  same 
time  he  issued  secret  orders  to  the  inquisitors  to  proceed  immediately 
in  the  execution  of  their  edicts  with  the  utmost  rigour.  To  assist  and 
encourage  these  men  in  the  exercise  of  their  office,  he  instituted  a  new 
council,  to  which  he  gave  the  name  of  the  Council  of  Tumults,  which 
he  appointed  to  take  cognizance  of  the  late  disorders,  and  to  search 
after  and  punish  all  those  who  had  been  concerned,  directly  or  indi- 
rectly, in  promoting  them.  This  council  consisted  of  twelve  persons, 
the  greatest  part  of  whom  were  Spaniards.  The  duke  was  the  presi- 
dent himself,  and  in  his  absence  Vargas,  a  Spanish  lawyer,  distinguish- 
ed above  all  his  countrymen  by  his  avarice  and  cruelty. 

One  of  the  first  deeds  of  this  tribunal,  which  might  well  be  called,  as 
the  Flemings  termed  it,  the  Council  of  Blood,  was  to  declare,  That  to 
have  presented  or  subscribed  any  petition  against  the  late  erection  of 
bishopricks,  or  against  the  edicts  or  Inquisition,  or  to  have  permitted 
the  exercise  of  the  new  religion  under  any  pretence  whatever ;  or  to 
insinuate  by  word  of  mouth  or  writing,  that  the  king  has  no  right  to 
abolish  those  pretended  privileges  which  have  been  the  source  of  so 
much  impiety,  is  treason  against  the  king,  and  justly  merits  the  se- 
verest punishment  he  shall  be  pleased  to  inflict. 

The  governor  had  already  stationed  his  army  in  such  a  manner  as  he 
thought  would  most  effectually  secure  the  execution  of  this  cruel  un- 
40 


470  History  of  the  Christian  Church. 

distinguishing  resolution  of  the  council.  In  Antwerp  he  built  a  citadel, 
and  compelled  the  inhabitants  to  defray  the  expense  which  this  instru- 
ment of  their  own  slavery  had  cost  him.  He  began  to  build  citadels 
in  other  places :  and,  in  the  meantime,  he  spread  his  troops  over  the 
country  in  such  formidable  bodies,  that  the  people,  over  whom  they  ex- 
ercised the  most  oppressive  tyranny,  either  forsook  their  habitations, 
or  gave  themselves  up  in  despair,  Above  twenty  thousand  persons 
escaped,  at  this  time,  into  France,  England,  and  the  Protestant  pro- 
vinces of  Germany.  Great  numbers  were  prevented  from  flying,  and 
seized  whilst  they  were  meditating  flight,  by  the  cruel  hand  of  the  per- 
secutor. The  innocent  were  overwhelmed  with  horror  at  the  sight  of 
the  dreadful  punishments  inflicted  on  the  guilty  ;  and  lamented  that 
this  once  flourishing  country,  so  much  distinguished  for  the  mildness 
of  its  government  and  the  happiness  of  its  people,  should  now  present 
no  other  object  to  view,  but  confiscations,  imprisonments,  and  blood. 

There  was  no  distinction  made  of  age,  sex,  or  condition.  Persons 
in  their  earliest  youth  ;  persons  worn  out,  and  ready  to  sink  under  the 
infirmities  of  age  ;  persons  of  the  highest  rank,  as  well  as  the  lowest 
of  the  people,  on  the  slightest  evidence,  and  sometimes  even  on  bare 
suspicion,  were  alike  sacrificed  to  the  rapacity  and  cruelty  of  the  go- 
vernor and  his  associates. 

Although  in  the  space  of  a  few  months  upwards  of  eighteen  hundred 
persons  suffered  by  the  hand  of  the  executioner ;  yet  the  Duke  of 
Alva's  thirst  of  blood  was  not  satiated.  Prisoners  were  not  brought  in 
so  fast,  nor  seized  in  such  considerable  numbers  as  he  desired.  The 
time  of  Carnival  was  approaching,  when  he  expected  he  should  find  the 
reformers  off  their  guard.  They  would  then  leave  their  skulking-places, 
he  supposed,  and  visit  their  families,  while  the  Catholics  were  im- 
mersed in  mirth  and  dissipation.  On  this  occasion  his  soldiers,  accom- 
panied by  the  inquisitors,  like  so  many  wolves,  were  let  loose  among 
the  Protestants ;  who  were  seized  in  the  middle  of  the  night  in  their 
beds,  and  from  thence  dragged  to  prisons  and  dungeons. 

Many  who  had  been  only  once  present  at  the  Protestant  assemblies, 
even  although  they  declared  their  faith  in  the  Catholic  religion  to  be 
firm  and  unshaken,  were  hanged  or  drowned  :  while  those  who  pro- 
fessed themselves  to  be  Protestants,  or  refused  to  abjure  their  religion, 
were  put  to  the  rack,  in  order  to  make  them  discover  their  associates  ; 
they  were  then  dragged  by  horses  to  the  place  of  execution,  and  their 
bodies  being  commiited  to  the  flames,  their  sufferings  were  prolonged 
with  ingenious  cruelty. 

To  prevent  them  from  bearing  testimony,  in  the  midst  of  their  tor- 
ments, to  the  truth  of  their  profession,  their  executioners  were  not  sa- 
tisfied with  barely  confining  their  tongues ;  they  first  scorched  them 
with  a  glowing  iron,  and  then  screwed  them  into  a  machine,  contrived 
on  purpose  to  produce  the  most  excruciating  pain. 

It  is  shocking  to  recount  the  numberless  instances  of  inhuman  cru- 
elty perpetrated  by  Alva  and  his  associates,  especially  when  we  consi- 
der that  the  unhappy  victims  were  not  those  hardened  wretches,  who, 
by  daring  and  bloody  deeds,  are  guilty  of  violating  the  laws  of  nature 
and  humanity,  but  were  generally  persons  of  the  most  inoffensive  char- 


Cruelties  towards  the  Protestants.  471 

acters ;  who,  having  imbibed  the  new  opinions  in  religion,  had  too 
much  probity  to  disguise  their  sentiments  ;  or,  at  the  worst,  had  been 
betrayed  into  indiscretions  by  their  zeal  for  propagating  truths,  which 
they  believed  to  be  of  the  highest  importance  to  the  glory  of  God  and 
the  happiness  of  men. 

Alva  communicated  a  great  share  of  his  savage  spirit  to  the  inferior 
magistrates ;  who  knew  that  tliey  could  not  recommend  themselves 
more  effectually  either  to  the  king  or  to  the  governor,  than  by  the  exer- 
cise of  rigour  and  severity.  Several  of  them,  however,  whose  huma- 
nity prevailed  over  the  considerations  of  safety  and  interest,  were  in- 
duced to  give  the  Protestants  timely  warning  to  withdraw.  Even  the 
members  of  the  bloody  council  began  to  feel  their  hearts  revolt  against 
the  reiterated  instances  of  cruelty,  to  which  their  sanction  was  required. 
Some  of  them  applied  for  dismission;  others  had  the  courage  to  absent 
themselves  ;  and  out  of  the  twelve,  of  which  the  council  was  composed, 
there  were  seldom  above  three  or  four  present. 

About  this  time  the  magistrates  of  Antwerp,  whose  behaviour,  from 
the  beginning  of  Alva's  administration,  had  been  extremely  obsequious, 
thought  they  might  venture  to  interpose  in  favour  of  certain  citizens 
whom  the  inquisitors  had  imprisoned.  Their  petition  was  conceived 
in  the  humblest  terms  ;  and  they  represented,  that  although  the  persons 
for  whom  they  pleaded  had  been  present  two  or  three  times  in  the  Pro- 
testant assemblies,  yet  it  was  only  curiosity  that  had  led  them  thither ; 
they  were  still  true  sons  of  the  church,  and  faithful  subjects  to  the 
king;  and  they  had  remained  in  the  country  till  the  time  of  their  im- 
prisonment, on  the  faith  of  the  declaration  which  the  governor  had 
made,  that  they  should  not  receive  any  disturbance  on  account  of  what 
had  passed,  till  the  expiration  of  a  month  after  his  arrival  in  the 
Netherlands. 

To  this  petition  Alva  haughtily  replied,  That  he  was  amazed  at  their 
folly  in  presuming  to  apply  to  him  in  behalf  of  heretics;  and  they 
should  have  reason,  he  added,  to  repent  bitterly  of  their  conduct,  if  they 
did  not  act  more  prudently  in  future ;  for  they  might  rest  assured,  that 
he  would  hang  them  all,  for  an  example  to  deter  others  from  the  like 
presumption. 

Notwithstanding  this,  some  of  the  Catholic  nobility,  and  Viglius,  who 
had  formerly  concurred  in  all  the  arbitrary  measures  of  Granvelle,  but 
whose  heart  melted  at  the  present  misery  of  his  countrymen,  had  the 
courage  to  remonstrate  to  the  king  against  the  governor's  barbarity. 
Even  the  pope  exhorted  him  to  greater  moderation.  Philip,  however, 
refused  to  countermand  the  orders  which  he  had  given,  till  he  should 
hear  from  Vargas  ;  who  advised  him  to  persevere  in  the  plan  which  he 
had  adopted,  assured  him  of  its  success,  and  at  the  same  time  flattered 
him  with  the  hopes  of  an  inexhaustible  fund  of  wealth  that  would  arise 
from  confiscation.  Vargas  being  seconded  by  the  inquisitors  at  Madrid, 
Philip  lent  a  deaf  ear  to  the  remonstrance  which  had  been  made  to  him, 
and  the  persecutions  were  continued  with  the  same  unrelenting  fury  as 
before. 

The  people  of  the  Netherlands  were  confirmed  in  their  despair  of 
obtaining  mercy  from  Philip,  by  the  accounts  transmitted  to  them  at 


472  History  of  the  Christian  Church. 

this  time  from  Spain,  of  his  cruel  treatment  of  his  son  Don  Carlos. 
Various  relations  are  given  of  that  tragical  and  mysterious  affair  by  the 
contemporary  historians  ;  but  the  following  appears  the  most  consistent 
and  probable.  This  young  prince  had  from  his  earliest  youth  been 
noted  for  the  impetuosity  and  violence  of  his  temper;  and  though  he 
never  gave  reason  to  think  favourably  of  his  understanding,  or  his  capa- 
city for  government,  he  had  discovered  the  most  intemperate  ambition 
to  be  admitted  by  his  father  to  a  share  in  the  administration  of  his  do- 
minions. Philip,  whether  from  jealousy,  or  a  conviction  of  his  son's 
unfitness  for  any  important  trust,  refused  to  gratify  his  ambition,  he  be- 
haved towards  him  with  distance  and  reserve,  while  he  gave  all  his 
confidence  to  the  Duke  of  Alva,  Ruy  Gomez  de  Sylva,  and  the  presi- 
dent Spinosa;  against  whom  Don  Carlos,  partly  on  this  account,  and 
partly  because  he  considered  them  as  spies  upon  his  conduct,  had  con- 
ceived the  most  irreconcilable  aversion.  In  this  disposition  he  did  not 
scruple,  on  different  occasions,  to  censure  the  measures  of  his  father's 
government  and  particularly  those  which  had  been  adopted  in  the  Neth- 
erlands. He  had  sometimes  expressed  his  compassion  for  the  people 
there  ;  had  threatened  the  Duke  of  Alva,  and  even  made  an  attempt 
upon  his  life,  for  accepting  the  government;  had  been  suspected  of 
holding  secret  interviews  with  the  Marquis  of  Mons,  and  the  Baron  de 
Montigny;  and  had  afterwards  formed  the  design  of  retiring  into  the 
Netherlands,  with  an  intention  to  put  himself  at  the  head  of  the  mal- 
contents. 

Of  this  design  intelligence  was  carried,  by  some  of  the  courtiers,  to 
the  king;  who  after  having  consulted  with  the  inquisitors,  at  Madrid, 
as  he  usually  did  in  matters  of  great  importance  and  difficulty,  resolved 
to  prevent  the  prince  from  putting  his  scheme  into  execution,  by  depriv- 
ing him  of  his  liberty.  For  this  purpose  he  went  into  his  chamber  in 
the  middle  of  the  uight,  attended  by  some  of  his  privy  counsellors  and 
guards :  and,  after  reproaching  him  with  his  undutiful  behaviour,  told 
him  that  he  had  come  to  exercise  his  paternal  correction  and  chastise- 
ment. Then  having  dismissed  all  his  attendants,  he  commanded  him 
to  be  clothed  in  a  dark  coloured  mourning  dress,  and  appointed  guards 
to  watch  over  him,  and  to  confine  him  to  his  chamber.  The  high  spi- 
rited young  prince  was  extremely  shocked  at  such  unworthy  treatment, 
and  prayed  his  father  and  his  attendants  to  put  an  immediate  end  to  his 
life.  He  threw  himself  headlong  into  the  fire,  and  would  have  put  an 
end  to  his  life  had  he  not  been  prevented  by  the  guards.  During  his 
confinement,  his  despair  and  anguish  rose  to  a  degree  of  frenzy.  He 
would  fast  sometimes  for  whole  days  together,  then  eat  voraciously, 
and  endeavour  to  choke  himself  by  swallowing  his  victuals  without 
chewing.  Several  princes  interceded  for  his  release,  as  did  many  of 
the  principal  Spanish  nobles.  But  Ids  father  was  relentless  and  inex- 
orable. After  six  months'  imprisonment,  he  caused  the  Inquisition  of 
Madrid  to  pass  sentence  against  his  son,  and  under  the  cover  of  that 
sentence,  ordered  poison  to  be  given  him,  which  in  a  few  hours  put  a 
period  to  his  miserable  life,  at  the  age  of  twenty-three. 

Philip  had,  before  this  time,  given  a  proof  of  the  cruelty  of  his  dis- 
position ;  when,  as  above  related,  he  chose  to  be  present  at  the  exe- 


Invention  of  the  Art  of  Printing.  473 

cution  of  his  Protestant  subjects  in  Spain.  His  singular  conduct  on 
that  occasion,  and  the  composure  with  which  he  beheld  the  torments 
of  the  unhappy  sufferers,  were  ascribed  by  some  to  the  power  of  su- 
perstition :  while  they  were  regarded  by  others,  as  the  most  convinc- 
ing evidence  of  the  sincerity  of  his  zeal  for  the  true  religion.  But  his 
severity  towards  his  son  did  not  admit  of  any  such  interpretation.  It 
was  considered  by  all  the  world  as  a  proof  that  his  heart  was  dead  to 
the  sentiments  of  natural  affection  and  humanity  ;  and  his  subjects  were 
every  where  filled  with  astonishment.  It  struck  terror  in  a  particular 
manner,  into  the  inhabitants  of  the  Low  Countries  ;  who  saw  how 
vain  it  was  to  expect  mercy  from  a  prince,  who  had  so  obstinately  re- 
fused to  exercise  it  towards  his  own  son  ;  whose  only  crime,  they  be- 
lieved, was  his  attachment  to  them,  and  his  compassion  of  their  calami- 
ties.* 


SECTION  IV. 


THE  HISTORY  OF  THE  WALDENSES  CONTINUED,  FROM  THE  MIDDLE  OF  THE 
SIXTEENTH  TO  THE  BEGINNING  OF  THE  SEVENTEENTH  CENTURY.— A.  D. 
1551—1600. 

Among  the  distinguished  favours  which  it  hath  pleased  the  Father  of 
Lights  to  confer  upon  mankind,  the  invention  of  the  art  of  printing  has 
been,  in  its  consequences,  none  of  the  least  beneficial.  Before  this  dis- 
covery, learning  was  accessible  to  none  but  persons  of  princely  for- 
tunes ;  but  by  this  means  it  was  brought  within  the  reach  of  almost 
every  one  ;  and  that  information  became  generally  diffused  which  was 
necessary  to  subvert  the  cause  of  tyranny  and  superstition ;  thus, 
through  the  overruling  providence  of  God,  the  art  of  printing  turned 
out  to  be  one  of  the  most  important  events  that  have  happened  since 
the  first  promulgation  of  the  gospel.  Knowledge,  which  had  indeed 
been  gaining  ground  for  some  centuries  before,  was  now  wonderfully 
accelerated  in  its  progress.  The  light  acquired  by  one,  was  quickly 
diffused  abroad,  and  communicated  to  multitudes.  The  facility  of  com- 
munication brought  learning  within  the  reach  of  the  middle  ranks — the 
dead  languages  became  a  general  object  of  study — the  Scriptures  began 
to  be  consulted,  not  only  in  the  Latin  Vulgate,  but  also  in  the  Greek 
— reading  produced  reflection,  and  thus  diffused  a  light  which  it  was 
no  longer  possible  to  conceal  under  a  bushel.  It  would  have  been 
strange  indeed,  had  the  advocates  of  a  system  which  was  founded  in 
ignorance  expressed  no  apprehensions  of  alarm  at  the  introduction  of 
these  novelties.  The  faculty  of  Theology  at  Paris  declared  before  the 
assembled  parliament,  that  religion  was  undone,  if  the  study  of  Greek 
was  permitted.  But  the  language  of  the  monks  in  those  days  is  still 
more  amusing.     We  are  informed  by  Conrad  of  Heresbach,  a  very 

•  Watson's  History  of  Philip  II.  vol  i.  b.  viii. 
40* 


474  History  of  the  Christian  Church. 

grave  and  respectable  author  of  that  period,  that  one  of  their  number  is 
said  thus  to  have  expressed  himself — "  They  have  invented  a  new  lan- 
guage, which  they  call  Greek ;  you  must  be  carefully  on  your  guard 
against  it;  it  is  the  mother  of  all  heresy.  I  observe  in  the  hands  of 
many  persons  a  book  written  in  that  language,  which  they  call  the 
New  Testament.  It  is  a  book  full  of  daggers  and  poison.  As  to  the 
Hebrew,  my  dear  brethren,  it  is  certain  that  all  those  who  learn  it  im- 
mediately become  Jews."* 

The  art  of  printing,  which  originated  with  John  Guttenberg,  a  citi- 
zen of  Mentz,  was  first  attempted  by  him  at  Strasburg,  from  1436  to 
1440.  His  efforts  which  were,  no  doubt,  at  first  very  rude  and  indi- 
gested, had  been  greatly  matured  by  skill  and  experience  in  the  course 
of  a  century ;  and  consequently,  about  the  year  1535,  we  find  the  Wal- 
denses  of  Piedmont  anxious  to  avail  themselves  of  it  with  a  view  to  a 
more  general  circulation  of  the  word  of  life.  Hitherto  they  had  been 
obliged  to  confine  themselves  to  manuscripts  ;  and,  in  the  JValdensian 
tongue,  they  seem  not  to  have  generally  possessed  an  entire  version  of 
the  whole  Bible,  but  the  New  Testament  only,  and  some  particular 
books  of  the  Old.  They  now,  however,  contracted  with  a  printer  at 
Neufchatel,  in  Switzerland,  for  an  entire  impression  of  the  whole  Bible 
in  French,  for  the  sum  of  fifteen  hundred  crowns  of  gold.  An  elabo- 
rate preface,  somewhat  too  declamatory  for  a  publication  of  that  kind, 
was  prefixed  by  Robert  Olivetan,  who  appears  to  have  been  one  of 
their  number,  and  who  professes  to  have  translated  it  for  the  use  of  the 
churches.  Both  Perrin  and  Sir  Samuel  Morland  affirm  this  to  have 
been  the  first  French  Bible  that  was  printed  and  published ;  and  on 
their  authority  I  had  so  stated  the  fact  in  the  first  edition  of  this  work. 
But  on  consulting  Du  Pin  on  the  Canon,  I  am  now  convinced  that  this 
is  a  mistake.  The  words  of  the  latter  are,  "  The  first  edition  of  the 
French  Bible,  [printed]  in  the  year  1530,  is  to  be  seen  in  the  French 
king's  library;  the  second  of  the  year  1534,  is  larger,  and  extant  in 
the  libraries  of  St.  Germain  de  Prez,  and  of  St.  Geneviese.  These 
two  editions  are  prior  to  that  of  Robert  Olivetan,  [which  was]  the 
first  done  by  the  Protestants  in  the  year  1535."t 

The  works  of  Luther,  of  Calvin,  and  others  of  the  reformers,  begin- 
ning about  this  time  to  be  in  general  use,  they  sent  Martin  Gonin,  one 
of  their  number,  to  Geneva,  to  procure  a  supply  of  such  books  as  he 
should  think  calculated  to  promote  the  instruction  of  the  people.  But 
on  his  journey  he  was  unfortunately  apprehended  under  suspicion  of 
being  a  spy :  and  a  discovery  being  made  that  he  was  a  Waldensian, 
he  was  sent  for  safety  to  Grenoble,  and  there  thrown  into  prison.  The 
inquisitors  having  been  made  acquainted  with  the  case,  he  was,  by 
their  advice,  cast  into  the  river  Lyzere,  during  the  night,  for  this  im- 
portant reason,  as  given  by  the  inquisitor,  that  it  ivas  not  expedient 
the  world  should  hear  him  declare  his  faith,  lest  those  who  heard  him 
should  become  tvorse  than  himself. % 

*  See  Villers'  Essay  on  the  Reformation,  by  Luther,  translated  by  Mill,  p.  94. 
note. — And  Mi-.  Cox's  Life  of  Melancthon,  p.  29. 
■\  Du  Pin  on  the  Canon,  &c.  Vol.  I.  p.  217. 
i  Pcrrin's  Waldenses,  b.  ii.  ch   iv. 


Persecution  of  the  Waldenses  in  Calabria.  475 

It  was  formerly  noticed,  that  in  the  year  1560,  the  Waldenses  in 
Calabria  formed  a  junction  with  Calvin's  church  at  Geneva.  The 
consequence  of  this  was,  that  several  pastors  or  public  teachers  went 
from  the  neighbourhood  of  Geneva  to  settle  with  the  churches  in  Cala- 
bria. It  seems  probable  that  this  circumstance  had  contributed  to  re- 
vive the  profession  in  Calabria,  or  at  least  had  brought  the  Waldenses 
more  into  public  notice  than  they  had  hitherto  been  ;  and  it  spread  an 
alarm  among  the  Catholics,  which  reached  the  ears  of  pope  Pius  IV. 
Measures  were,  therefore,  immediately  taken  for  wholly  exterminating 
the  Waldenses  in  that  quarter ;  and  a  scene  of  carnage  ensued,  which 
in  enormity  has  seldom  been  exceeded.  Two  monks  were  first  sent 
to  the  inhabitants  of  St.  Xist,  avIio  assembled  the  people,  and  by  a 
smooth  harangue,  endeavoured  to  persuade  them  to  desist  from  hearing 
these  new  teachers,  whom  they  knew  they  had  lately  received  from 
Geneva ;  promising  them,  in  case  of  compliance,  every  advantage  they 
could  wish :  but,  on  the  other  hand,  plainly  intimating  that  they  would 
subject  themselves  to  be  condemned  ls  heretics,  and  to  forfeit  their  lives 
and  fortunes,  if  they  refused  to  return  to  the  church  of  Rome.  And  at 
once  to  bring  matters  to  the  test,  they  caused  a  bell  to  be  immediately 
tolled  for  mass,  commanding  the  people  to  attend.  Instead  of  comply- 
iug,  however,  the  Waldenses  forsook  their  houses,  and  as  many  as  were 
able  fled  to  the  woods,  with  their  wives  and  children.  Two  companies 
of  soldiers  were  instantly  ordered  out  to  pursue  them,  who  hunted  them 
like  wild  beasts,  crying,  Amassa,  JLmassa ;  that  is,  kill,  kill !  and 
numbers  were  put  to  death.  Such  as  reached  the  tops  of  the  mountains, 
procured  the  privilege  of  being  heard  in  their  own  defence.  They 
stated,  that  they  and  their  forefathers  had  now  for  several  ages  been 
residents  of  that  country — that  during  all  that  period  their  lives  and 
conversation  had  been  irreproachable — that  they  ardently  wished  to 
remain  there,  if  they  should  be  allowed  to  continue  unmolested  in  the 
profession  of  their  faith,  but  that  if  this  were  denied  them,  they  implored 
their  pursuers  to  have  pity  on  their  wives  and  children,  and  to  permit 
them  to  retire,  under  the  providence  of  God,  either  by  sea  or  land, 
wherever  it  should  please  the  Lord  to  conduct  them — that  they  would 
very  cheerfully  sacrifice  all  their  worldly  possessions  rather  than  fall 
into  idolatry.  They  therefore  entreated,  in  the  name  of  all  that  was 
sacred,  that  they  might  not  be  reduced  to  the  necessity  of  defending 
themselves,  which  if  they  were  compelled  to  do,  must  be  at  the  peril 
of  those  who  forced  them  to  such  extremities.  This  expostulation  only 
exasperated  the  soldiers,  who  immediately  rushing  upon  them  in  the 
most  impetuous  manner,  a  terrible  affray  ensued,  in  which  several  lives 
were  lost,  and  the  military  at  last  put  to  flight. 

The  inquisitors,  on  this,  wrote  to  the  Viceroy  of  Naples,  urging  him 
to  send  them  some  companies  of  soldiers,  to  apprehend  certain  heretics 
of  St.  Xist  and  de  la  Garde,  who  had  fled  into  the  woods  ;  at  the  same 
time  apprizing  him  that  by  ridding  the  church  of  such  a  plague,  he 
would  perform  what  was  acceptable  to  the  pope  and  meritorious  to  him- 
self. The  viceroy  cheerfully  obeyed  the  summons,  and  marched  at 
the  head  of  his  troops  to  the  city  of  St.  Xist,  where,  on  his  arrival,  he 
caused  it  to  be  proclaimed  by  sound  of  a  trumpet,  that  the  place  was 


476  History  of  the  Christian  Church. 

condemned  to  fire  and  sword.  Proclamation  was  at  the  same  time  made 
throughout  all  the  kingdom  of  Naples,  inviting  persons  to  come  to  the 
war  against  the  heretics  of  St.  Xist,  and  promising  as  a  recompense  the 
customary  advantages.  Numbers  consequently  flocked  to  his  standard, 
and  were  conducted  to  the  woods  and  mountains  whither  the  Waldenses 
had  sought  an  asylum.  Here  they  chased  them  so  furiously,  that  the 
greater  part  were  slain  by  the  sword,  and  the  rest,  wounded  and  desti- 
tute, retired  into  caverns  upon  the  tops  of  the  rocks,  where  they  per- 
ished by  famine. 

Having  accomplished  their  wishes  on  the  fugitives  from  St.  Xist, 
they  next  proceeded  to  la  Garde,  and  apprehended  seventy  persons,  who 
were  brought  before  the  inquisitor  Penza,  at  Montauld.  This  merci- 
less bigot  caused  them  to  be  stretched  upon  the  rack,  with  the  view  of 
extorting  from  them  a  confession  of  adultery  and  other  abominable 
practices  too  filthy  to  be  mentioned  ;  in  no  one  instance  of  which  did 
he  succeed,  though  their  tortures  in  many  instances  were  so  violent  as 
to  extinguish  life.  A  person  of  the  name  of  Marson  was  stripped  naked 
and  beat  with  rods,  then  drawn  through  the  streets  and  burnt  with  fire- 
brands. One  of  his  sons  was  assassinated,  and  another  led  to  the  top 
of  a  tower,  where  a  crucifix  was  presented  to  him,  with  a  promise  that 
if  he  would  salute  it  his  life  should  be  spared.  The  youth  replied,  that 
he  would  rather  die  than  commit  idolatry,  and  as  to  their  threats  of 
casting  him  headlong  from  the  tower,  he  preferred  that  his  body  should 
be  dashed  in  pieces  on  the  earth,  to  having  his  soul  cast  into  hell  for 
denying  Christ  and  his  truth.  The  inquisitor,  enraged  at  his  answer, 
commanded  him  instantly  to  be  precipitated,  "  that  we  may  see,"  said 
he,  "  whether  his  God  will  preserve  him." 

Bernardine  Conde  was  condemned  to  be  burnt  alive.  As  they  led 
him  to  the  stake,  a  crucifix  was  put  into  his  hands,  which  he  threw  to 
the  ground.  The  enraged  inquisitor  sent  him  back  to  prison,  and  to 
aggravate  his  torture  he  was  first  smeared  over  with  pitch  and  then 
committed  to  the  flames.  The  same  inquisitor  Penza  caused  the  throats 
of  eighty  of  them  to  be  cut,  just  as  butchers  slaughter  their  sheep ;  their 
bodies  were  afterwards  divided  into  four  quarters,  and  the  public  way 
between  Montauld  and  Castle  Viller,  for  the  space  of  thirty  miles,  was 
planted  with  stakes,  and  a  quarter  of  the  human  frame  stuck  upon  each 
of  them.  Four  of  the  principal  inhabitants  of  la  Garde,  viz.  James 
Fermar,  Anthony  Palomb,  Peter  Jacio,  and  John  Morglia  were,  by  his 
order,  hanged,  in  a  place  called  Moran ;  but  they  met  their  deaths  with 
surprising  fortitude.  A  young  man,  of  the  name  of  Samson,  defended 
himself  dexterously  for  a  length  of  time  against  those  who  came  to  ap- 
prehend him ;  but  being  wounded,  he  was  seized  and  led  to  the  top  of 
a  tower,  where  he  was  commanded  to  confess  himself  to  a  priest  then 
present,  before  he  was  cast  down.  This,  however,  he  refused,  adding 
that  he  had  already  confessed  himself  to  God,  on  which  he  was  cast 
headlong  from  the  tower.  The  following  day  the  viceroy  walking  at 
the  foot  of  the  tower,  saw  the  unhappy  youth  still  alive,  but  languish- 
ing in  tortures,  having  nearly  all  his  bones  broken.  The  monster 
kicked  him  on  the  head,  and  said,  "Is  the  dog  yet  alive?  give  him  to 
the  hogs." 


Hit  Calabrian  Waldenses  exterminated.  477 

This  is  only  a  specimen  of  the  brutal  outrages  that  were  carried  on 
at  this  time  against  the  Waldenses  in  Calabria ;  but  the  reader  will, 
probably,  think  it  quite  sufficient.  Pope  Pius  IV.  was  so  resolutely 
bent  upon  ridding  the  country  of  them,  that  he  afterwards  sent  the 
Marquis  of  Butiane  to  perfect  what  was  left  undone,  with  a  promise  that 
if  he  succeeded  in  clearing  Calabria  of  the  Waldenses,  he  would  give 
his  son  a  cardinal's  hat.  He,  indeed,  found  but  little  difficulty  in  effect- 
ing it ;  for  the  inquisitorial  monks  and  Viceroy  of  Naples  had  already 
put  to  death  so  many,  transporting  others  to  the  Spanish  gallies,  and 
banishing  all  fugitives,  selling  or  slaying  their  wives  and  children,  that 
not  much  remained  for  the  marquis  to  accomplish. 

Of  their  pastors,  Stephen  Megrin  was  imprisoned  at  Cossence,  and 
literally  starved  to  death.  Lewis  Pascal  was  conveyed  to  Rome,  and 
there  condemned  to  be  burnt  alive.  As  this  man  had  been  remarkable 
for  his  zeal,  and  the  confidence  with  which  he  had  maintained  the  Pope 
to  be  antichrist,  he  was  reserved  as  a  gratifying  spectacle  for  his  holi- 
ness and  the  conclave  of  cardinals,  who  were  present  at  his  death.  But 
such  was  the  address  which  Pascal  delivered  to  the  people,  from  the 
word  of  God,  that  the  Pope  would  gladly  have  wished  himself  else- 
where, or  that  Pascal  had  been  dumb  and  the  people  deaf!  The  account 
that  is  given  us  of  his  dying  behaviour,  can  scarcely  fail  to  remind  one 
of  the  case  of  the  martyr  Stephen  ;  and  his  ardent  zeal  in  the  cause  of 
Christ,  added  to  his  fervent  supplications  to  the  throne  of  grace,  deeply 
affected  the  spectators,  while  the  pope  and  cardinals  gnashed  their  teeth 
through  rage. 

Such  was  the  end  of  the  Waldenses  of  Calabria,  who  were  wholly 
exterminated  :  for  if  any  of  the  fugitives  returned,  it  was  upon  the  ex- 
press condition  that  they  would  in  all  things  conform  themselves  to  the 
laws  of  the  church  of  Rome.* 

About  this  time,  Francis  I.  king  of  France,  obtained  possession  of 
the  whole  country  of  Piedmont  by  conquest,  and  regulated  its  affairs  by 
means  of  its  parliament  at  Turin.  The  Pontifical  chair  was  then  filled 
by  Paul  III.  who  plied  the  parliament  so  sedulously  to  proceed  against 
these  pernicious  heretics,  the  Waldenses,  that  the  recent  scenes  of 
France  were  now  re-acted  in  Piedmont;  numbers  of  the  Waldenses 
being  committed  to  the  flames.  Happily  these  things  were,  in  a  great 
measure,  new  among  them.  They,  therefore,  presented  an  address  to 
the  king,  humbly  supplicating  that  they  might  be  indulged  with  the 
same  privileges  under  his  government,  which  they  and  their  forefathers 
had  so  long  enjoyed  under  the  house  of  Savoy.  But  Francis  turned  a 
deaf  ear  to  their  prayer,  commanding  them  to  be  regulated  in  the  con- 
cerns of  religion  by  the  laws  of  the  Roman  church,  or  they  should  be 
punished  as  heretics,  adding,  that  he  did  not  burn  the  followers  of  Lu- 
ther in  every  part  of  France,  to  permit  a  nest  of  heretics,  to  rest  secure 
in  the  bosom  of  the  Alps.  They  were,  therefore,  commanded  by  the 
parliament  to  send  away  their  pastors  on  pain  of  death  ;  and  in  their 
room  to  receive  priests  belonging  to  the  Catholic  church,  to  conduct 
their  worship  and  sing  masses  for  them.     The  Waldenses  replied,  that 

*  Perrin's  History  of  the  Waldenses,  b.  ii.  ch.  7. 


478  History  of  the  Christian  Church. 

in  what  regarded  their  religious  worship,  they  could  obey  no  commands 
which  interfered  with  the  laws  of  God,  to  whom  they  rather  chose  to 
be  obedient,  in  every  thing  that  concerned  his  service,  than  to  follow 
the  fancies  and  inclinations  of  men.* 

But  the  multiplicity  of  important  concerns  which,  at  that  critical 
juncture,  engaged  the  king's  attention,  not  permitting  him  to  prosecute 
his  measures  against  the  Waldenses,  the  parliament  relinquished  the 
matter  to  the  court  of  Inquisition,  who  committed  to  the  flames  as  many 
as  they  could  apprehend.  In  the  year  1555,  several  were  burnt,  in  the 
Castle  Yard  at  Turin,  and  among  others,  Bartholomew  Hector,  a  book- 
seller, who,  by  his  admirable  fortitude  under  his  sufferings,  his  holy 
conversation,  and  fervent  prayers  to  God,  so  deeply  affected  the  spec- 
tators, that  he  drew  tears  from  their  eyes,  and  the  language  of  compas- 
sionate sympathy  from  their  lips. 

Not  long  after  this,  the  parliament  of  Turin,  resolving  to  second,  by 
every  means  in  their  power,  the  efforts  of  the  inquisitors,  appointed  a 
person  of  the  name  of  St.  Julian,  president,  and  sent  him  throughout 
the  valleys,  armed  with  the  king's  authority,  and  accompanied  by  an 
assessor,  to  compel  the  Waldenses  either  to  conform  to  the  church  of 
Rome  or  to  put  them  to  death  ;  promising  to  render  their  agents  every 
assistance  they  might  require,  either  to  reduce  to  obedience,  or  exter- 
minate them. 

On  their  arrival  at  Perouse  they  issued  a  proclamation  in  the  name 
of  the  king,  commanding  every  one  of  the  inhabitants  to  attend  mass 
on  pain  of  death.  From  thence  they  proceeded  to  Pignerol,  where 
they  summoned  several  persons  to  appear  before  them,  and  drew  up  in- 
dictments, probably  with  the  view  of  terrifying  the  Waldenses  ;  but  not 
finding  these  methods  to  succeed  to  their  expectations,  they  next  had 
recourse  to  a  new  and  more  alluring  expedient.  St.  Julian  had  brought 
with  him  several  monks  from  the  valley  of  Angrogue,  one  of  whom  he 
caused  to  preach  before  a  large  concourse  of  people.  The  zealous  ec- 
clesiastic laboured  indefatigably  to  persuade  them  to  return  to  the  church 
of  Rome,  the  praises  of  which  he  extolled  to  the  skies.  The  people 
heard  him  patiently  to  the  end  of  his  harangue;  and  then  rising  up, 
requested  that  one  of  their  pastors,  who  happened  to  be  present,  might 
be  indulged  with  the  privilege  of  making  some  remarks  on  the  sermon  ! 
but  the  president  very  prudently  declined  the  proposal.  His  refusal, 
however,  occasioned  such  murmuring  throughout  the  auditory,  that  the 
president  and  his  monks  were  petrified  with  astonishment,  and  took  the 
first  opportunity  that  was  afforded  them  of  decently  retiring  and  return- 
ing to  Turin. 

On  their  arrival  they  informed  the  parliamant  of  their  proceedings, 
intimating  how  difficult  it  would  be  to  subdue  these  people  by  coercive 
measures;  and  giving  it  as  their  opinion,  that,  even  if  attempted,  the 
country  afforded  such  facilities  of  defending  themselves,  that,  either  to 
reduce  them  to  the  obedience  of  the  church  of  Rome,  or  to  rid  the  coun- 
try of  them,  must  be  an  Herculean  task,  and  performed  at  the  expense 
of  so  much  blood,  that  to  exterminate  them  must  be  the  work  of  a  king, 

*  Sir  Samuel  Morland's  Churches  of  Piedmont,  p.  224. 


Proceedings  of  the  Inquisition  in  Piedmont.  479 

and  of  a  king  of  France  too  :  they,  therefore,  submitted  it  to  consider- 
ation, that  it  would  be  prudent  to  transmit  a  report  of  this  matter  to  his 
majesty,  and  leave  the  farther  prosecution  of  the  Waldenses  to  his  own 
discretion.  This  advice  was  adopted,  and  a  year  elapsed  before  the 
parliament  took  any  further  measures  relative  to  them. 

His  majesty,  however,  at  length  reported  his  pleasure  upon  the  mes- 
sage of  the  parliament;  and  it  was,  that  all  his  subjects  in  Piedmont 
should  be  compelled  to  attend  mass  on  pain  of  corporal  punishment  and 
the  confiscation  of  their  goods;  and  St.  Julian  was  again  sent  to  An- 
grogne  to  enforce  obedience;  but  the  people  were  still  as  averse  to 
compliance  as  ever  they  had  been.  They  answered  that  they  were  not 
bound  to  obey  such  decrees  as  were  inconsistent  with  their  duty  to  God. 
He  then  commanded  twelve  of  the  principal  persons  among  them,  with 
all  the  pastors  and  all  the  schoolmasters  in  the  valleys,  to  surrender 
themselves  prisoners  at  Turin,  there  to  receive  such  sentences  as  should 
be  passed  upon  them.  They  returned  for  answer,  that  such  commands 
came  from  men  only,  and  not  from  God,  and  that  as  they  could  not  ap- 
pear at  Turin  but  at  the  risk  of  their  lives  and  of  being  troubled  on 
account  of  their  religious  profession,  they  declined  compliance. 

This  contumacious  behaviour  inflamed  the  parliament  to  the  highest 
pitch.  They  proceeded  against  them  in  the  most  summary  manner, 
causing  all  that  could  be  apprehended  in  Piedmont,  and  on  the  confines 
of  the  valleys,  to  be  committed  to  the  fiames  at  Turin  ;  and  among 
others  a  Mr.  Jeffrey  Varnigle  was  burnt  in  the  year  1557,  in  the  Castle 
Yard.  He  was  attended  by  an  immense  concourse  of  spectators,  upon 
whom  his  death  made  a  strong  and  lasting  impression ;  his  fervent 
piety  and  resignation  to  the  will  of  God  tending  greatly  to  confirm  and 
establish  their  own  minds. 

While  these  things  were  in  progress,  Francis  was  removed  from  the 
stage  of  life,  and  his  son  Henry  II.  raised  to  the  throne.  The  protes- 
tant  princes  of  Germany,  now  moved  with  compassion  for  the  poor 
persecuted  Waldenses,  interceded  for  them  with  Henry,  entreating  him 
to  permit  them  the  same  religious  privileges  which  their  forefathers  had 
enjoyed  from  generation  to  generation.  And  their  application  was  not 
without  success,  for  they  continued  unmolested  until  peace  was  con- 
cluded between  France  and  Spain,  in  the  year  1559,  at  which  time 
Piedmont  was  again  restored  to  the  Duke  of  Savoy. 

No  sooner  had  the  inhabitants  of  Piedmont  become  the  subjects  of 
Philbert  Emanuel,  than  a  most  pressing  application  was  made  to  him 
by  the  monks  of  Pignerol  to  prosecute  the  most  sanguinary  measures 
against  the  Waldenses  ;  and  the  latter,  to  counteract  it,  presented  an 
humble  petition  to  their  sovereign,  in  which  they  informed  him  they 
were  not  ignorant  of  the  many  accusations  laid  against  them,  nor  of 
the  various  calumnies  that  were  cast  upon  them,  with  the  view  of  ren- 
dering them  odious  to  all  princes  and  monarchs  of  the  Christian  world. 
They  then  make  a  bold  avowal  of  their  principles  as  these  respected 
the  Christian  faith,  their  readiness  to  yield  obedience  to  their  civil 
rulers,  in  every  thing  that  did  not  infringe  upon  the  rights  of  con- 
science— their  anxious  wish  to  live  peaceably  with  their  neighbours ; 
boldly  affirming,  that  though  often  provoked  to  it,  they  had  done  vio- 


480  History  of  the  Christian  Church. 

lence  to  no  man ;  and  in  this  respect,  they  challenged  any  complaint 
that  could  be  brought  against  them.  They  appealed  to  their  published 
confessions  of  faith  that  they  were  not  obstinate  in  their  opinions  ;  but 
on  the  contrary  ready  to  receive  all  holy  and  pious  admonitions  that 
•were  sanctioned  by  the  word  of  God :  and  that  they  were  so  far  from 
evading  discussion,  that,  on  the  contrary,  they  anxiously  desired  it. 
They  implored  his  highness  to  consider  that  their  religious  profession 
was  not  a  thing  of  yesterday,  as  their  adversaries  falsely  reported  ;  but 
had  been  the  profession  of  their  fathers,  grandfathers,  and  great-grand- 
fathers ;  yea,  of  their  predecessors  of  still  more  ancient  times,  even  of 
the  martyrs,  confessors,  apostles,  and  prophets  ;  and  they  called  upon 
their  adversaries  to  prove  the  contrary  if  they  were  able.  Persuaded, 
therefore,  as  they  were,  that  their  religion  was  not  a  human  invention, 
but  founded  upon  the  word  of  God,  which  shall  remain  for  ever,  they 
were  confident  that  no  human  force  should  be  able  to  extinguish  it. 

They  call  to  the  mind  of  their  prince,  the  grievous  persecutions  that 
for  many  ages  past  had  been  carried  on  against  their  brethren,  and 
which  had  been  so  far  from  destroying  the  sect,  that  their  numbers 
were  increasing  daily — an  argument,  as  they  remarked,  that  the  work 
and  council  was  not  of  men  but  of  God,  and  consequently  not  to  be 
destroyed  by  violence.  They  remind  him,  that  it  is  no  trifling  thing 
to  fight  against  God  ;  and  beseech  him  to  consider  well  what  he  is 
about  to  undertake,  before  he  embrues  his  hands  in  innocent  blood. 
"  We  shall  religiously  obey  all  your  highness's  edicts,"  say  they,  "  so 
far  as  conscience  will  permit — but  Jesus  is  our  Saviour,  and  when 
conscience  says  Nay,  your  highness  knows  that  it  is  our  duty  to  obey 
God  rather  than  man.  While  we  frankly  acknowledge  the  right  of 
Caesar  to  demand  from  us  what  belongs  to  Caesar,  we  must  also  render 
to  God  what  is  due  to  Him." 

But  whether  this  petition  did  not  arrive  in  time,  or  that  the  duke 
actually  turned  a  deaf  ear  to  it,  it  seems  that  in  the  year  1561  the  in- 
habitants of  the  valleys  were  considerably  harassed  by  the  military ; 
in  consequence  of  which  they  came  to  the  resolution  of  sending  depu- 
ties to  Turin,  to  prevail  upon  the  duchess,  who  was  reported  to  be 
favourably  disposed  towards  their  cause,  to  intercede  for  them.  In  this 
instance  they  were  more  successful.  An  edict  was  issued  in  favour  of 
the  Waldenses,  bearing  date  the  5th  of  June,  1561,  granting  them  the 
privilege  of  holding  their  public  assemblies  in  all  the  usual  places,  free 
from  molestation  ;  and  that  such  of  them  as  had  been  injured  by  the 
seizure  and  confiscation  of  their  property,  should  have  it  restored,  or 
receive  a  compensation  for  the  same. 

The  following  account  of  this  matter,  given  by  Sleidan's  Continuator, 
appears  to  me  of  too  much  importance  to  be  omitted  in  this  place. 
"  There  was  in  Piedmont,"  says  he,  "  a  valley  called  by  the  name  of 
Perouse,  and  St.  Martin ;  inhabited  by  about  fifteen  thousand  souls, 
whose  ancestors  about  four  hundred  years  since,  had,  upon  the  preach- 
ing of  Waldo,  Speronus,  and  Arnold,  made  a  defection  from  the  church 
of  Rome,  and  had,  at  times,  been  severely  treated  for  it,  by  the  French, 
under  whom  they  had  been  ;  but  by  the  last  treaty  they  were  assigned 
to  the  Duke  of  Savoy.     This  people  about  the  year  1555,  had  em- 


Contest  in  the  Valley  of  Perouse.  481 

braced  the  Reformation,  and  had  suffered  it  to  be  publicly  preached, 
though  it  was  forbidden  by  the  council  at  Turin,  which,  the  year  fol- 
lowing, sent  one  of  its  own  members  to  inquire  after  the  offenders,  and  to 
punish  them  ;  to  whom  the  inhabitants  delivered  the  confession  of  their 
faith ;  '  Declaring  that  they  professed  the  doctrine  contained  in  the 
Old  and  New  Testaments,  and  comprehended  in  the  Apostles'  Creed  ; 
and  admitted  the  sacraments  instituted  by  Christ,  and  the  ten  command- 
ments, &c.  That  they  believed  the  supreme  civil  magistrates  were 
instituted  by  God,  and  they  were  to  be  obeyed,  and  that  whosoever 
resisted  them,  fought  against  God.  They  said  they  had  received  this 
doctrine  from  their  ancestors,  and  that  if  they  were  in  any  error  they 
were  ready  to  receive  instruction  from  the  word  of  God,  and  would 
presently  renounce  any  heretical  or  erroneous  doctrine  which  should 
be  so  shown  to  them.' 

"  On  this  a  solemn  disputation  was  appointed,  concerning  the  sacri- 
fice of  the  mass,  auricular  confession,  tradition,  prayers  and  oblations 
for  the  dead,  and  the  ceremonies  of  the  church  and  her  censures :  all 
which  they  rejected,  alleging  that  they  were  human  inventions,  and 
contrary  to  the  word  of  God.  This  confession  was  sent  bjr  the  Duke 
of  Savoy  to  the  King  of  France,  who  about  a  year  after  returned  an  an- 
swer, That  he  had  caused  it  to  be  examined  by  his  learned  divines ; 
who  had  all  condemned  it  as  erroneous  and  contrary  to  true  religion ; 
and,  therefore,  the  king  commanded  them  to  reject  the  confession  and 
to  submit  to  the  holy  church  of  Rome  ;  and  if  they  did  not  do  so,  their 
persons  and  estates  should  be  confiscated.  But  they,  on  the  contrary, 
were  resolved  to  stand  by  their  former  confession.  They  were,  there- 
fore, commanded  not  to  admit  any  teacher  who  was  not  sent  by  the 
Archbishop  of  Turin,  or  the  council  there  ;  and  that  if  any  teachers 
came  among  them  from  Geneva,  they  should  discover  or  apprehend 
them,  upon  pain  of  death,  and  loss  of  all  they  had.  For  three  years 
after  this,  the  Waldenses  were  let  alone  and  no  way  molested ;  but 
this  year,  1560,  the  Duke  of  Savoy,  much  against  his  will  and  inclina- 
tion, was  drawn  by  the  pope  to  make  war  upon  them.  In  the  begin- 
ning of  March,  Jean  de  Carpuignan,  and  one  Mathurim  and  his  wife 
were  apprehended  and  burnt,  and  several  of  the  neighbouring  valleys 
were  plundered,  and  many  of  the  inhabitants  put  to  death  ;  about  sixty 
were  sent  to  the  galleys,  and  some  recanted  and  professed  the  Roman 
Catholic  religion.  After  this,  Thomas  Jacomel,  a  Dominican,  was  sent 
with  one  Turbis  for  his  assistant,  who  was  a  bloody  man,  to  inquire 
diligently  and  severely  into  all  that  were  suspected ;  but  the  nobility 
interposing,  there  was  no  great  severity  shown.  The  monks  of  the 
abbey  of  Pignerol,  which  was  seated  in  the  entrance  of  the  valley,  on 
the  other  side,  kept  a  parcel  of  soldiers  in  pay,  and  entrapping  as  many 
of  these  poor  people  as  they  could,  as  they  passed  to  and  fro,  they  used 
them  very  cruelly  ;  and  some  others  of  the  nobility  did  the  same  thing; 
and  a  sedition  following  upon  it,  they  fined  the  poor  inhabitants  one 
thousand  six  hundred  crowns.  Upon  this  a  sharp  war  ensued,  which 
ended  in  the  ruin  of  the  aggressors  of  the  church  of  Rome. 

"The  pastor  of  Perouse  was  "taken  and  burnt  with  a  slow  fire,  to- 
gether with  many  of  his  flock,  and  the  inhabitants  were  despoiled  of 
41 


482  History  of  the  Christian  Church. 

all  they  had,  and  forced  to  flee  to  the  mountains.  Being  thus  enraged 
with  hard  usage,  in  the  month  of  July,  fifty  of  them  set  upon  one  hun- 
dred and  twenty  soldiers  belonging  to  the  abbey  of  Pignerol,  put  them 
to  flight,  and  slew  the  greatest  part  of  them  ;  and  about  four  hundred 
more  of  their  party  coming  up,  they  took  the  abbey  of  Pignerol,  and 
delivered  all  their  people  which  were  imprisoned  there.  In  October 
following,  news  being  brought  that  the  Duke  of  Savoy  was  sending  an 
army  to  destroy  them ;  they  resolved,  that  it  was  not  lawful  to  take 
arms  against  their  prince,  but  that  they  would  take  what  they  could 
carry  away,  and  betake  themselves  to  the  mountains,  and  there  await 
the  good  pleasure  of  God,  who  never  forsakes  his  own,  and  can  turn 
the  hearts  of  princes  which  way  he  pleaseth.  There  was  not  one  man 
amongst  them  who  repined  against  this  decree.  In  aftertimes  they  had 
pastors  who  taught  them  otherwise,  and  told  them  it  was  not  their 
prince,  but  the  Pope  that  they  resisted,  and  that  they  fought  not  for 
their  religion,  but  for  their  wives  and  children.  The  2d  of  November 
the  forces  of  the  Duke  of  Savoy  entered  their  borders,  and  the  soldiers 
attempting  to  get  above  them,  they  betook  themselves  to  their  slings, 
and  maintained  a  fight  against  them  (though  they  were  but  iew  in  num- 
ber) the  space  of  a  whole  day,  with  no  great  loss.  At  last,  the  general 
finding  they  were  not  to  be  forced,  gave  them  leave  to  petition  the  Duke 
of  Savoy,  '  that  they  might  live  in  peace,  assuring  him  that  nothing  but 
utter  ruin  could  have  forced  them  to  take  arms  against  him  :  for  which 
they  humbly  implored  his  highness's  pardon,  and  begging  the  liberty 
of  their  consciences,  and  that  they  might  not  be  forced  to  submit  to 
the  traditions  of  the  church  of  Rome  ;  but  might,  with  his  leave,  enjoy 
the  religion  they  had  learned  from  their  ancestors.' 

"This  petition  was  seconded  by  the  Duchess  of  Savoy,  who  was  a 
merciful  princess,  and  had  great  power  over  the  affections  of  the  Duke. 
It  being  ever  her  judgment  that  this  people  were  not  to  be  so  severely 
used,  who  had  not  changed  their  religion  a  few  days  ago,  but  had  been 
in  possession  of  it  from  their  ancestors  so  many  ages.  Upon  this  they 
were  to  be  received  in  mercy ;  but  the  soldiery  fell  upon  them  when 
they  suspected  nothing,  and  plundered  them  three  days  together.  The 
general  seemed  to  be  much  concerned  at  this  breach  of  faith  :  yet  after 
this  they  were  fined  eight  thousand  crowns,  which  they  were  forced  to 
borrow  on  great  usury,  and  they  were  also  commanded  to  bring  all 
their  arms  into  the  castles  which  the  duke  had  garrisoned  in  their  coun- 
try. And  at  last  they  were  commanded  to  eject  all  their  pastors  (which 
was  submitted  to  with  the  tears  of  their  people)  that  they  might  avoid 
the  fury  of  the  soldiers.  The  general  pretended  not  to  be  satisfied  that 
their  pastors  were  in  reality  gone,  and  when  they  suffered  them  to 
search  their  houses,  the  soldiers  plundered  them  again,  and  then  burnt 
their  town.  There  was  one  town  called  Angrogne,  in  a  valley  of  the 
same  name,  where  the  general  pretended  to  show  them  more  favour, 
and  agreed  that  they  should  have  one  pastor  left  them  :  but  they  forced 
him  also  to  flee  into  the  mountains  afterwards,  and  plundered  his  house, 
and  all  his  neighbours,  and  then  enjoined  the  Sindicks  (or  chief  magis- 
trates) to  bring  in  the  pastor ;  threatening  that  otherwise  they  would 
burn  and  destroy  the  whole  territory  ;  and  when  they  had  so  done  they 
withdrew. 


Confused  state  of  Piedmont.  483 

*'  In  the  mean  time  their  messengers  were  gone  with  their  petition, 
mentioned  above,  to  the  Duke  at  Vercelli,  where  they  attended  forty 
days  before  they  could  get  an  audience,  and  then  they  were  forced  to 
promise  they  would  admit  the  mass  ;  and  when  the  prince  had,  upon 
these  terms,  forgiven  their  taking  arms  against  him,  they  were  com- 
manded to  ask  pardon  too  of  the  Pope's  nuncio,  which  at  last  they  did. 
During  their  absence,  the  inhabitants  of  Angrogne  had  permitted  no 
sermons  but  in  private,  that  they  might  not  exasperate  the  prince,  or 
make  the  affairs  of  their  deputies  more  difficult.  But  they  resolved 
when  these  were  returned  to  exercise  their  religion  openly,  and  not  to 
give  any  thing  to  the  maintaining  of  the  soldiers,  whether  their  request 
was  granted  or  denied. 

"In  the  beginning  of  January  the  deputies  returned,  and  when  their 
principals  understood  what  had  been  done,  they  wrote  to  the  rest  of  the 
valleys  to  give  them  an  account  of  it ;  and  desired  a  public  consulta- 
tion or  diet ;  at  which  it  was  resolved  that  they  should  all  join  in  a 
league  to  defend  their  religion,  which  they  believed  was  agreeable  to 
the  word  of  God,  professing  in  the  mean  time  to  obey  their  prince  ac- 
cording to  the  command  of  God,  and  that  they  would,  for  the  future, 
make  no  agreement  or  peace,  but  by  common  consent,  in  which  the 
freedom  of  their  religion  should  be  saved.  Upon  this  they  became 
more  confident,  refused  the  conditions  offered  by  the  Duke  of  Savoy, 
mid  the  promises  made  by  their  deputies'.  And  the  next  day  they  en- 
tered into  the  church  of  Bobbio,  and  broke  down  all  the  images  and 
altars,  and  then  marching  to  Villare,  where  they  intended  to  do  the 
like,  they  met  the  soldiers,  who  had  heard  what  was  done,  going  to 
plunder  Bobbio,  stopped  them,  and  with  their  slings  so  pelted  them, 
that  they  were  glad  to  shift  for  their  lives,  and  left  these  reformers  to 
do  the  same  thing  at  Villare.  The  captain  of  Turin  attempting  to  quell 
this  outrage  was  beaten,  and  the  duke's  officers  were  glad  to  seek  to 
their  pastors  for  a  passport.  After  this  they  beat  the  captain  of  Turin 
in  a  second  fight.  By  this  time  the  whole  army  drew  into  the  field, 
and  the  inhabitants  of  these  valleys  not  being  able  to  resist  them,  the 
soldiers  burnt  all  their  towns  and  houses  and  destroyed  all  the  people 
they  took.  In  these  broils  Monteil,  one  of  the  Duke  of  Savoy's  chief 
officers,  was  slain  by  a  lad  of  eighteen  years  of  age ;  and  Truchet,  an- 
other of  them,  by  a  dwarf.  The  duke  of  Savoy  had  sent  seven  thou- 
sand soldiers  to  destroy  this  handfull  of  men  ;  and  yet  such  was  the 
desperation,  and  the  advantages  of  their  country,  that  they  beat  his  sol- 
diers wheresoever  they  met  them.  And  in  all  these  fights  their  ener 
mies  observed  that  they  had  slain  only  fourteen  of  the  inhabitants,  and 
thence  concluded  that  God  fought  for  them.  So  the  Savoyards  began 
to  treat  for  a  peace,  which  at  last  was  concluded  to  the  advantage  of 
these  poor  despicable  people.  The  duke  remitted  the  eight  thousand 
crowns  they  were  to  pay  by  the  former  treaty,  and  suffered  them  to 
enjoy  their  religious  liberty  •  so  that  he  got  nothing  by  this  war  but 
loss  and  shame,  the  ruin  of  his  people  on  both  sides,  and  the  desolating 
of  his  country."* 

*  Sleidan's  History  of  the  Reformation,  Continuation,  p.  52 — 54. 


484  History  of  the  Christian  Church. 

This  calm,  however,  only  lasted  about  four  years  ;  for  in  1565,  at 
the  importunate  request  of  the  Catholic  party,  an  edict  was  issued,  en- 
joining every  subject  throughout  the  dominions  of  the  Duke  of  Savoy, 
not  conforming  to  the  church  of  Rome,  to  appear  before  the  magis- 
trates of  their  several  districts,  within  tea  days  after  its  publication,  and 
there  either  declare  their  readiness  to  go  to  mass,  or  quit  the  country 
in  two  months.  The  magistrates  were,  at  the  same  time,  directed  to 
take  particular  cognizance  of  such  as  refused  compliance,  and  to  trans- 
mit information  thereof  to  his  highness. 

The  protestant  princes  of  Germany,  having  received  information  of 
this  tremendous  blow,  which  now  threatened  the  Waldenses,  very  hu- 
manely interposed  with  the  Duke,  for  the  purpose  of  warding  it  off. 
The  Elector  Palatine  of  the  Rhine,  in  particular,  addressed  a  letter  to 
him,  which  he  transmitted  by  the  hands  of  one  of  his  counsellors.  I 
regret  that  its  length,  (for  it  occupies  seven  pages  in  folio)  renders  its 
entire  insertion  here  impracticable  ;  but  some  judgment  may  be  formed 
of  the  noble  sentiments  that  it  breathes  throughout  from  the  following 
extracts : 

"  I  plainly  see,"  says  the  Elector  Palatine,  "  whither  the  designs 

of  your  highness1  s  counsels  tend.  It  is  to  drag  these  poor  people  to 
prison,  and  there,  by  means  of  torment,  to  constrain  them  to  confess 
some  treason,  that  so  a  pretext  may  be  afforded  for  destroying  all  the 
churches  of  the  valleys,  as  seditious,  and  to  condemn  them  as  disturbers 
of  the  public  peace.  But  let  your  highness  recollect,  that  there  is  a 
God  in  heaven,  who  not  only  beholds  the  actions  of  men,  but  who  also 
tries  their  hearts  and  reins,  and  to  whom  all  things  are  naked  and  open. 
Let  your  highness  beware  of  wilfully  fighting  against  God,  and  of 
persecuting  Christ  in  his  members  ;  for  though  he  may  bear  it  for 
awhile,  to  try  the  patience  of  his  saints ;  he  will,  nevertheless,  in  the 
end,  chastise  the  persecutors  of  his  churches  and  people  with  horrible 
punishments.  Let  not  your  highness  suffer  yourself  to  be  abused  by 
the  persuasions  of  Papists,  who  may  possibly  promise  you  the  kingdom 
of  heaven,  and  eternal  life,  as  a  reward,  in  case  you  banish,  imprison, 
and  exterminate  your  subjects.  But  the  infliction  of  cruelties,  and  in- 
human actions,  are  not  the  highways  to  the  kingdom  of  heaven — there 
must  be  some  other  found  out.  Your  highness  may  see  what  success 
has  attended  the  last  forty  years  of  persecution.  What  advantage  have 
those,  who  called  themselves  Catholics,  derived  from  all  the  fires, 
swords,  gibbets,  prisons,  tortures,  and  banishments  which  they  have 
exercised  in  Germany,  England,  France,  and  Scotland  !  No  ;  the  his- 
tory of  both  the  Jews  and  the  primitive  Christians,  abundantly  shows 
that  in  the  concerns  of  religion  the  power,  authority,  or  severity  of  men 
availed  nothing.  Do  we  not  find  that  those  who  have  persecuted,  ban- 
ished or  delivered  up  unto  death,  the  Christians,  have  been  so  far  from 
gaining  any  thing  thereby,  that,  on  the  contrary  they  have  increased 
their  number,  insomuch  that  it  has  become  a  proverb — '  The  ashes  of 
the  martyrs  are  the  seed  of  the  Christian  church.'  In  this  respect  the 
church  resembles  the  palm  tree,  which  the  more  it  is  weighed  down, 
the  loftier  it  rises. — Be  assured  that  true  religion  is  nothing  else  than 
a  firm  and  settled  persuasion  of  the  existence  of  God,  and  of  his  will, 


Tlie  Elector  Palatine's  Letter.  485 

as  revealed  in  his  word,  imprinted  on  the  mind  by  the  Holy  Spirit, 
which  having  once  taken  root,  cannot  easily  be  eradicated  by  tortures 
and  torments — for  those  who  are  the  subjects  of  it,  will  sooner  endure 
the  worst  that  can  befal  them,  than  embrace  any  thing  which  appears 
to  them  contrary  to  religion  and  godliness. 

"By  the  grace  of  God,  evangelical  truth  now  shines  in  such  splen- 
dour, that  the  errors  and  deceits  of  the  Bishop  of  Rome  and  all  his 
clergy,  are  sufficiently  known  in  a  manner  by  all  men  ;  nor  must  the 
Pope  think,  henceforward,  to  abuse  the  world  as  he  has  done  in  former 
times.  I,  therefore,  beseech  your  highness,  whom  I  understand  to  be 
of  a  sweet  and  gentle  disposition,  that  you  would  lay  these  things  to 
heart,  and  not  further  molest  these  poor  people  for  the  sake  of  their 
religion,  nor  refuse  them  the  free  exercise  of  it,  but  rather  allow  them 
the  liberty  of  assembling  in  public  for  the  worship  and  service  of  God ; 
in  doing  which  you  will  readily  discover  the  falsehood  of  the  charges 
brought  against  them  by  their  adversaries,  and  have  proof  their  loyalty 
and  obedience.  Your  highness  is  net  ignorant  what  evils  were  brought 
upon  France  by  their  violence  in  banishing  and  persecuting  [the  Chris- 
tians there,]  what  a  flame  was  raised,  which  in  a  manner  consumed 
the  whole  kingdom,  and  what  ruin  ensued,  all  ivhichhas  been  appeased 
by  one  single  edict,  granting  liberty  of  conscience  ;  the  result  of  which 
is,  that  the  most  entire  peace  and  tranquillity  reigns  among  them,  though 
they  profess  different  forms  of  religion.  And,  indeed,  the  plain  truth 
is,  that  if  your  highness,  out  of  complaisance  to  the  Bishop  of  Rome, 
the  cardinals,  prelates,  and  others  who  are  interested  in  the  Roman  re- 
ligion, are  resolved  still  to  continue  to  persecute  these  poor  people,  you 
will  unquestionably  experience  the  same  evils  that  have  come  upon 
other  kingdoms.  Nothing  that  is  violent  is  of  long  duration;  and  we 
must  not  always  follow  the  wolf  into  the  wood.  Poverty  and  hunger 
are  no  inconsiderable  torments,  nor  is  it  an  easy  thing  to  lead  so  long 
and  miserable  a  life  in  exile,  when  deprived  of  one's  goods  and  estates. 
It  is  the  height  of  injustice  and  misery  to  be  compelled  to  submit  to  the 
tyrannical  yoke  of  the  Bishop  of  Rome,  and  to  be  prohibited  worshipping 
God  according  to  his  word.  And  it  is  wholly  intolerable  for  good  and 
faithful  subjects  to  be  accused  as  rebels  or  seditious  persons. 

"  I  learn,  not  without  much  grief,  that  scarcely  any  thing  has  yet 
been  done  in  regard  to  the  things  which  your  highness  promised  my 
Junius  by  word  of  mouth,*  and  that  those  poor  wretches  ivho  are  kept 
in  the  galleys  on  account  of  their  religion,  whose  names  he  delivered 
in  to  your  highness,  are  yet  detained;  from  which  I  plainly  perceive 
that  these  are  the  doings  of  yourhighness's  counsellors,  who  are  carried 
away  with  deadly  hatred  against  our  religion,  of  which  I  have  proof, 
not  merely  hearsay,  but  in  the  actual  case  of  two  who  have  been  lately 
banished.  But  let  me  tell  you  in  a  word,  that  this  severity  is  neither 
well-pleasing  to  God  nor  man,  nor  is  it  the  way  to  bring  men  to  the 

*  For  understanding  this,  the  reader  must  notice,  that  the  elector  had  before 
this  time,  by  means  of  one  of  his  ministers,  whose  name  was  Junius,  been  inter^ 
ceding  with  the  duke,  in  behalf  of  some  of  the  "Waldenses,  and  that  the  latter  had 
promised  to  redress  the  grievance,  which,  however,  the  Catholic  clergy  and  the 
Duke's  own  ministers  had  successfully  manoeuvred  to  prevent. 
41* 


486  History  of  the  Christian  Church. 

true  knowledge  of  God,  which  must  be  done  by  persuasion  and  an  ap- 
peal to  the  Scriptures — not  by  persecution.  Your  highness  may  pro- 
bably tell  me,  that  our  religion  has  been  long  condemned — but  I  ask, 
by  whom,  and  how  ?  By  him  who  has  violated  and  corrupted  all  rights, 
human  and  divine,  making  himself  both  party  and  judge,  and  who  has 
lately,  at  the  Council  of  Trent,  confirmed  all  his  idolatries,  and  all  the 
superstitions  and  abuses  that  have  been  introduced  into  the  church.  Let 
your  highness  carefully  examine  the  Holy  Scriptures,  and  you  will  find 
this  to  be  the  case.  Never  suffer  yourself  to  be  deluded  by  those  de- 
ceivers, who  maintain  their  idolatries  and  superstitions  merely  to  serve 
their  own  bellies,  and  that  they  may  lead  the  lives  of  epicures.  Let 
your  highness  well  consider,  that  you  must  one  day  appear  before  the 
tribunal  of  Christ,  to  give  an  account  of  the  souls  of  your  subjects,  and 
where  it  will  avail  you  nothing  to  say,  "I  thought  so,"  or,  "I esteem- 
ed it  so."  God  has  revealed  his  will  in  his  word,  and  it  is  his  pleasure 
that  we  should  follow  the  same  without  turning  either  to  the  right  hand 
or  to  the  left.  The  word  of  God  is  also  clear  and  plain  ;  let  your  high- 
ness only  hear  and  embrace  it,  and  you  will  easily  find  out  the  truth. 
I  say  all  this,  as  one  who  wishes  well  to  your  highness's  soul,  as  much 
so  indeed  as  I  do  to'_that  of  my  own,  and  I  pray  the  Lord  incessantly  that 
it  may  please  him  to  enlighten  your  understanding,  and  call  you  home 
to  his  true  light,  that  you  may  discern  truth  from  falsehood,  and  that 
thus  having  a  knowledge  of  the  horrible  abuses  of  the  church  of  Rome, 
you  may  serve  God  in  sincerity  and  truth. 

"I  therefore  beseech  your  highness  to  give  us  a  pledge  of  that  es- 
teem which  you  have  for  us,  by  delivering  those  poor  people  which 
are  now  in  the  galleys,  and  recalling  those  that  have  been  recently  ban- 
ished by  the  senate  of  Savoy,  as  you  promised  my  Junius  and  my- 
self, by  your  letters.  Have  compassion  upon  so  many  wandering  ex- 
iles, deprived  of  all  their  property  and  effects.  Call  them  home,  and 
restore  them  to  their  houses  and  habitations :  and  grant  both  to  them, 
and  to  the  other  inhabitants  of  your  highness's  country,  the  public  ex- 
ercise of  their  religious  worship,  which  they  esteem  more  necessary 
than  their  daily  food.  Absolve  such  of  these  poor  people  of  the  val- 
leys as  have  been  falsely  accused,  that  so  they  may  all  live  in  peace 
and  tranquillity  under  your  highness's  government.  Make  such  articles 
of  peace  with  them  as  may  be  preserved  inviolate — support  them  in 
the  quiet  exercise  of  that  religion  which  you  have  permitted  them,  and 
defend  them  in  the  same,  bridling  and  restraining  the  bitter  hatred 
which  their  governor  Castrocaro  exercises  towards  them  ;  and  warn 
him  to  molest  them  no  more  for  the  future,  as  he  has  hitherto  done  ;  en- 
join upon  him  that  he  refrain  from  falsely  imputing  to  them  crimes  and 
accusations,  by  means  of  which  he  thinks  to  varnish  over  his  tyranny  ; 
for  such  things  are  altogether  unsuitable  to  the  office  of  a  magistrate 
and  a  governor,  who  ought  to  be  a  father  to  those  that  are  committed 
to  his  charge.  Do  not  render  yourself  an  instrument  to  the  pope  and 
his  creatures,  of  gratifying  their  insatiable  desires  to  spill  the  blood  of 
Christians.  Countenance  not  their  cruelty  and  inhumanity  against 
those  who  are  in  nowise  perverse,  but  real  Christians,  and  who  have 
nothing  more  at  heart  than  to  serve  God  purely  and  uprightly  under 


The  Duke  of  Savoy  protects  the  Waldenses.  487 

your  highness's  government,  to  whom  they  are  ready  to  yield  all  that 
obedience  and  fidelity  which  is  your  due,  and  to  lay  themselves  out 
(their  property,  their  persons,  and  their  lives,  if  necessity  calls  for 
them)  for  your  service.  The  great  and  all-powerful  God  guide  and 
govern  your  highness  by  his  Holy  Spirit,  and  preserve  and  defend  you 
long  in  health  and  safety."* 

This  letter,  which  breathes  throughout  the  spirit  of  genuine  Chris- 
tianity, will  be  found,  by  those  who  bestow  proper  attention  upon  it, 
to  throw  much  light  upon  the  state  of  the  Waldenses  in  Piedmont,  at 
the  middle  of  the  sixteenth  century.  For  while  it  gives  us  the  most  fa- 
vourable view  of  their  peaceable,  prudent,  and  exemplary  conduct,  it 
unmasks  the  perfidious  and  cruel  proceedings  of  the  Catholic  party  to- 
wards them,  and  the  distresses  and  afflictions  with  which  they  were 
perpetually  harassed,  on  account  of  their  profession.  It  appears  to  have 
had  the  happiest  effects  upon  the  Duke  ;  and,  supported  as  it  was,  by 
the  personal  application  of  the  Duchess,  who  is  said  to  have  been  "  a  pi- 
ous and  virtuous  princess,"  it  bridled  the  fury  of  the  governor  Castro- 
caro,  and  averted  the  dreadful  storm  which  hung  over  them.  They  ap- 
pear to  have  enjoyed  peace  until  the  year  1571,  at  which  time  the  rage 
of  this  inhuman  governor  again  burst  forth.  The  Duke,  at  that  instant, 
had  been  drawn  in  to  join  several  of  the  princes  of  Europe,  in  a  league 
offensive  against  the  Protestants ;  which  he  had  no  sooner  done,  than 
he  began  to  molest  his  protestant  subjects  in  the  valleys.  He  first  of 
all  forbade  them  to  hold  any  correspondence  with  the  Waldenses  of  Dau- 
phiny,  on  pain  of  death.  And  next  they  were  forbidden  to  assemble 
in  any  synod  or  council,  unless  it  were  in  the  presence  of  the  intole- 
rant Castrocaro.  These  things  sufficiently  indicated  the  gathering  of 
another  storm ;  but  the  duchess  again  humanely  interposed,  and  with 
effect ;  for  she  procured  the  continuance  of  their  privileges ;  and,  in- 
deed, during  her  life,  she  remained  as  it  were  a  sanctuary  and  place  of 
refuge  for  the  members  of  the  churches  of  Piedmont,  whenever  they 
found  themselves  assailed  by  their  adversaries. 

In  the  following  year,  1572,  the  dreadful  massacre  of  the  Hugonots, 
on  St.  Bartholomew's  day,  took  place  at  Paris,  and  several  of  the  other 
cities  of  France.  No  sooner  had  the  news  of  this  reached  Castro- 
caro, than  he  prepared  himself  for  similar  exploits  in  Piedmont :  and 
so  terrific  was  [the  attitude  in  which  he  placed  himself,  that  the  Wal- 
densian  brethren  thought  it  necessary  to  retire,  with  their  wives,  and 
children,  and  movable  effects,  to  the  tops  of  the  mountains  and  other 
places  of  real  or  fancied  security.  But  God  who  has  the  hearts  of  all 
men  in  his  hands,  and  who,  at  his  pleasue,  restrains  the  wrath  of  men, 
on  this  occasion  disposed  the  heart  of  the  Duke  to  befriend  them.  The 
massacres  that  had  taken  place  in  France  filled  him  with  disgust  and 
horror ;  and  so  far  was  he  from  allowing  the  governor  to  act  a  simdar 
part  towards  his  subjects,  that  he  caused  a  proclamation  to  be  issued, 
commanding  those  who  had  left  their  habitations  to  return  to  their  own 
houses,  promising  that  they  should  sustain  neither  danger  nor  injury 
thereby  ;  and  they  found  him  true  to  his  word,  for,  from  that  time  to 

*  Morland's  Churches  of  Piedmont,  p.  243 — 249. 


488  History  of  the  Christian  Church. 

the  death  of  the  Duchess,  which  took  place  on  the  19th  of  October, 
1574,  they  suffered  but  little  inconvenience. 

After  the  death  of  this  amiable  lady,  however,  the  Popish  party 
came  forth,  like  lions  out  of  their  dens,  and  sought,  by  all  possible  means 
to  destroy  the  Waldenses ;  but  the  kind  providence  of  God  raised  them 
up  friends,  from  time  to  time,  who  interceded  on  their  behalf  with  the 
Duke,  whose  heart  seems  to  have  been  gradually  and  increasingly  in- 
clined towards  them  ;  for  he  continued  to  treat  them  with  much  gentle- 
ness and  moderation  from  that  time  untill  the  period  of  his  own  death, 
which  happened  on  the  30th  of  August,  1580. 

The  late  duke  was  succeeded  in  the  government  of  the  country  by 
his  son  Charles  Emanuel,  upon  whose  accession  to  the  throne  a  trifling 
contest  about  territory  arose  between  him  and  a  French  prince,  which 
was  near  involving  the  Waldenses  in  a  dilemma.  The  young  Duke 
had  seized  upon  the  marquisate  of  Saluces,  on  which  Monsieur  de  1'  Es- 
diguieres,  by  way  of  retaliation,  marched  his  army,  and  seized  the  val- 
leys of  Piedmont.  When  the  fracas  was  over,  a  rumour  was  spread 
abroad  that  the  Waldenses  had  taken  the  oath  of  fidelity  to  the  King  of 
France,  and  the  Duke  displeased  with  that  part  of  their  conduct,  had 
formed  the  resolution  of  extirpating  all  the  Protestant  churches  in  his 
dominions.  There  does  appear  to  have  been  some  truth  in  the  latter 
part  of  this  representation  ;  for,  some  members  of  the  Duke's  council 
actually  proposed  the  thing,  but  it  was  overruled  by  the  wiser  and  greater 
part  of  the  members,  and  it  met  with  a  stern  repulse  from  the  Duke 
himself.  The  Waldenses,  however,  thought  it  expedient  to  appoint 
their  deputies  to  wait  upon  him,  which  they  did  at  Villaro,  assuringhis 
highness  of  their  loyalty  and  fidelity  to  his  government,  and  supplicating 
a  continuance  of  his  favour  and  protection.  His  answer,  which  was 
made  in  the  presence  of  a  great  number  of  his  lords  and  courtiers  was 
calculated  to  revive  their  drooping  spirits.  "Only  be  faithful  to  me," 
said  the  Duke,  "  and  I  shall  not  fail  to  be  a  good  prince,  nay,  a  father 
to  you.  And  as  to  your  liberty  of  conscience  and  the  free  exercise  of 
your  religion,  I  shall  be  so  far  from  introducing  any  innovations  into 
those  liberties  which  you  have  enjoyed  to  the  present  time,  that  if  any 
offer  to  molest  you,  have  your  recourse  to  myself,  and  I  shall  effectu- 
ally relieve  and  protect  you.'''' 

This  certainly  was  a  very  remarkable  declaration,  especially  when 
we  consider  that  it  came  from  one  who  professed  himself  a  member  of 
the  church  of  Rome.  But  it  was  spoken  in  the  presence  of  many  per- 
sons of  high  consideration,  and  in  the  most  condescending  manner ;  and 
it  proved  eminently  conducive  to  the  interests  of  the  Waldenses.  It 
countervailed  the  threats  of  their  implacable  adversaries,  and  kept  them 
in  check;  and  such,  with  occasional  interruptions  indeed  from  the  Ca* 
tholic  party,  sometimes  by  secret  stratagems,  and  at  others  by  open 
force,  continued  their  condition  until  the  end  of  the  century.  About 
that  time  the  scene  greatly  changed,  and  the  years  1601  and  1602  were 
prolific  of  mischief  to  the  churches,  both  in  the  valley  of  Lucerne,  and 
the  marquisate  of  Saluces,  of  which  some  mention  will  be  made  in  the 
next  section ;  I  shall  close  the  present  with  a  short  article  of  biography 
which  may  serve  as  an  introduction  to  the  history  of  the  Waldenses 
during  the  seventeenth  century. 


Hie  Duke  of  Savoy  protects  the  Waldenses.  489 

In  the  year  1601,  Bartholomew  Copin,  a  Waldensian  of  the  valley  of 
Lucerne,  had  occasion  to  attend  a  public  fair  at  Ast,  a  city  in  Piedmont,  to 
which  he  had  brought  for  sale  some  articles  of  merchandise.  Sitting  at 
table  one  evening  in  company  with  several  other  merchants,  one  of  them 
started  a  discourse  upon  the  subject  of  the  diversity  of  religious  profes- 
sions, and  took  occasion  to  speak  reproachfully  of  the  Waldenses  of  An- 
grogne  and  the  neighbouring  valleys.  Copin  undertook  their  defence ; 
conceiving  that  if  he  permitted  such  calumnies  to  pass  uncontradicted, 
he  should  appear  to  be  acquiescing  in  their  justice,  and  of  course  should 
partake  in  the  guilt  that  attached  to  them.  "  And  what,"  said  the 
stranger  to  Copin,  "  are  you  one  of  the  Waldenses  ?"  "  Yes,"  said 
he,  "  I  am."  "  And  what,  do  you  not  believe  the  real  presence  of 
God  in  the  host?"  "  No,"  said  Copin.  "  See,"  replied  the  other," 
"  what  a  false  religion  yours  is."  "  Of  the  truth  of  my  religion,"  said 
Copin,  "  I  have  no  more  doubt,  than  I  have  of  the  existence  of  God 
himself,  or  that  I  myself  shall  die."  On  the  following  day,  Copin  was 
summoned  to  appear  before  the  bishop  of  Ast,  who  told  him  that  he  had 
been  informed  of  certain  scandalous  opinions  and  discourses  which  he 
had  held  the  preceding  evening  at  his  lodgings  ;  and  that  unless  he  con- 
fessed his  fault,  and  asked  pardon,  he  should  certainly  have  him  pun- 
ished. Copin  acknowledged  that  he  had  been  stimulated  to  say  what 
he  did;  but  that,  nevertheless,  he  had  said  nothing  that  was  untrue,  or 
which  he  would  not  maintain  at  the  peril  of  his  life.  He  owned  that 
he  had  some  property  in  the  world,  and  a  wife  and  children,  but  that 
his  affections  were  not  so  rivetted  to  those  objects,  as  to  prefer  them  to 
the  testimony  of  a  good  conscience.  And  as  to  his  life  and  conversa- 
tion, if  the  bishop  thought  proper  to  inquire  of  the  merchants  of  Ast, 
all  of  whom  knew  him,  he  might  be  fully  satisfied  of  his  uprightness 
and  integrity. 

This,  however,  did  not  satisfy  his  lordship,  who  instantly  sent  him 
to  prison  ;  and  on  the  following  day,  the  bishop's  secretary  paid  Copin 
a  visit,  when  he  expressed  great  regard  for  him,  but  thought  it  neces- 
sary to  apprize  him  that,  unless  he  acknowledged  his  fault,  he"  was  in 
danger  of  losing  his  life.  Copin  replied,  that  his  life  was  in  the  hands 
of  God — that  he  had  no  wish  to  preserve  it  to  the  prejudice  of  his  glory 
—and  that  as  there  were  but  two  or  three  steps  between  him  and  hea- 
ven, he  trusted  he  would  support  him  by  his  grace,  and  not  leave  him 
to  turn  aside.  He  was  next  brought  before  the  inquisitoi*,  who  exam- 
ined him  in  the  presence  of  the  bishop ;  but  Copin  always  repulsed 
them  with  the  word  of  God,  telling  them  that  were  he  to  be  ashamed 
of  and  deny  Christ,  he  would  be  ashamed  of  and  deny  him  before  his 
heavenly  Father.  The  inquisitor,  finding  he  was  not  to  be  moved  by 
either  his  fair  speeches  or  terrific  frowns,  then  thus  addressed  him. 
"  Out  upon  thee,  thou  cursed  Lutheran  ;  thou  shalt  go  to  the  devils  in 
hell,  and  when  tormented  by  those  foul  spirits,  thou  wilt  call  to  mind 
the  holy  instructions  we  have  given  thee,  to  bring  thee  to  salvation — 
but  thou  choosest  rather  to  go  to  hell,  than  reconcile  thyself  to  thy  holy 
mother,  the  church."  Copin  only  answered,  that  he  had  long  been 
reconciled  to  the  holy  church. 

Copin,  foreseeing  that  his  death  was  resolved  on,  and  that  his  time 
here  would  probably  be  short,  was  one  day  greatly  surprised  by  a  visit 


490  History  of  the  Christian  Church. 

from  his  wife  and  son,  who  seem  to  have  been  enticed  to  the  prison  by 
the  Catholic  party  for  sinister  purposes,  and  who  were  permitted  to  sup 
with  him  in  the  prison.  He  improved  the  time,  however,  in  exhorting 
his  wife  to  submission  to  the  will  of  God  :  telling  her  she  would  soon 
be  deprived  of  her  husband,  and  the  child  of  its  father  ;  he  reminded  her 
that  it  was  not  his  duty  to  love  wife  or  children  more  than  Christ — that 
she  ought  to  esteem  him  happy  in  that  it  pleased  God  to  confer  upon 
him  the  honour  of  bearing  witness  to  his  truth  at  the  expense  of  his 
life;  and  that  he  hoped  God  would  grant  him  grace  to  suffer  any  tor- 
ments for  his  sake.  It  is  unnecessary  to  dwell  upon  the  parting  scene, 
which  the  reader's  own  reflections  will  enable  him  to  realize.  The 
affecting  lamentations  of  the  wife  and  child  were  sufficient  to  melt  the 
most  obdurate  heart  into  pity  and  compassion,  but  having  received  his 
last  benediction,  they  were  dismissed  the  prison,  and  Copin  was  locked 
up  as  before.     On  the  next  day  he  wrote  the  following  letter. 

To  my  well-beloved  consort,  Susanna  Copin. 
"  My  dearest  Consort! 

"  I  derived  much  consolation  from  your  late  visit — and  indeed  so 
much  the  more,  by  how  much  the  less  it  was  expected.  I  believe, 
also,  it  was  no  little  satisfaction  to  yourself,  to  have  the  opportunity  of 
supping  with  me,  as  it  fell  out  on  Saturday,  the  15th  of  September, 
1601.  I  know  not  how  it  came  about  that  we  were  permitted  so  to 
do;  but  all  things  are  in  the  hands  of  God,  and  be  the  cause  what  it 
may,  I  do  not  think  we  shall  eat  together  any  more.  And,  therefore, 
beseech  God  to  be  your  comforter,  and  put  your  trust  in  him,  who  hath 
promised  never  to  forsake  those  that,  depend  upon  him.  You  want  not 
prudence,  and  therefore  so  manage  and  govern  your  house,  that  you 
may  have  Samuel  and  Martha  in  proper  subjection  to  you,  and  I  com- 
mand them,  by  the  authority  that  God  hath  given  me,  that  they  honour 
and  obey  you,  and  in  so  doing  they  will  be  blessed  of  God.  As  to  the 
rest,  be  neither  troubled  nor  concerned  about  me ;  for  if  divine  Provi- 
dence hath  decreed  to  put  a  period  to  my  life,  and  if  it  please  him  to 
demand  a  restitution  of  that  soul  which  he  hath  a  long  time  lent  me,  my 
confidence  is  in  him,  that  out  of  his  immense  mercy  and  divine  good- 
ness, he  will  receive  it  into  heaven,  for  the  sake  of  his  Son  Christ  Jesus, 
Avho,  I  believe,  hath  made  expiation  for  our  sins  by  his  sufferings  and 
death.  Be  constant  in  prayer  to  God,  and  serve  him  fully — for  thus 
you  will  be  happy.  You  need  not  send  me  any  thing  for  three  weeks 
to  come ;  but  at  the  expiration  of  that  time  you  may,  if  you  please,  send 
me  some  money,  to  pay  the  gaoler  and  my  own  support,  if  I  live  so 
long.  Recollect  what  I  have  often  told  you,  that  God  added  fifteen 
years  to  the  life  of  king  Hczekiah,  but  that  he  had  prolonged  my  term 
much  more,  for  you  have  seen  me,  as  it  were,  dead  a  long  time  ago, 
and  yet  I  still  survive ;  and  I  hope  and  trust  that  he  will  preserve  my 
life  until  my  death  be  more  for  his  glory  and  my  own  happiness, 
through  his  goodness  and  mercy  towards  me." 

From  the  prison  of  Jlst,  Sept.  IQth,  1601, 


The  Waldenses  plead  for  Toleration.  491 

Poor  Copin  was  soon  afterwards  found  dead  in  his  cell,  not  without 
symptoms  of  having  been  strangled!  After  his  death  he  was  condemn- 
ed to  be  burnt ;  and  the  body  having  been  brought  out  of  prison,  sen- 
tence was  read  over  it,  and  it  was  cast  into  the  fire.* 


SECTION  V. 


THE  HISTORV  OF  THE  WALDENSES  DURING  THE  FORMER  PART  OF  THE  SE- 
VENTEENTH CENTURY. A.  D.    1600 1GG5. 

On  the  southern  side  of  the  valleys  of  Piedmont  lies  a  considerable 
tract  of  extremely  fertile  country,  including  extensive  valleys  and  plain 
lands,  with  several  large  cities,  all  passing  under  the  general  term  of 
the  marquisate  of  Saluces.!  Its  most  northern  valley  is  that  of  Po, 
so  named  from  the  river  Po  taking  its  rise  there ;  and  it  is  separated 
only  by  a  single  mountain  on  the  north  side  from  the  valley  of  Lucerne, 
in  Piedmont. 

Previous  to  the  year  1588,  the  marquisate  of  Saluces  was  subject  to 
the  jurisdiction  of  the  kings  of  France  ;  but  at  that  period  an  exchange 
of  territory  was  made  between  the  French  monarch  and  the  Duke  of 
Savoy — in  consequence  of  which  the  latter  gave  up  la  Bresse  to  France, 
and  the  marquisate  of  Saluces  was  annexed  to  the  dominions  of  the 
Duke  of  Savoy. 

The  contiguity  of  Saluces  to  the  valleys  in  Piedmont,  together  with 
its  great  similarity  in  regard  to  territorial  surface,  had  entitled  it,  for 
several  centuries,  to  participate  of  the  light  of  Divine  truth,  which  shone 
in  the  neighbouring  valleys  ;  and  in  the  beginning  of  the  seventeenth 
century  there  were  eight  flourishing  churches  in  the  marquisate,  of 
which  Pravillelm,  Biolets,  Bietone,  and  Dronier  were  the  chief;  but 
they  had  all  maintained  the  purity  of  the  Christian  profession  for  ages, 
living  in  great  harmony,  and  holding  fellowship  with  the  neighbouring 
churches  of  the  same  faith  and  order.  Their  external  peace  had,  in- 
deed, been  frequently  invaded  by  the  kings  of  France,  and  their  con- 
stancy and  patience  under  sufferings  put  severely  to  the  test — but  if 
the  French  monarchs  had  chastised  them  with  whips,  it  was  reserved 
for  their  new  sovereign,  Charles  Emanuel,  to  do  it  with  scorpions.! 

In  the  year  1597,  the  Duke  of  Savoy  made  his  pleasure  known  to 
his  new  subjects,  by  a  letter  issued  from  Turin,  dated  the  27th  of 
March  of  that  year,  of  which  the  following  is  a  copy. 

Well-beloved  Friends,  fyc. 

It  being  our  desire  that  all  our  subjects  in  the  marquisate  of  Saluces 
should  live  under  obedience  to  our  mother,  the  Catholic  Apostolic  Ro- 
man Church — and  knowing  how  much  our  exhortations  have  prevail- 
ed upon  others,  hoping  also  that  they  will  have  the  same  effect  upon 

*  Perrin's  History,  b.  ii.  ch.  iv. 

f  This  name  is,  in  our  old  historians,  frequently  spelt  "  Saluzzes." 
i  Sir  Samuel  Morland's  History  of  the  Churches  of  Piedmont,  p.  258.  Perrin's 
Hist.  desVaudois,  b.  ii.  ch.  5.  Boyer's  History  of  the  Waldenses,  ch.  ix. 


492  History  of  the  Christian  Church. 

you,  and  that  you  are  willing  to  adhere  to  the  truth — we  have  thought 
it  proper,  upon  these  grounds,  to  address  you  in  this  letter,  to  the  end 
that,  laying  aside  all  heretical  obstinacy,  you  may  embrace  the  true  re- 
ligion, both  out  of  respect  to  God's  glory  and  love  to  your  ownselves. 
In  which  religion  we,  for  our  parts,  are  resolved  to  live  and  die  ;  which 
conduct  of  yours,  on  account  of  so  good  an  example,  will  undoubtedly 
lead  you  to  eternal  life.  Only  dispose  yourselves  to  do  this,  and  we 
shall  preserve  the  remembrance  of  it  for  your  benefit,  as  the  lord  de  la 
Monte  will  more  particularly  certify  you  on  our  part,  to  whom  we  re- 
fer ourselves  in  this  regard,  praying  the  Lord  to  assist  you  by  his  holy 
grace.* 

The  publication  of  this  letter  occasioned  a  general  consultation 
among  the  churches  of  the  marquisate,  and  they  returned  an  answer  to 
it,  in  the  form  of  a  petition  to  the  Duke  of  Savoy,  in  which  they  first 
of  all  tender  their  thanks  to  his  highness  for  having  permitted  them  so 
long  to  enjoy  their  religious  privileges  free  from  molestation,  in  the 
same  manner  as  he  had  found  them  when  he  took  possession  of  the 
marquisate,  in  1588.  They  then  proceed  humbly  to  entreat  him  that 
he  will  be  pleased  to  indulge  them  with  a  continuance  of  the  same  pri- 
vilege, inasmuch  as  they  were  persuaded  that  their  religious  profession 
was  founded  on  the  Holy  Scriptures,  by  which  standard  they  laboured 
so  to  regulate  their  lives  and  conversations,  as  to  give  no  just  cause  of 
offence  to  any  one.  And  when  they  reflected  that  even  the  Jews  and 
other  enemies  of  Christ  were  there  allowed  to  live  in  peace,  and  the 
enjoyment  of  their  religious  worship,  they  confidently  hoped  that  those 
who  were  found  to  be  Christians,  and  faithful  to  God  and  their  prince, 
would  not  be  debarred  the  same  privilege. 

This  answer  was  not  wholly  without  effect.  They  remained  undis- 
turbed until  the  year  1601,  when,  in  the  month  of  July,  an  edict  was 
issued,  commanding  all  the  inhabitants  of  the  marquisate  of  Saluces, 
who  dissented  from  the  church  of  Rome,  to  appear  individually  before 
the  magistrates,  within  the  space  of  fifteen  days,  and  there  declare  whe- 
ther or  not  they  would  renounce  their  religious  profession  and  go  to 
mass.  In  the  former  case,  it  was  promised  them  that  they  should  re- 
main peaceably  in  their  houses,  and  be  entitled  to  peculiar  advantages  ; 
while  in  the  latter,  they  were  peremptorily  ordered  to  depart  out  of  his 
highness's  dominions,  within  the  space  of  two  months,  and  never  to 
return  without  permission,  under  pain  of  death  and  the  confiscation  of 
their  property. 

The  Waldenses  appear  to  have  had  considerable  difficulty  in  per- 
suading themselves  that  this  was  any  thing  more  than  a  threat ;  in 
which  unfounded  supposition  they  were  encouraged  by  some  persons 
of  note  among  them.  They,  therefore,  made  no  preparation  for  a  de- 
parture, by  the  settlement  of  their  affairs  ;  but  appointed  deputies  to 
wait  on  the  Duke,  to  obtain  a  revocation  ;  or  if  that  could  not  be  effect- 
ed, at  any  rate,  a  modification  of  this  rigorous  edict.  But  Clement 
VIII.  who  was  then  pope,  had  got  complete  possession  of  the  Duke's 
ear,  and  rendered  him  deaf  to  every  entreaty.     To  carry  the  edict  into 

*  Morland,  p.  263. 


The  Waldenses  driven  into  Exile.  493 

full  effect,  a  great  number  of  inquisitorial  monks  were  despatched  into 
the  marquisate,  who  on  their  arrival,  went  from  house  to  house,  ex- 
amining the  inhabitants  concerning  their  religious  profession — and 
just  at  the  expiration  of  the  term  allowed  by  the  edict,  their  deputies 
returned,  but,  to  their  surprise  and  amazement,  informed  them  that 
every  hope  of  redress  had  vanished.  The  consequence  was,  that  more 
xh^n  Jive  hundred  families  were  driven  into  exile! 

"  The  world  was  all  before  them,  where  to  choose 
Their  place  of  residence,  and  Providence  their  guide." 

Some  crossed  the  Alps,  and  retired  into  Dauphiny,  in  France  ;  others 
to  Geneva,  and  its  neighbourhood ;  while  many  sought  refuge  among 
their  friends  in  the  valleys  of  Piedmont ;  where,  for  awhile,  they  re- 
mained undisturbed,  notwithstanding  die  edict  had  expressly  mentioned 
that  they  should  depart  out  of  the  dominions  of  the  Duke  of  Savoy.* 

Whether  their  Catholic  persecutors,  not  content  with  this  too  gentle 
mode  of  punishment,  endeavoured,  by  loading  them  with  reproaches 
and  false  accusations,  to  steel  the  hearts  of  the  inhabitants  of  other 
countries  against  them,  and  thereby  prevent  their  finding  an  asylum  ; 
or  whatever  was  their  particular  inducement  thereto,  it  is  certain  that 
they  considered  it  necessary,  in  the  year  1G03,  to  publish  a  declaration 
explanatory  of  the  cause  of  their  banishment.  Perrin  has  given  us  a 
copy  of  it,  and  the  following  is  the  substance : 

It  begins  by  stating,  that  from  time  immemorial,  and,  from  genera- 
tion to  generation,  the  same  doctrines  and  religious  profession  had  been 
maintained  by  their  predecessors  in  the  marquisate  of  Saluces  ;  and 
that,  Avhile  under  the  jurisdiction  of  the  kings  of  France,  they  had 
been  permitted  to  profess  their  faith  without  molestation,  just  as  their 
brethren  of  the  valleys  of  Lucerne,  La  Perouse,  &c.  (in  Piedmont)  had 
done  ;  but  that  his  highness,  instigated  by  the  evil  counsels  of  persons 
swayed  by  prejudice  and  passion  rather  than  of  his  own  free  will,  had 
issued  an  edict  to  disturb  and  molest  them.  "  To  the  end,  therefore," 
say  they,  "  that  all  men  may  know  that  it  is  not  for  any  crime  or  mis- 
demeanor, perpetrated  against  the  person  of  our  prince,  or  for  rebellion, 
or  opposition  to  his  edicts,  or  for  murder,  or  theft,  that  we  are  thus 
persecuted,  and  spoiled  of  our  goods :  we  protest  and  declare,  that 
the  doctrine  maintained  by  the  reformed  churches  of  France,  Switzer- 
land, Germany,  Geneva,  England,  Scotland,  Denmark,  Sweden,  Poland, 
and  other  kingdoms,  is  the  only  Christian  doctrine  approved  of  God, 
and  which  brings  salvation  to  men.  We  are,  therefore,  determined  to 
adhere  to  it,  to  the  end  of  our  lives,  and  at  the  risk  of  every  thing  that 
is  dear  to  us.  If  any  presume  to  think  us  in  an  error,  we  desire  to  be 
shown  wherein,  promising  to  abjure  and  turn  from  it,  and  to  follow  the 
better  way  that  shall  be  shown  us ;  for  we  have  nothing  more  at  heart, 
than,  with  a  good  conscience,  to  worship  God,  agreeably  to  his  own 
will,  and  attain  the  salvation  of  our  own  souls.  But  as  attempts  have 
been  made,  by  mere  force,  to  compel  us  to  forsake  the  way  of  salva- 
tion, and  to  follow  after  the  erroneous  doctrines  and  superstitions  in- 

*  Perrin,  b.ii.  ch.  v.     Morland,  p.  265. 
42 


494  History  of  the  Christian  Church. 

vented  by  men,  we  chose  to  lose  our  houses  and  properties,  nay,  and 
our  very  lives  also,  rather  than  comply." 

They,  therefore,  implore  the  reformed  churches,  in  the  midst  of 
their  exile  and  calamity,  to  receive  them  into  their  fellowship  ;  being 
prepared,  if  it  should  please  God  so  to  order  it,  to  seal  their  testimony 
with  their  blood.  They  returned  thanks  to  God,  for  the  honour  con- 
ferred upon  them,  by  calling  them  to  suffer  afflictions  and  persecutions 
for  his  name's  sake,  committing  the  issue  of  their  affairs,  and  the 
righteousness  of  their  cause,  unto  the  divine  Providence,  trusting  that 
he  will  effect  their  deliverance  when  and  how  he  pleases.  And  they 
conclude  with  a  prayer  to  God,  that  he  who  hath  the  hearts  of  kings 
and  princes  in  his  hands,  would  be  graciously  pleased  to  soften  the 
heart  of  his  highness,  and  incline  him  to  pity  those  who  never  did,  and 
who  are  resolved  that  they  never  will  offend  him  ;  and  that  it  may  be 
given  him  to  perceive  that  they  are  more  loyal  and  faithful  to  him  than 
those  are  who  have  instigated  him  to  such  persecutions.  And,  finally, 
that  the  Lord  will  be  pleased  to  support  them  in  the  midst  of  their 
trials,  and  to  fortify  them  with  patience  and  constancy,  that  they  and 
their  posterity  may  persevere  in  the  profession  of  the  truth  to  the  end 
of  their  lives. 

It  does  not  appear  that  this  affecting  address  produced  any  ameliora- 
tion of  the  condition  of  the  poor  exiles.  All  the  churches  in  the  mar- 
quisate  of  Saluces  were  completely  dispersed  :  aud  the  pope,  with  the 
assistance  of  his  inquisitorial  band,  took  special  care  to  keep  the  coun- 
try clear  of  them,  as  they  had  formerly  done  that  of  Calabria.  During 
the  persecution,  Monsieur  Vignaux,  pastor  of  the  church  of  Villaro, 
in  the  valley  of  Lucerne,  whose  history  of  the  Waldenses  I  have  fre- 
quently adverted  to,*  was  indefatigable  in  his  exertions  to  serve  his 
afflicted  brethren.  He  was  then  l'ar  advanced  in  life ;  his  years  had 
given  him  the  advantage  of  much  experience  in  the  Christian  profes- 
sion ;  and  he  was  remarkable  for  his  gravity  and  other  excellent  quali- 
ties. Deeply  feeling  for  their  distresses,  he  employed  himself  in 
writing  long  letters  to  his  poor  persecuted  brethren  in  every  quarter, 
exhorting  them  to  patience  and  perseverance,  and  encouraging  them  by 
all  the  consolatory  considerations  which  the  gospel  affords,  not  to  faint 
nor  be  discouraged,  but  to  bear  up  under  their  troubles.  He  also 
wrote  to  several  of  the  nobility,  to  whom  he  was  known,  either  per- 
sonally or  by  report,  particularly  to  the  governor  of  the  marquisate, 
with  whom  he  was  intimately  acquainted,  stating  the  injustice  and 
cruelty  that  was  done  to  his  friends,  and  urging  all  the  motives  and 
reasons  that  he  could  devise,  to  induce  him  to  mitigate  their  sufferings  ; 
but,  so  far  as  appears,  without  the  least  effect. 

From  this  period,  the  Waldenses  appear  to  have  been  tolerably  free 
from  very  severe  persecution  for  half  a  century.  But,  in  the  month  of 
January,  1655,  the  tragedy  of  Saluces  was  reacted  over  almost  all  the 
valleys  of  Piedmont,  and  with  tenfold  cruelty.  On  the  25th  of  that 
month,  a  public  document  appeared,  which  has  since  been  too  well 
known  by  the  title  of  "  the  order  of  Gastaldo."  Thus  runs  the  pre- 
amble : 

*  See  particularly  page  351. 


Cruel  order  of  Gastaldo.  495 

"  Andrew  Gastaldo,  Doctor  of  the  Civil  Law,  Master  Auditor  Or- 
dinary, sitting  in  the  most  illustrious  chamber  of  accounts  of  his  royal 
highness,  and  Conservator  General  of  the  holy  faith,  for  the  observa- 
tion of  the  orders  published  against  the  pretended  reformed  religion  of 
the  valley  of  Lucerne,  Perouse,  and  St.  Martino,  and  upon  this  account 
especially  deputed  by  his  said  royal  highness." 

After  stating  the  authority  which  had  been  vested  in  him  by  the 
duke,  on  the  13th  of  the  same  month,  it  proceeds  "  to  command  and 
enjoin  every  head  of  a  family,  with  its  members,  of  the  reformed  reli- 
gion, of  whatever  rank,  degree,  or  condition  soever,  without  exception, 
inhabiting  or  possessing  es-tates  in  the  places  of  Lucerne,  Lucernetta, 
S.  Giovanni,  La  Torre,  Bubbiana,  and  Fenile,  Campiglione,  Briche- 
rassio,  and  S.  Secondo,  within  three  days  after  the  publication  of 
those  presents,  to  withdraw  and  depart,  and  to  be  with  their  families 
withdrawn  out  of  the  said  places,  and  transported  into  the  places  al- 
lowed by  his  royal  highness,  during  his  good  pleasure,  &c.  under  pain 
of  death  and  confiscation  of  houses  and  goods. — Provided  always 
that  they  do  not  make  it  appear  to  us  within  twenty  days  following, 
that  they  are  become  Catholics,  or  that  they  have  sold  their  goods  to 
the  Catholics.  Furthermore,  his  royal  highness  intends  and  wills  that 
in  the  places  (to  which  they  were  to  transport  themselves)  the  holy 
mass  shall  be  celebrated  in  every  one  of  them,  and  that  for  any  person 
of  the  said  reformed  religion  to  molest,  either  in  deed  or  word,  the 
missionary  fathers  and  those  that  attend  them,  much  less  to  divert  or 
dissuade  any  one  of  the  said  religion  from  turning  Catholic,  he  shall  do 
it  on  pain  of  death,"  &c. 

It  is  not  difficult  to  conjecture  what  must  have  been  the  distress  and 
misery  consequent  upon  a  compliance  with  such  an  order  as  this,  and 
more  especially  in  such  a  country  as  Piedmont,  at  such  a  season  of  the 
year.  Thousands  of  families,  comprehending  the  aged  and  infirm,  the 
sick  and  afflicted,  the  mother  advanced  in  pregnancy,  and  the  one 
scarcely  raised  up  from  her  confinement — the  delicate  female  and  the 
helpless  infant — all  compelled  to  abandon  their  homes  in  the  very  depth 
of  winter,  in  a  country  where  the  snow  is  visible  upon  the  tops  of  the 
mountains,  throughout  "every  month  of  the  year.  All  this  surely  pre- 
sents a  picture  of  distress  sufficient  to  rend  the  heart. 

On  the  first  issuing  of  the  edict,  the  Waldenses  sent  deputies  to  the 
governor  of  the  province,  humbly  representing  to  him  the  unreason- 
ableness and  the  cruelty  of  this  command.  They  stated  the  absolute 
impossibility  of  so  many  souls  finding  subsistence  in  the  places  to 
which  they  were  ordered  to  transport  themselves :  the  countries  scarcely 
affording  adequate  supply  for  their  present  inhabitants.  To  which  they 
added,  that  this  command  was  expressly  contrary  to  all  their  rights  as 
the  peaceable  subjects  of  his  highness,  and  the  concessions  which  had 
been  uniformly  granted  them,  of  maintaining  without  molestation  their 
religious  profession  :  but  the  inhuman  governor  refused  to  pay  the  least 
attention  to  their  application.  Disappointed  in  this,  they  next  begged 
time  to  present  their  humble  supplication  to  his  royal  highness.  But 
even  this  boon  was  refused  them  unless  they  would  allow  him  to  draw 
up  their  petition  and  prescribe  the  form  of  it.     Finding  that  what  he 


496  History  of  the  Christian  Church. 

proposed  was  equally  inimical  to  their  rights  and  consciences,  they  de- 
clined his  proposal.  They  now  found  that  the  only  alternative  which 
remained  for  them  was  to  abandon  their  houses  and  properties,  and  to 
retire  with  their  families,  their  wives  and  children,  aged  parents,  and 
helpless  infants,  the  halt,  the  lame,  and  the  blind,  to  traverse  the  coun- 
try, through  the  rain,  snow,  and  ice,  encompassed  with  a  thousand  dif- 
ficulties. 

But  these  things  were  only  the  beginnings  of  sorrow  to  this  afflicted 
people.  For  no  sooner  had  they  quitted  their  houses,  than  a  banditti 
broke  into  them,  pillaging  and  plundering  whatever  they  had  left  be- 
hind. They  next  proceeded  to  raze  their  habitations  to  the  ground,  to 
cut  down  the  trees  and  turn  the  neighbourhood  into  a  desolate  wilder- 
ness ;  and  all  this  without  the  least  remonstrance  or  prohibition  from 
Gastaldo.  These  things,  however,  were  only  a  trifle  in  comparison  of 
what  followed.  But  the  reader  will  best  learn  this  sad  story  from  the 
parlies  who  were  interested  in  this  melancholy  catastrophe;  and  the 
following  is  a  copy  of  the  letter  which  some  of  the  survivors  wrote  to 
their  Christian  friends  in  distant  countries,  as  soon  as  the  tragedy  was 
over. 

A  brief  Narrative  of  those  horrible  cruelties  which  were  exercised 

towards  the  fValdenses  in  the  late  Massacre,  in  April,  1655. 
Brethren  and  Fathers  ! 

Our  tears  are  no  more  tears  of  water  but  of  blood,  which  not  only 
obscure  our  sight,  but  oppress  our  very  hearts.  Our  pen  is  guided  by 
a  trembling  hand,  and  our  minds  distracted  by  such  unexpected  alarms, 
that  we  are  incapable  of  framing  a  letter  which  shall  correspond  with 
our  wishes,  or  the  strangeness  of  our  desolations.  In  this  respect, 
therefore,  we  plead  your  excuse,  and  that  you  would  endeavour  to  col- 
lect our  meaning  from  what  we  would  impart  to  you. 

Whatever  reports  may  have  been  circulated  concerning  our  obstinacy 
in  refusing  to  have  recourse  to  his  royal  highness  for  a  redress  of  our 
heavy  grievances  and  molestations,  you  cannot  but  know  that  we  have 
never  desisted  from  writing  supplicatory  letters,  or  presenting  our  hum- 
ble requests,  by  the  hands  of  our  deputies,  and  that  they  were  sent  and 
referred,  sometimes  to  the  council  de  propaganda  fide ,*  at  other  times 
to  the  Marquis  of  Pionessa,t  and  that  the  tliree  last  times  they  were 
positively  rejected,  and  refused  so  much  as  an  audience,  under  the  pre- 
text that  they  had  no  credentials  nor  instructions  which  should  authorize 
them  to  promise  or  accept,  on  the  behalf  of  their  respective  churches, 
whatever  it  might  please  his  highness  to  grant  or  bestow  upon  them. 
And  by  the  instigation  and  contrivance  of  the  Roman  clergy,  there  was 
secretly  placed  in  ambush  an  army  of  six  thousand  men,  who,  animated 
and  encouraged  thereto  by  the  personal  presence  and  active  exertions 
of  the  Marquis  of  Pionessa,  fell  suddenly  and  in  the  most  violent  man- 
ner, upon  the  inhabitants  of  S.  Giovanni  and  La  Torre. 

*  A  Council  established  by  the  court  of  Rome  for  propagating  the  faith  or,  in 
plain  English,  for  extirpating-  heretics. 

•j-  This  unfeeling-  man  seems  to  have  sustained  the  station  of  prime  minister  in 
the  court  of  the  Duke  of  Savoy,  and  commander-in-chief  of  his  army. 


Waldensian  account  of  the  Massacre  of  1655.  497 

This  army  having  once  entered  and  got  a  footing,  was  soon  augment- 
ed by  the  addition  of  a  multitude  of  the  neighbouring  inhabitants  through- 
out all  Piedmont,  who  hearing  that  we  were  given  up  as  a  prey  to  the 
plunderers,  fell  upon  the  poor  people  with  impetuous  fury.  To  all 
those  were  added  an  incalculable  number  of  persons  that  had  been  out- 
lawed, prisoners,  and  other  offenders,  who  expected  thereby  to  have 
saved  their  souls  and  filled  their  purses.  And  the  better  to  effect  their 
purposes,  the  inhabitants  were  compelled  to  receive  Jive  or  six  regi- 
ments of  the  French  army,  besides  some  Irish,  to  whom,  it  is  reported, 
our  country  was  promised,  with  several  troops  of  vagabond  persons, 
under  the  pretext  of  coming  into  the  valleys  for  fresh  quarters. 

This  great  multitude,  by  virtue  of  a  license  from  the  Marquis  of  Pio- 
nessa,  instigated  by  the  monks,  and  enticed  and  conducted  by  our  wick- 
ed and  unnatural  neighbours,  attacked  us  with  such  violence  on  every 
side,  especially  in  Angrogne,  Villaro,  and  Bobio ;  and  in  a  manner  so 
horribly  treacherous,  that  in  an  instant  all  was  one  entire  scene  of  con- 
fusion, and  the  inhabitants,  after  a  fruitless  skirmish  to  defend  them- 
selves, were  compelled  to  flee  for  their  lives,  with  their  wives  and  chil- 
dren; and  that  not  merely  the  inhabitants  of  the  plain,  but  those  of  the 
mountains  also.  Nor  was  all  their  diligence  sufficient  to  prevent  the 
destruction  of  a  very  considerable  number  of  them.  For,  in  many 
places  such  as  Villaro  and  Bobio,  they  were  so  hemmed  in  on  every 
side,  the  army  having  seized  on  the  fort  of  Mareburg,  and  by  that 
means  blocked  up  the  avenue,  that  there  remained  no  possibility  of 
escape,  and  nothing  remained  for  them  but  to  be  massacred  and  put  to 
death.  In  one  place  they  mercilessly  tortured  not  less  than  an  hundred 
and  fifty  women  and  their  children,  chopping  off  the  heads  of  some, 
and  dashing  the  brains  of  others  against  the  rocks.  And  in  regard  to 
those  whom  they  took  prisoners,  from  fifteen  years  old  and  upwards, 
who  refused  to  go  to  mass,  they  hanged  some,  and  nailed  others  to  the 
trees  by  the  feet,  with  their  heads  downwards.  It  is  reported  that  they 
carried  some  persons  of  note  prisoners  to  Turin,  viz.  our  poor  brother 
and  pastor,  Mr.  Gros,  with  some  part  of  his  family.  In  short,  there  is 
neither  cattle  nor-provisions  of  any  kind  left  in  the  valley  of  Lucerne ; 
it  is  but  too  evident  that  all  is  lost,  since  there  are  some  whole  districts, 
especially  S.  Giovanni  and  La  Torre,  where  the  business  of  setting  fire 
to  our  houses  and  churches  was  so  dexterously  managed,  by  a  Francis- 
can friar,  and  a  certain  priest,  that  they  left  not  so  much  as  one  of 
either  unburnt.  In  these  desolations,  the  mother  has  been  bereft  of  her 
dear  child— the  husband  of  his  affectionate  wife !  Those  who  were 
once  the  richest  amongst  us  are  reduced  to  the  necessity  of  begging 
their  bread,  while  others  still  remain  weltering  in  their  own  blood,°and 
deprived  of  all  the  comforts  of  life.  And  as  to  the  churches  in  S.  Mar- 
tino  and  other  places,  who,  on  all  former  occasions,  have  been  a  sanc- 
tuary to  the  persecuted,  they  have  themselves  now  been  summoned  to 
quit  their  dwellings,  and  every  soul  of  them  to  depart,  and  that  instan- 
taneously and  without  respite,  under  pain  of  being  put  to  death.  Nor 
is  there  any  mercy  to  be  expected  by  any  of  them  who  are  found  within 
the  dominions  of  his  roval  highness. 
43* 


498  History  of  the  Christian  Church. 

The  pretext  which  is  alleged  for  justifying  these  horrid  proceedings 
is,  that  we  are  rebels  against  the  orders  of  his  highness,  for  not  having 
brought  the  whole  city  of  Geneva  within  the  walls  of  Mary  Magdalene 
church  ;  or,  in  plainer  terms,  for  not  having  performed  an  utter  impos- 
sibility in  departing,  in  a  moment,  from  our  houses  and  homes  in  Bub- 
biana,  Lucerne,  Feaile,  Bricheras,  La  Torre,  S.  Giovanni,  and  S.  Se- 
condo ;  and  also,  for  having  renewed  our  repeated  supplications  to  his 
royal  highness,  to  commiserate  our  situation,  who,  while  on  the  one 
hand  he  promised  us  to  make  no  innovations  in  our  lot,  on  the  other 
refused  us  permission  to  depart  peaceably  out  of  his  dominions,  for 
which  we  have  often  entreated  him,  in  case  he  would  not  allow  us  to 
continue  and  enjoy  the  liberty  of  our  consciences,  as  his  predecessors 
had  always  done.  True  it  is,  that  the  Marquis  of  Pionessa  adduced 
another  reason,  and  we  have  the  original  copy  of  his  writing  in  our 
possession,  which  is,  that  it  was  his  royal  highness's  pleasure  to  abase 
us  and  humble  our  pride,  for  endeavouring  to  shroud  ourselves,  and 
take  sanctuary,  under  the  protection  of  foreign  princes  and  states. 

To  conclude,  our  beautiful  and  flourishing  churches  are  utterly  lost, 
and  that  without  remedy,  unless  our  God  work  miracles  for  us.  Their 
time  is  come,  and  our  measure  is  full !  O  have  pity  upon  the  desola- 
tions of  Jerusalem,  and  be  grieved  for  the  afflictions  of  Joseph.  Show 
forth  your  compassions,  and  let  your  bowels  yearn  in  behalf  of  so  many 
thousands  of  poor  souls,  who  are  reduced  to  a  morsel  of  bread,  for  fol- 
lowing the  Lamb  whithersoever  he  goeth.  We  recommend  our  pas- 
tors, with  their  scattered  and  dispersed  flocks,  to  your  fervent  christian 
prayers,  and  rest  in  haste,  Your  brethren  in  the  Lord, 

April  27th,  1655. 

The  reader  may  collect  from  this  letter  some  general  notion  of  the 
tenor  of  the  proceedings  that  were  at  this  time  carried  on  against  the 
Waldenses  in  Piedmont ;  and  they  appear  to  have  been  extended  pro- 
gressively throughout  almost  the  whole  country.  But  if  credit  is  to  be 
given  to  the  statements  of  our  countryman,  Sir  Samuel  Morland,  who 
in  the  very  same  year  was  sent  by  the  English  government  to  adminis- 
ter pecuniary  assistance  to  these  afflicted  people, — if  any  regard  is  due 
to  the  attestations  which  he  has  produced  from  persons  who  were  spec- 
tators of  the  dreadful  work  of  carnage  ;  it  is  but  a  faint  impression  of 
the  scene  which  can  be  derived  from  that  letter.  The  representation 
given  us  by  Sir  Samuel,  and  further  corroborated  by  Leger,  in  his 
General  History  of  the  Churches  of  Piedmont,  beggars  all  description 
for  atrocity.  Nor,  if  the  infernal  regions  had  been  disembowelled  of 
their  inhabitants,  and  the  whole  let  loose  among  the  valleys  of  Pied- 
mont, could  we  have  expected  the  perpetration  of  greater  enormities. 
The  bare  report  of  them  spread  amazement  throughout  all  the  Protes- 
tant states  of  Europe,  as  we  shall  presently  see  ;  and  the  principal  ac- 
tors in  this  deep  tragedy  found  it  necessary  to  aim  at  extricating  their 
characters  from  the  odium  which  attached  to  it.  In  particular,  the 
Marquis  of  Pionessa  laboured  to  cast  the  blame  upon  certain  officers  of 
his  army,  which  induced  one  of  them,  not  only  to  give  up  the  com- 
mand of  the  regiment,  but  actually  to  draw  up  an  affidavit,  which  he 


Petit  Bourg's  defence  against  Pionessa.  409 

attested  with  his  own  hand,  and  got  it  further  corroborated  by  the  testi- 
mony of  two  of  his  brother  officers,  in  vindication  of  his  conduct  iu 
that  affair.  Sir  Samuel  Morland  obtained  possession  of  the  original  do- 
cument, which  he  deposited  in  the  University  of  Cambridge,  along 
with  an  infinite  number  of  other  interesting  manuscripts  relating  to  this 
subject,  and  it  appears  of  sufficient  importance  to  be  submitted  to  the 
reader's  consideration. 

"  I  Sieur  du  Petit  Bourg,  first  captain  of  the  regiment  of  Groncy, 
who  also  commanded  the  same,  having  received  direction  from  prince 
Thomas  to  join  the  Marquis  of  Pionessa,  who  was  then  at  La  Torre, 
and  to  receive  his  orders — when  I  was  upon  the  eve  of  departure,  the 
ambassador  sent  for  me,  and  desired  me  to  speak  to  M.  de  Pionessa,  and 
to  use  my  endeavours  to  accommodate  the  troubles  which  had  happen- 
ed among  those  of  the  religion  [of  the  Waldenses]  in  the  valleys  of 
Piedmont.  In  order  to  which  I  addressed  myself  to  the  marquis 
earnestly  entreating  him  that  he  would  give  way,  and  allow  me  to  un- 
dertake an  accommodation,  which,  I  supposed  I  might  have  been  able 
to  effect.  But  he  repeatedly  refused  my  request,  in  defiance  of  all  the 
endeavours  I  could  possibly  use  to  persuade  him.  And  instead  of  the 
least  mitigation  of  matters,  which  could  be  produced  by  any  considera- 
tion that  I  could  lay  before  him,  I  was  witness  to  many  acts  of  vio- 
lence and  extreme  cruelties  exercised  by  the  banditti  and  soldiers  of 
Piedmont,  upon  all  sorts  of  persons,  of  every  age,  sex,  and  condition, 
whom  I  myself  saw  massacred,  dismembered,  hung  up ;  females  vio- 
lated, and  numerous  other  horrid  atrocities  committed.  And  so  far  is 
it  from  being  true  that  the  whole  was  done  by  virtue  of  the  orders  that 
were  issued  by  me,  as  falsely  stated  in  a  certain  Narrative,  printed  in 
French  and  Italian,  that  /  beheld  the  same  with  horror  and  regret. 
And  whereas  it  is  said  in  the  same  Narrative,  that  the  Marquis  of  Pio- 
nessa commanded  me  to  treat  them  peaceably  without  hostility,  and  in 
the  best  manner  I  possibly  could,  the  event  clearly  demonstrated  that 
the  orders  he  gave  were  altogether  of  a  contrary  tendency,  since  it  is 
most  certain  that  without  distinction  of  those  who  resisted,  from  those 
who  made  no  resistance,  they  were  used  with  all  sorts  of  inhumanity 
— their  houses  burnt,  their  goods  plundered,  and  when  prisoners  were 
brought  before  the  Marquis  of  Pionessa,  I  was  a  witness  to  his  issuing 
orders  to  give  them  no  quarter  at  all,  assigning  as  a  reason,  that  his 
highness  was  resolved  to  have  none  of  that  religion  in  any  of  his  do- 
minions. 

And  as  to  what  he  protests  in  the  same  declaration,  namely,  that  no 
hurt  was  done  to  any  except  during  the  fight,  nor  the  least  outrage 
committed  upon  any  unoffending  and  helpless  persons,  I  do  assert, 
and  will  maintain  that  such  is  not  the  truth,  having  seen  with  my  own 
eyes  several  men  killed  in  cold  blood,  and  also  women,  aged  persons, 
and  children,  miserably  murdered. 

And  with  regard  to  the  manner  in  which  they  put  themselves  in 
possession  of  the  valley  of  Angrogne,  to  pillage  and  entirely  burn  the 
same,  it  was  done  with  great  ease.  For,  excepting  six  or  seven  per- 
sons, who,  seeing  there  would  be  no  mercy  shown  them,  made  some 
show  of  resistance,  the    rest  were  dispersed  without  difficulty,  the 


500  History  of  the  Christian  Church. 

peasants  consulting  how  to  flee,  rather  than  how  to  fight  the  enemy. 
In  short,  I  absolutely  deny  and  protest,  as  in  the  presence  of  God, 
that  none  of  those  cruelties  were  executed  by  my  order ;  but,  on  the 
contrary,  seeing  that  I  could  not  procure  a  remedy,  I  was  constrained 
to  retire  and  quit  the  command  of  the  regiment,  not  liking  to  be  pre- 
sent at  such  wicked  transactions. 

Done  at  Pignerol,  November  27th,  1655. 

Du  Petit  Bourg. 

Now,  whatever  may  be  thought  of  this  defence,  or  upon  whomsoever 
the  onus  of  guilt  may  devolve,  it  seems  a  fair  inference  from  these 
documents,  that  cruelties  of  the  most  enormous  kind  were  at  this  time 
inflicted  by  the  Catholic  party  upon  the  Waldenses  throughout  the 
whole  country  of  Piedmont, — upon  a  class  of  men  whose  sole  crime 
was,  that  they  dissented  from  the  communion  of  the  church  of  Rome, 
and  refused  to  countenance  her  idolatry  and  superstition.  And  that 
their  sufferings  were  of  no  ordinary  cast,  may  be  inferred  from  the  sin- 
gle consideration,  that  they  excited  the  commiseration  of,  and  at  the 
same  time  extorted  remonstrances  from  almost  every  Protestant  court 
in  Europe,  who  raised  large  contributions  to  relieve  their  poverty,  and 
sent  their  ministers  to  the  court  of  Savoy,  to  intercede  with  the  Duke 
for  the  amelioration  of  the  condition  of  his  subjects.  In  this  benevo- 
lent work,  it  is  a  gratifying  reflection,  that  our  own  country  took  the 
lead,  as  will  more  particularly  be  shown  in  the  next  section :  I  shall 
close  the  present  with  an  article  of  no  inconsiderable  interest  in  the  his- 
tory of  the  churches  of  Piedmont. 

While  the  fire  of  persecution  was,  as  Ave  have  seen,  so  fiercely 
raging  against  the  Waldenses,  in  the  early  part  of  the  year  1655,  two 
persons  who  sustained  the  pastoral  office,  in  the  valley  of  Lucerne, 
were  seized  and  sent  as  prisoners  to  the  city  of  Turin,  probably  with 
a  multitude  of  others  who  escaped  the  edge  of  the  enemy's  sword.  It 
is  but  doing  justice  to  the  Catholic  party  to  say  of  them,  that  they  sel- 
dom evinced  their  delight  in  human  blood  to  such  an  excess  as  to  pre- 
fer it  to  that  of  converting  a  heretic  to  their  faith.  In  general,  they 
only  gave  it  the  preference  to  the  alternative  of  allowing  persons  to 
think  difi'erently  from  themselves.  Nor  would  it  be  fair  to  accuse  them 
of  remissness  in  their  expedients  and  exertions  to  recover  back  again 
to  the  true  church  such  as  they  supposed  were  gone  astray.  In  that 
respect  they  could  always  display  the  wisdom  of  the  serpent,  though 
seldom,  alas  !  the  harmlessness  of  the  dove.  On  the  present  occasion, 
the  two  pastors  above  referred  to,  whose  names  were  Peter  Gros  and 
Francis  Aguit,  were  unhappily  entrapped  by  the  monks  of  the  inqui- 
sition, and  they  fell  from  their  profession.  The  renunciation  of  their 
principles  would  ensure  their  liberation  from  prison.  The  chains  were 
taken  from  their  bodies,  and  they  recovered  their  liberty — but  in  a 
short  time  the  burden  was  transferred  from  the  body  to  the  mind,  and 
their  own  consciences  rendered  them  miserable.  In  this  state  of  things, 
they  applied  for  re-admission  into  the  churches,  and  the  following  de- 
claration of  the  state  of  their  minds  was  publicly  made  by  them,  before 
a  full  assembly  of  their  brethren,  convened  at  Pinache,  in  the  valley  of 


Declaration  of  Gros  and  Aguit.  501 

Perouse,  on  the  28th  and  29th  August,  1655,  for  the  purpose  of  taking 
their  case  into  consideration. 

Most  honoured  Fathers  and  Brethren  in  the  Lord. 

We  could  have  wished  that  a  less  mournful  occasion  had  caused  our 
present  appearance  in  public,  and  that  a  more  favourable  opportunity 
had  made  us  known  to  the  world,  by  some  notable  action,  the  remem- 
brance of  which  might  have  been  as  a  blessing  in  the  churches  ;  but  as 
our  names  can  only  be  famous  by  the  horrible  scandal  which  we  have 
brought  upon  the  church  of  God,  we  now  come  forth  out  of  the  dark 
dungeons  of  our  own  shame  and  confusion,  and  present  ourselves  be- 
fore men,  to  testify  to  all  the  world  our  conversion  and  repentance,  and 
to  give  indubitable  proofs  of  our  grief,  that  we  have  been  so  base  as  to 
forsake  our  former  profession. 

When  we  reflect  upon  those  advantages  with  which  above  others,  the 
Lord  was  pleased  to  bless  us,  in  granting  us  a  religious  education  and 
the  knowledge  of  his  saving  grace,  thus  teaching  us  where  true  happi- 
ness is  to  be  found ;  and  finally  to  have  been  called  to  the  highest  em- 
ployment that  men  can  have  in  this  world,  viz.  to  be  the  heralds  of 
God's  justice,  and  the  preachers  of  his  truth,  we  cannot  without  hor- 
ror speak  of  our  offence,  and  are  constrained  to  confess  that  our  sin  is 
rendered  much  more  odious  in  that,  having  known  our  Master's  will, 
we  nevertheless  withdrew  our  shoulders  from  his  service,  and  have 
acted  in  opposition  to  his  command. 

It  was  in  these  last  calamities  which  have  overrun  our  country,  that 
we  thus  made  shipwreck — after  having  lost  our  liberty  and  our  goods 
— when  the  enemies  of  the  truth,  having  resolved  upon  extirpating  our 
religion  in  the  valleys  of  Piedmont,  exercised  the  most  barbarous  cruel- 
ties upon  our  countrymen.  And  we,  having  fallen  into  their  hands 
after  they  had  showed  us  how  far  their  inhumanity  could  reach  ;  to 
give  us  a  proof  of  the  utmost  degree  of  it,  they  caused  us  to  be  thrown 
into  prison,  when  they  proceeded  against  us,  and  sentenced  us  to  death 
as  guilty  of  high  treason,  and  the  ringleaders  of  rebellion,  incessantly 
setting  before  our  eyes  the  torments  and  punishments  to  which  we 
were  condemned  ;  and,  to  render  us  more  flexible  to  the  enticements 
of  the  Jesuits,  who,  without  ceasing,  solicited  us  to  accept  of  a  pardon 
which  they  would  obtain  for  us  on  our  embracing  Popery,  and  abjuring 
our  religion. 

At  their  first  onsets,  we  were  confident  that,  so  far  from  yielding  to 
them,  we  had  strength  and  fortitude  enough  to  despise  whatever  super- 
stition could  present  before  our  eyes  as  terrible  or  dreadful — and  that 
the  dark  and  dismal  shades  of  death  itself,  with  which  they  threatened 
us,  were  insufficient  to  extinguish  that  heavenly  light  which  then 
shined  in  our  souls.  But  to  our  extreme  grief,  we  have  learned  how 
frail  our  nature  is,  and  how  deceitful  the  wisdom  of  the  flesh,  which, 
for  the  enjoyment  of  a  frail  and  transitory  life,  prevailed  upon  us  to 
forego  those  unspeakably  good  things  which  God  hath  prepared  for  his 
children  and  that  everlasting  joy  of  which  those  are  made  partakers 
who  endure  to  the  end.  It  was  this  fleshly  wisdom,  which,  from  a 
desire  to  preserve  this  house  of  clay,  this  earthly  tabernacle  and  to 


502  History  of  the  Christian  Church. 

avoid  a  shameful  death,  and  a  punishment  ignominious  in  the  eyes  of 
the  world,  that  induced  us  to  a  shameful  falling  away,  turning  our 
backs  upon  him  who  is  the  fountain  of  life.  We  have  lent  our  ears  to 
this  deceitful  Delilah,  and  although  there  were  not  offered  to  us  any 
reasons  so  strong  as  in  the  least  degree  to  obscure  the  truth  that  we 
did  profess,  yet  we  freely  acknowledge  that  the  fear  of  death  and  the 
horror  of  torments,  shook  our  courage,  and  beat  down  our  strength ; 
and  we  have  decayed  and  dried  up  like  water,  not  resisting  to  blood,  as 
the  profession,  not  only  of  Christians,  but  more  especially  of  Christian 
ministers,  obliged  us  to  do. 

Having  been  persuaded  by  deceitful  reasoning,  that  life  is  preferable 
to  death — that  we  might  be  further  profitable  to  the  church,  to  our 
country,  and  to  our  families — that  there  was  no  glory  in  dying  as  re- 
bels, and  that  one  day  we  might  get  out  of  captivity,  and  manifest  to 
the  world,  that  if  the  confession  had  been  wanting  in  our  mouths,  yet 

the  faith  had  not  been  wanting  in  our  hearts Thus  we  accepted  of 

pardon  on  these  miserable  conditions,  and  have  not  hesitated  to  enter 
into  the  temple  of  idols,  and  employ  our  mouths  and  tongues  in  utter- 
ing blasphemies  against  the  truth  of  heaven,  in  denying  and  abjuring 
the  same ;  and  our  sacrilegious  hands  also  in  subscribing  the  act  and 
events  of  this  infamous  apostasy,  which  has  drawn  many  others  into  . 
the  same  perdition.  Our  light  has  become  darkness,  and  our  salt  has 
lost  its  savour — we  have  fallen  from  heaven  to  the  earth — from  the 
spirit  to  the  flesh — and  from  life  to  death.  -  We  have  made  ourselves 
obnoxious  to  the  curse  which  the  Lord  hath  pronounced  on  those  by 
whom  offences  come.  And  having  made  light  of  the  threatenings  of 
the  Son  of  God  against  those  who  shall  deny  him  before  men,  we  have 
deserved  to  be  denied  by  him  before  his  heavenly  Father.  Finally,  we 
have  rendered  ourselves  unworthy  of  divine  favours  and  mercy,  and 
have  drawn  upon  our  guilty  heads  whatever  is  most  dreadful  in  the 
wrath  of  God  and  his  indignations — and  have  deserved  to  be  rejected 
of  the  church  as  stumbling-blocks  or  rocks  of  offence,  and  that  the 
faithful  should  even  abhor  our  company. 

But  as  we  have  learned  in  the  school  of  the  prophets,  that  the  mer- 
cies of  God  are  infinite,  and  that  the  Lord  hath  no  pleasure  in  the  de- 
struction of  his  poor  creatures,  but  calleth  the  sinner  to  repentance,  that 
he  may  give  him  life,  we  presume  to  appear  before  his  face,  to  humble 
ourselves  in  his  holy  presence,  to  bewail  the  greatness  of  ouV  sin,  and 
to  make  before  him  a  free  confession  of  oux  iniquity.  O  that  our  heads 
might  melt  into  waters  of  bitterness,  and  our  eyes  were  turned  into 
fountains  of  tears,  to  express  the  grief  wherewith  our  souls  are  pressed 
down.  As  our  sin  is  of  no  ordinary  measure,  so  it  calls  for  extraordi- 
nary repentance :  and  as  we  acknowledge  it  to  be  one  of  the  greatest 
that  can  be  committed,  so  do  we  wish  that  our  repentance  should  reach 
the  lowest  degree  of  humiliation,  and  that  the  acts  of  our  contrition 
may  be  known  to  the  world.  If  David,  for  lighter  faults,  were  willing 
that  his  complaints  and  his  deep  sorrow  and  repentance  should  be  left, 
as  it  were  for  a  memorial  in  the  church,  well  may  we  not  be  ashamed 
to  publish  among  men  the  inconsolable  regret  which  we  feel  for  having 
offended  God,  and  giving  an  occasion  of  scandal  to  the  assemblies  of 


Confession  of  Gros  and  Aguit.  503 

the  saints  ;  and  we  deserve  to  have  imprinted  upon  our  foreheads  a 
mark  of  perpetual  infamy  for  our  miserable  fall,  to  make  the  memory 
thereof  continue  for  ever.  And  if  we  can  make  it  apparent  that  the 
sorrow  it  hath  begotten  in  us  is  extreme,  and  that  we  now  disclaim 
whatever  fear  formerly  forced  us  to  do  contrary  to  the  dictates  of  our 
consciences  ;  we  trust  that  he  who  forgave  Peter  when  he  denied 
Christ  in  the  court  of  Caiaphas,  will  grant  us  the  same  grace,  since 
we  are  come  to  ask  forgiveness  in  all  humility,  with  tears  in  our  eyes, 
confession  in  our  mouths,  and  contrition  in  our  hearts  ;  and  that,  as 
there  is  joy  in  heaven  over  one  sinner  that  repenteth,  so  there  may  be 
joy  in  the  congregation  of  the  faithful  when  they  shall  behold  our  con- 
version to  the  Lord. 

Great  God!  Almighty  Father!  dreadful  in  thine  anger;  in  whose 
presence  no  sinner  can  subsist  a  moment ;  we  prostrate  ourselves  at  the 
feet  of  thy  Majesty  as  poor  miserable  offenders,  confessing  that  we  have 
justly  provoked  thee  to  anger  by  our  transgressions  and  iniquities,  and 
drawn  upon  ourselves  thy  righteous  judgments,  in  that  we  have  forsaken 
thy  heavenly  truth,  and  bowed  the  knee  before  the  idol !  But  how  shall 
we  now  appear  before  thee,  O  thou  Judge  of  the  quick  and  dead,  since 
by  so  doing,  we  have  deserved  to  feel,  not  only  in  this  life  thy  most 
severe  rod  and  punishment,  but  that  thou  shouldest  also  cut  us  oft" from 
the  number  of  the  living,  and  cast  us  headlong  into  the  lake  of  fire  and 
brimstone,  where  there  is  weeping  and  gnashing  of  teeth.  O  God  !  rich 
in  compassions  and  infinite  in  mercies  !  which  thou  multipliest  even  in 
judgment;  turn  us  and  we  shall  be  turned!  be  merciful  to  us,  forgive 
us  our  offence  !  blot  out  our  iniquity !  and  impute  not  our  sin  unto  us ! 
Open  unto  us  the  door  of  thy  grace,  that  we  may  be  partakers  of  this 
thy  salvation.  O  Lord  Jesus,  Redeemer  of  souls,  who  earnest  into  this 
world  for  the  sake  of  poor  sinners;  look  upon  our  affliction  !  Receive 
us  to  mercy  !  and  grant  that,  our  sins  being  washed  away  in  thy  most 
precious  blood,  we  may  draw  near  to  the  throne  of  thy  grace  with  con- 
fidence to  obtain  mercy.  Raise  us  up  from  our  fall !  strengthen  us  in 
our  weakness  !  and  although  Satan  hath  sought  to  sift  us,  suffer  not  our 
faith  [utterly}  to  fail !  Work  in  us  effectually  both  to  will  and  to  do 
according  to  thy  good  pleasure.  It  is  thou  who  hast  stretched  out 
thine  hand  around  us  !  it  is  thy  strong  hand  which  hath  helped  us  !  Thou 
hast  taken  us  out  of  captivity  both  of  body  and  soul,  in  which  we  lay 
languishing,  and  hast  afforded  us  the  liberty  to  call  upon  thy  name  ! 
Thou  hast  heard  our  cries  out  of  the  deep,  and  hast  given  us  fresh  cause 
to  rejoice  in  thy  goodness,  and  to  bless  thy  holy  name;  to  whom  be 
everlasting  glory  ascribed,  at  all  times,  and  in  all  ages !  Amen. 

And  you  faithful  souls,  who  witness  our  contrite  heart  and  broken 
spirit  before  the  Lord  ;  O  commiserate  our  lamentable  state  !  Learn  by 
our  example,  how  great  is  human  frailty,  and  what  a  precipice  we  fall 
into  whenever  God  withdraws  his  supporting  hand  from  us  !  Consider, 
that  as  it  hath  been  to  us  an  extreme  infelicity  to  have  fallen  into  so 
great  a  sin,  so  have  you  an  argument  to  rejoice  in  God,  through  whose 
grace  you  have  been  given  to  stand  !  Watch  and  pray,  that,  you  enter 
not  into  temptation  !  Hold  fast  that  which  you  have,  that  no  man  take 
your  crown !     Be  faithful  to  the  Lord  Jesus  even  unto  death,  that  so 


504  History  of  the  Christian  Church. 

ye  may  obtain  the  crown  of  life !  And,  be  assured  that,  aside  from  the 
profession  of  his  truth,  which  you  make  to  the  exclusion  of  all  other 
sorts  of  religion  whatsoever,  there  is  nothing  but  death,  horror,  and 
astonishment.  This  is  a  thing  which  we  are  enabled  to  assure  you  of 
from  our  own  experience,  because  from  the  very  first  moment  that  we 
gave  our  consent  to  this  unhappy  apostasy,  our  consciences  have  given 
us  no  rest  at  all ;  and  through  their  continual  harassings  and  agitations, 
they  have  not  suffered  us  to  enjoy  any  of  that  comfort  which  a  Christian 
soul  experiences  in  tribulation,  until  it  pleased  God  to  draw  us  out  of 
the  filthy  quagmire  of  Babylon,  and  caused  us  to  return  to  his  ways. 
And  do  you,  Christians,  lend  your  helping  hand  ;  let  your  arms  be  open- 
ed to  embrace  us  ;  do  not  count  us  unworthy  of  your  holy  communion, 
although  we  have  been  an  occasion  of  offence.  Suffer  us  to  pour  into 
your  bosom  a  torrent  of  tears,  to  deplore  our  condition,  and  to  assure 
you,  in  the  anguish  of  our  souls,  that  our  grief  is  greater  than  we  can 
express.  Help  us  by  your  holy  prayers  to  the  Lord,  and  publish  out 
repentance  in  all  places,  where  you  conceive  our  sin  has  been  or  shall 
be  known,  that  so  it  may  be  evident  to  all  the  world  that,  from  the  very 
bottom  of  our  souls,  we  grieve  and  are  full  of  sorrow  for  it ;  and  that  in 
the  presence  of  God  and  of  his  holy  angels,  as  well  as  of  those  who 
now  witness  our  contrition,  we  do  abjure  and  detest  the  pretended  sac- 
rifice of  the  mass,  the  authority  of  the  pope,  and,  in  general,  all  the 
worship  that  is  dependent  on  them.  We  recant  whatsoever  we  have 
pronounced  to  the  prejudice  of  evangelical  truth,  and  promise,  for  the 
future,  through  divine  assistance,  to  persevere  in  the  profession  of  the 
reformed  religion  to  the  last  moment  of  our  lives,  and  rather  to  suffer 
death  and  torments,  than  to  renounce  that  holy  doctrine  which  is  taught 
in  our  churches,  and  which  we  believe  to  be  agreeable  to  the  word  of 
God;  all  which  Ave  protest  and  promise  with  our  bended  knees  upon 
the  earth,  and  our  hands  lifted  up  to  the  Eternal,  our  Almighty  God, 
the  Father,  Son,  and  Holy  Spirit ;  and  as  we  desire  his  aid  to  enable 
us  to  do  this,  even  so  may  he  help  us,  even  our  God.     Amen. 


SECTION  VI. 

HISTORY  OF  THE  WALDENSES  CONTINUED  DURING  THE  SEVENTEENTH  CEN- 
TURY :  WITH  AN  ACCOUNT  OF  THE  HUMANE  INTERFERENCE  AND  GENE- 
ROUS CONDUCT  OF  THE  ENGLISH  NATION  TOWARDS  THEIR  PERSECUTED 
BRETHREN  IN  PIEDMONT ;  INCLUDING  THE  INTERESTING  LETTERS  OF 
MILTON  IN  THEIR  BEHALF,  ADDRESSED  TO  THE  PROTESTANT  STATES  OF 
EUROPE. A.   D.   1655. 

Amongst  those  who  have  made  a  conspicuous  figure  on  the  threatre 
of  Europe,  in  modern  times,  there  are  few  characters  which  historians 
have  found  it  more  difficult  to  delineate  than  that  of  Oliver  Cromwell. 
This  extraordinary  person  held  the  reins  of  the  English  government, 
at  the  time  the  Waldenses  were  experiencing,  in  the  valleys  of  Piedmont, 


Character  of  Oliver  Cromivell.  505 

the  complicated  sufferings  which  have  been  detailed  in  the  preceding 
section.  The  strange  combination  of  fraud  and  force,  by  means  of 
which  he  grasped  the  supreme  power  of  the  state;  the  rigour,  and,  at 
times,  the  severity  with  which  he  exercised  it ;  the  facility  with  which 
he  could  violate,  and  even  pour  ridicule  upon  the  constitutional  princi- 
ples of  his  country,  trampling  upon  all  the  laws  of  the  land,  when  they 
impeded  his  progress  towards  the  attainment  of  any  object  on  which  he 
had  set  his  mind,  are  certainly  a  tremendous  weight  to  be  placed  in  the 
scale  against  his  inflexible  opposition  to  popery,  his  exertions  in  re- 
forming the  ministry  of  the  established  church,  and  even  his  occasional 
ebullitions  of  zeal  to  promote  the  interests  of  the  gospel.  There  is  but 
too  much  reason  to  fear  that  with  him,  as  with  many  other  princes  and 
statesmen,  religion  was  made  wholly  subservient  to  his  worldly  inte- 
rests. 

And  yet  it  would  be  difficult  to  fix  upon  a  period  when  our  country 
was  more  prosperous  at  home,  or  sustained  a  higher  character  abroad, 
than  during  his  protectorate.  For,  not  to  speak  of  the  number  of  able 
and  upright  judges  whom  he  introduced  into  Westminster  Hall ;  nor 
of  the  impartial  administration  of  justice  throughout  the  land ;  nor  yet 
of  the  attention  which  he  showed  to  reform  the  national  religion,  by 
advancing  men  of  learning  and  piety  in  the  churches  and  discounte- 
nancing those  of  an  opposite  character ;  he  certainly  contrived  to  sup- 
port his  reputation  both  among  his  own  subjects  and  with  foreign  na- 
tions, in  a  very  extraordinary  manner,  even  compelling  those  to  fear 
who  did  not  love  him.  His  name  was  terrible  throughout  Europe,  and 
"  it  was  hard  to  discover,"  says  Lord  Clarendon,  "which  dreaded  him 
most,  France,  Spain,  or  the  Netherlands,  in  all  which  places  his  friend- 
ship was  current  at  the  value  which  he  chose  to  set  upon  it.  For,  as 
they  all  sacrificed  their  honour  and  their  interests  to  his  pleasure,  so 
there  was  nothing  he  could  have  demanded  that  either  of  them  would 
have  denied  him."*  The  truth  of  this  representation,  and,  in  some 
measure,  the  pertinency  of  these  reflections,  will  appear  from  the  his- 
tory on  which  we  are  now  about  to  enter. 

The  council  of  Zurich,  in  Switzerland,  were,  by  reason  of  their 
proximity  to  the  valleys  of  Piedmont,  the  first  who  received  intimation 
of  the  horrid  massacre  which  had  recently  taken  place  there.  The 
news  reached  them  on  the  Lord's  day,  April  29 ; — and  such  was  the 
impression  which  it  made  upon  them,  that  the  town  council  immedi- 
ately assembled,  and  issued  a  proclamation  for  a  day  of  fasting  and  hu- 
miliation throughout  all  their  territories  ;  at  the  same  time  recommend- 
ing that  collections  should  every  where  be  made  for  relieving  the  wants, 

*  It  is  related  of  Cardinal  Mazarine,  who  at  that  time  swayed  the  councils  of 
the  French  cabinet,  that  lie  would  change  countenance  at  the  very  mention  of 
his  name;  and  it  passed  into  a  proverb  in  France,  that  "he  was  not  so  much 
afraid  of  the  devil  as  of  Oliver  Cromwell."  Upon  the  whole,  says  the  late 
Mr.  Fox,  "the  character  of  Cromwell  must  ever  stand  high  in  the  list  of 
those  who  raised  themselves  to  supreme  power  by  the  force  of  their  genius;  and 
among  such,  even  in  respect  of  moral  virtue,  it  would  be  found  to  be  one  of  the 
least  exceptionable,  if  it  had  not  been  tainted  with  that  most  odious  and  de« 
grading  of  all  human  vices,  hypocrisy."  Histobt  of  James  II.  p.  18. 
43 


506  History  of  the  Christian  Church. 

of  the  poor  sufferers.  On  the  next  day  they  drew  up  a  letter,  ad- 
dressed to  the  States  General  of  Holland,  of  which  the  following  is  a 
copy. 

Most  Illustrious  Lords,  &c. 

Having  this  instant  received  the  dismal  news  of  the  lamentable  state 
of  our  brethren  of  the  faith  in  Piedmont,  as  you  may  see  by  the  copy 
of  a  letter  now  sent,  we  thought  ourselves  obliged  by  the  sacred  rights 
of  faith,  union,  and  communion,  to  acquaint  you  therewith ;  being 
fully  assured  that  you  will  be  pleased,  according  to  your  wonted  piety 
and  Christian  charity,  thoroughly  to  consider  and  lay  to  heart  this  "  af- 
fliction of  Joseph."  This  persecution  is  smoothed  over  with  a  very  fair 
pretext  by  the  opposite  party,  but  there  is  no  one  who  loves  the  church 
of  Christ,  that  will  not  easily  be  persuaded  of  the  subtleties  and  trea- 
cheries to  which  their  adversaries  alternatively  have  recourse. 

Moved  by  an  ardent  sympathy  we  earnestly  beseech  you,  most 
mighty  and  illustrious  lords,  that  you  would  lay  to  heart  the  case  of 
these  afflicted  people,  and  administer  those  means  of  relief  which  you 
may  think  conducive  thereunto ;  not  only  by  prayer  to  the  Father  of 
Mercies  for  them,  and  by  granting  them  that  pecuniary  assistance  which 
their  miseries  loudly  call  for,  but  also  by  pacifying  their  prince  to- 
wards them  ;  or,  at  least,  obtaining  for  them  the  liberty  to  emigrate, 
which  we  also  shall,  to  the  utmost  of  our  power,  endeavour  to  do. — 
May  the  Sovereign  Lord  of  all  have  mercy  upon  his  church  in  every 
place  ;  own  their  cause  ;  and  his  Almighty  arm  avert  their  misery  and 
adversities;  to  whose  protection  we  heartily  recommend  you.  Given, 
in  haste,  30th  April,  1655. 

The  Consuls  and  Senators  of  the  Protestant  Cantons  of  Switzer- 
land, viz.  Zurich,  Berne,  Glaris,  Schaff house,  and  Appenzel. 

About  the  20th  of  May  an  account  of  the  Duke  of  Savoy's  pro- 
ceedings against  the  Waldenses  reached  England ;  and,  to  use  the 
words  of  Sir  Samuel  Morland,  it  no  sooner  came  to  the  ears  of  the 
Protector,  than  "  he  arose  like  a  lion  out  of  his  place,"  and  by  the 
most  pathetic  appeals  to  the  protestant  princes  upon  the  continent, 
awoke  the  whole  Christian  world,  exciting  their  hearts  to  pity  and 
commiseration.  The  providence  of  God  had  so  disposed  events, 
that  our  great  poet  Milton  filled  the  office  of  Latin  Secretary  to  Oli- 
ver Cromwell  at  this  critical  juncture.*  Never  was  there  a  more  de- 
cided enemy  to  persecution  on  account  of  religion  than  Milton.  He 
appears  to  have  been  the  first  of  our  countrymen  who  understood  *the 
principles  of  toleration ;  and  his  prose  writings  abound  with  the  most 
enlightened  and  liberal  sentiments.  The  sufferings  of  the  Waldenses 
touched  his  heart,  and  drew  from  his  pen  the  following  exquisite 
sonnet. 

*  The  office  which  Milton  filled  under  the  Protectorate  was  much  the  same 
as  that  which,  in  our  day,  is  called  "  Secretary  of  State  for  Foreign  Af- 
fairs."    See  Dr.  Symmons's  Life  of  Milton,  p.  319. 


Proceedings  of  the  Protectorate,  507 


ON  THE  LATE  MASSACRE  IN  PIEDMONT. 

Avenge,  O  Lord,  thy  slaughter'd  saints,  whose  bones 

Lie  scatter'd  on  the  Alpine  mountains  cold; 

Ev'n  them  who  kept  thy  truth  so  pure  of  old, 

When  all  our  fathers  worshipped  stocks  and  stones 
Forget  not:  in  thy  book  record  their  groans 

Who  were  thy  sheep,  and  in  their  ancient  fold 

Slain  by  the  bloody  Piedn.ontese  that  roll'd 

Mother  with  infant  down  the  rocks.     Their  moan9 
The  vales  redoubled  to  the  hills,  and  they 

To  heaven.     Their  martyr'd  blood  and  ashes  sow 

O'er  all  th'  Italian  fields,  where  still  doth  sway 
The  tripled  tyrant;  that  from  these  may  grow 

A  hundred  fold,  who  having  learn'd  thy  way 

Early  may  fly  the  Babylonian  wo.* 

But  this  was  a  small  portion  of  the  interest  which  he  took  upon  this 
affecting  occasion.  It  devolved  upon  him  by  office  to  address  the  heads 
of  the  different  protestant  states  in  Europe,  with  the  view  of  interest- 
ing them  in  the  affairs  of  the  Waldenses ;  and  his  letters  deserve  to  be 
handed  down  to  the  remotest  age  of  the  world,  as  a  noble  instance  of 
a  benevolent  and  feeling  mind,  worthy  of  the  author  of  Paradise  Lost. 
I  shall,  therefore,  present  the  reader  with  the  whole  of  them  in  this 
place,  faithfully  translated  from  the  Latin  originals.  They  are  in  them- 
selves interesting ;  are  intimately  connected  with  the  history  of  the 
Waldenses ;  and  the  Christian  spirit  that  pervades  them,  redounds  in 
the  highest  degree  to  the  honour  of  the  writer.  Through  what  strange 
fatality  it  has  come  to  pass,  that  an  incident  which  reflects  so  much 
lustre  upon  the  character  of  Milton,  as  the  writing  of  these  state-pa- 
pers certainly  does,  should  have  been  allowed  to  pass  into  oblivion, 
while  many  things  of  minor  importance  find  a  place  in  every  memoir 
of  the  poet,  it  would  probably  be  difficult  to  give  a  more  plausible  rea- 
son for  than  the  superior  interest  which  most  men  take  in  the  con- 
cerns of  this  present  life,  above  those  of  the  kingdom  of  heaven  and 
of  their  immortal  souls. 

*  Dr.  Warton,  in  his  edition  of  Milton's  minor  poems,  remarks  upon  this  son- 
net, that  "  Milton's  mind,  busied  with  this  affecting  subject,  here  broke  forth  in 
a  strain  of  poetry,  where  his  feelings  were  not  fettered  by  ceremony  or  formali- 
ty." He  adds  that  "The  Protestants  availed  themselves  of  an  opportunity  of 
exposing  the  horrors  of  Popery,  by  publishing  many  sets  of  prints  of  this  un- 
paralleled scene  of  religious  butchery,  which  operated  like  Fox's  Book  of  Mar- 
tyrs. Sir  S.  Morland,  Cromwell's  agent  for  the  valleys  of  Piedmont,  published 
a  minute  account  of  this  whole  transaction,  in  "  The  History  of  the  Valleys  of 
Piedmont,"  with  numerous  cuts,  in  folio,  Lond.  1658."  Among  the  latter,  there 
is  a  print  emblematical  of  the  seventh  and  eighth  lines  of  this  sonnet.  Morland 
relates  that  "  A  mother  was  hurled  down  a  mighty  rock,  with  a  little  infant  in 
her  arms;  and  three  days  after  was  found  dead,  with  the  little  child  alive,  but 
fast  clasped  between  the  arms  of  the  dead  mother,  which  were  cold  and  stiff,  in- 
somuch that  those  who  found  them  had  much  ado  to  get  the  young  child  out." 
Morland's  History,  p.  363.  See  Warton's  edition  of  Milton's  Poems  and  Trans- 
lations, with  Notes  and  Illustrations,  2d  ed.  Lond.  1791. 


508  History  of  the  Christian  Church. 

Before  I  introduce  these  interesting  letters  however  to  the  reader's 
notice,  I  cannot  deny  myself  the  pleasure  of  laying  before  him  the 
character  that  has  been  given  of  them  by  two  distinguished  writers  of 
modern  date ;  both  of  them  members  of  our  Established  Church,  and 
consequently  not  to  be  suspected  of  any  undue  partiality  for  the  charac- 
ter or  principles  of  Milton.  The  first  to  whom  I  refer,  is  Dr.  Thomas 
Newton,  bishop  of  Bristol,  who  in  his  life  of  our  great  poet,  prefixed  to 
his  edition  of  the  Paradise  Lost,  tells  us  that  "  the  blindness  [of  Mil- 
ton] had  not  diminished,  but  rather  increased  the  vigour  of  his  mind; 
and  his  State-letters  will  remain  as  authentic  memorials  of  those  times, 
to  be  admired  equally  by  critics  and  politicians ;  and  those  in  particular 
about  the  sufferings  of  the  poor  Protestants  [or  Waldenses]  in  Pied- 
mont, who  can  read  without  sensible  emotion?  This  was  a  subject  he 
had  very  much  at  heart,  as  he  was  an  utter  enemy  to  all  sorts  of  perse- 
cution ;  and  among  his  sonnets  there  is  a  most  excellent  one  upon  the 
same  occasion,"  Thus  far  bishop  Newton — the  other  writer  to  whom 
I  alluded  is  Dr.  Charles  Symmons,  the  poet's  last,  and  certainly  ablest, 
biographer:  who,  referring  to  these  letters,  thus  elegantly  remarks: 
"  The  hand  of  the  Latin  Secretary  most  ably  concurred  with  the  spirit 
of  the  executive  council ;  and  during  his  continuance  in  office,  which 
was  prolonged  to  the  Restoration,  the  State-papers  in  his  department 
may  be  regarded  as  models  in  the  class  of  diplomatic  composition. 
They  speak,  indeed,  the  language  of  energy  and  wisdom ;  and  are  en- 
titled equally  to  the  applause  of  the  scholar  and  the  statesman.  They 
must  have  impressed  foreign  states  with  a  high  opinion  of  that  govern- 
ment for  which  they  were  written ;  and  in  the  service  of  which  so  much 
ability  was  engaged.  It  may  be  observed,  that  the  character  of  their 
immediate  author  is  too  great  to  be  altogether  lost  in  that  of  the  minis- 
terial organ ;  and  that  in  many  of  them,  Milton  may  be  traced  in  dis- 
tinct, though  not  in  discordant  existence  from  the  power  for  whom  he 
acts.  The  letters  which  he  wrote  in  the  protector's  name,  to  mediate 
for  the  oppressed  Protestants  of  Piedmont,*  whose  sufferings  had  re- 
vived the  horror  of  the  Catholic  atrocities  in  Ireland,  might  be  cited  in 
testimony  of  what  I  affirm.  These  official  instruments  are  faithful,  no 
doubt,  to  the  general  purposes  of  him  under  whose  authority  they  were 
produced  ;  but  they  exhibit  also  much  of  the  liberal  and  benevolent 
spirit  of  the  Secretary :  their  mirror  cannot  be  convicted  of  falsehood 
or  perversion :  but  with  unquestionable  flattery,  it  reflects  the  harsh 

*  Dr.  Symmons,  in  a  note  on  this  passage,  remarks  that  "  This  active  and  pow- 
erful interposition  of  the  Protector  was  productive  of  its  intended  effect.  The 
Catholic  tyrant  desisted  from  the  slaughter  of  his  innocent  subjects,  and  those 
miserable  people  had  a  breathing  time  from  their  calamities.  I  call  them,  as 
they  are  called  in  these  official  despatches,  by  the  generally  known  name  of  Pro- 
testants :  but  the  dissenters  from  the  Papal  church,  who  occupied  the  valleys  of 
Piedmont,  had  neither  connection  nor  a  common  origin  with  those  who  were 
properly  called  Protestants,  from  one  of  the  first  acts  of  their  association  in  Ger- 
many. The  Waldenses  asserted  a  much  more  ancient  pedigree  ;  and  assumed 
to  be  of  the  old  Roman  church  before  it  was  corrupted  by  the  Papal  innova- 
tions."    See  Life  of  Milton.    2d  Edit.  1810.— p.  309 — 319. 


Protector's  Letter  to  the  French  King.  509 

features  of  the  English  usurper  so  softened  into  positive  beauty  as  to 
conciliate  our  affection  equally  with  our  respect. 

One  of  the  first  of  Cromwell's  measures  was  to  appoint  a  day  of 
fasting  and  prayer,  to  seek  the  Lord  in  behalf  of  the  melancholy  con- 
dition of  this  afflicted  people  ;  a  public  declaration  of  their  state  was 
also  issued,  calling  upon  the  inhabitants  throughout  the  land  to  join  in 
free  and  liberal  contributions  towards  their  succour  and  support,  in 
which  the  protector  himself  set  them  a  noble  example,  by  commencing 
the  subscription  with  a  donation  of  rwo  thousand  pounds  from  his  own 
private  purse.  And  that  no  time  might  be  lost,  in  testifying  his  good 
will  towards  the  Waldenses,  on  the  23d  of  May,  Sir  S.  Morland  re- 
ceived orders  to  prepare  for  setting  off  with  a  message  from  the  Eng- 
lish government  to  the  Duke  of  Savoy,  beseeching  the  latter  to  recall 
the  merciless  edict  of  Gastaldo,  and  to  restore  the  remnant  of  his  poor 
distressed  subjects  to  their  homes  and  the  enjoyment  of  their  ancient 
liberties. 

On  the  26th  of  May,  Mr.  Morland  took  his  departure  for  the  conti- 
nent, being  charged,  on  his  way  to  Piedmont,  with  a  letter  from  the 
protector  to  the  French  king,  relating  to  the  Waldenses,  in  whose  re- 
cent murder,  as  the  reader  will  have  already  noticed,  some  French 
troops  had  been  employed.  The  following  is  a  copy  of  the  letter 
which,  on  the  first  of  June,  the  English  envoy  delivered  at  La  Fere, 
where  the  king  and  court  of  France  were  then  residing. 

Most  Serene  King  ! 

The  lamentable  complaints  which  have  been  conveyed  to  us  from 
those  poor  and  afflicted  people,  who  profess  the  reformed  religion,  and 
inhabit  the  valleys  within  the  dominions  of  the  Duke  of  Savoy ;  and 
who  have  of  late  been  most  cruelly  massacred ;  together  with  the  me- 
lancholy tidings  we  have  received  concerning  the  plundering  and  ban- 
ishing of  others,  have  extorted  from  us  these  letters  to  your  majesty; 
and  the  rather,  as  we  have  been  informed,  how  truly  we  know  not,  that 
this  massacre  has  been  carried  on,  partly  by  some  troops  of  yours, 
which  had  joined  themselves  to  other  forces  belonging  to  the  Duke  of 
Savoy. 

We  were  very  unwilling  to  give  any  credit  to  these  things,  because 
it  cannot  be  thought  consonant  to  the  purposes  and  proceedings  either 
of  good  princes  or  of  your  majesty's  most  prudent  ancestors,  who  con- 
ceived it  to  be  their  interest,  and  not  less  conducive  to  the  peace  of 
Christendom,  that  their  protestant  subjects  should  live  in  safety,  and 
enjoy  protection  under  their  government,  for  which  they  have  always 
been  grateful,  and  rendered  eminent  services  to  their  sovereigns  in 
times  both  of  peace  and  war.  Similar  considerations  have  hitherto  in- 
duced the  Dukes  of  Savoy  to  treat  their  subjects  with  equal  kindness. 
Now  we  doubt  not  but  that  your  majesty  has  so  much  influence  with 
the  Duke  of  Savoy,  that  by  your  intercession,  a  peace  may  be  procured 
for  those  poor  people,  with  liberty  to  return  to  their  native  country. 
The  performance  of  this  would  be  an  act  worthy  of  your  majesty,  and 
conformable  to  the  example  set  you  by  your  predecessors,  while  it 
would,  at  the  same  time,  set  the  minds  of  your  own  subjects  at  rest,  by 
43* 


510  History  of  the  Christian  Church. 

assuring  them  that  they  need  not  fear  a  repetition  of  such  evils  among 
them  ;  and  also  confirm  your  confederates  and  allies,  who  profess  the 
same  religion,  in  greater  respect  and  affection  for  your  majesty.  With 
respect  to  ourselves,  any  favour  of  this  kind  which  you  shall  grant  to 
your  own  subjects,  or  which  you  may  obtain  for  the  subjects  of  others, 
will  be  not  less  acceptable  to  us ;  indeed  it  will  be  more  so  than  any 
other  profit  or  advantage,  among  the  many  which  we  promise  our- 
selves from  the  friendship  of  your  majesty. 

OLIVER  P. 
Westminster,  May  25,  1655. 

The  king  of  France  lost  no  time  in  returning  a  very  complaisant 
and  satisfactory  answer  to  this  letter,  in  which  he  assures  the  protector 
that  the  manner  in  which  his  troops  had  been  employed  by  the 
Duke  of  Savoy  or  his  ministers  was  very  far  from  meeting  with  his 
approbation — that  they  had  been  sent  by  him  into  Italy,  to  assist  the 
Duke  of  Modena  against  the  invasion  which  the  Spaniards  had  made 
upon  his  country — that  he  had  already  expostulated  with  the  court  of 
Savoy  for  having  employed  them  in  an  affair  of  that  nature  without  his 
authority  or  command — and  that  he  had  sent  to  the  governor  of  his 
province  of  Dauphiny,  requesting  him  to  collect  as  many  of  the  poor 
exiled  Waldenses  as  he  could,  to  treat  them  with  gentleness,  and  afford 
them  every  protection  they  might  stand  in  need  of.  He  tells  his  high- 
ness that,  knowing,  as  he  now  does,  how  much  he  is  affected  by  the 
distress  of  these  Waldenses,  it  gives  him  pleasure  to  think  he  has  al- 
ready anticipated  his  wishes,  and  that  he  shall  continue  to  use  his  in- 
fluence with  the  prince  for  their  relief  and  comfort,  and,  indeed,  that  he 
had  already  proceeded  so  far  as  to  pledge  himself  for  their  obedience 
and  fidelity,  in  case  the  Duke  of  Savoy  would  re-establish  them  in  his 
dominions,  and  that  he  had  grounds  to  hope  his  mediation  would  not 
be  rejected.  "  As  to  what  remains,"  continues  his  majesty,  "  you 
were  perfectly  right  in  believing  that  I  had  given  no  orders  to  my 
troops  to  execute  such  a  business  as  this — nor  was  there  the  least 
ground  to  suppose  that  I  should  contribute  to  the  chastisement  of  the  sub- 
jects of  the  Duke  of  Savoy  who  professed  the  reformed  religion,  while 
I  was  giving  so  many  proofs  of  my  good  will  to  those  of  my  own  sub- 
jects of  the  same  profession,  whose  fidelity  and  zeal  for  my  service  I 
have  great  reason  to  applaud,  since  they  omit  no  opportunity  of  evincing 
their  loyalty,  even  beyond  all  that  can  be  imagined,  and  in  every  thing 
contributing  to  the  prosperity  and  advantage  of  my  affairs.  So  much 
in  answer  to  your  letter ;  but  I  cannot  conclude  without  requesting  you 
to  be  assured  that,  upon  every  occasion  you  shall  find  how  much  I  es- 
teem your  person,  and  that,  from  the  bottom  of  my  heart,  I  pray  the 
Divine  Majesty  that  he  would  have  you  in  his  holy  keeping." 

Signed,  LOUIS. 

Having  delivered  the  protector's  letter  to  the  king  of  France,  and  re- 
ceived the  preceding  reply  to  it,  Sir  Samuel  Morland  proceeded  on  his 
journey  towards  Savoy,  and  upon  the  21st  of  June  arrived  at  Kivoli,  a 
city  about  two  miles  from  Turin,  where  the  duke,  who  seems  to  have 


Letter  to  the  Duke  of  Savoy.  511 

been  a  minor,  then  was  with  his  royal  mother  and  the  court.  Two 
days  afterwards  he  obtained  an  audience,  and  introduced  himself  in  an 
elaborate  Latin  oration,  which  he  delivered  in  the  presence  of  the  duke, 
Madame  Royal,  and  all  the  court,  and  in  which  he  painted  in  strong 
colours  the  accounts  that  had  been  received  in  England  concerning  the 
dreadful  atrocities  that  had  been  recently  perpetrated  upon  the  Wal- 
denses  by  means  of  the  soldiery — describing"  the  houses  on  fire,  which," 
says  he,  "  are  yet  smoking — the  mangled  carcasses,  and  ground  defiled 
with  blood — virgins  violated,  and,  after  being  treated  with  brutal  out- 
rage, too  indecent  to  be  mentioned,  left  to  breathe  out  their  last — men 
an  hundred  years  old,  helpless  through  age  and  bed-ridden,  burnt  in 
their  beds — infants  dashed  against  the  rocks,"  &c.  &c.  "  Were  all 
the  tyrants,"  says  he,  "of  all  times  ami  ages  alive  again,  they  might 
blush  to  find  that,  in  comparison  of  these  things,  they  had  contrived 
nothing  that  deserved  to  be  called  barbarous  and  inhuman  !  The  very 
angels  are  seized  with  horror  at  them  !  Men  are  amazed  !  Heaven 
itself  seems  to  be  astonished  with  the  cries  of  dying  men,  and  the  very 
earth  to  blush,  being  discoloured  with  the  gore  of  so  many  innocent 
persons,"  &c.  Having  finished  his  harangue,  Sir  Samuel  presented  to 
the  duke  the  following  letter  with  which  he  had  been  charged  by  his 
master,  the  lord  protector. 

Most  Serene  Prince! 

We  have  received  letters  from  several  places  near  your  dominions, 
informing  us  that  the  subjects  of  your  royal  highness,  professing  the 
reformed  religion,  have  of  late,  by  your  express  order  and  command, 
been  required,  under  pain  of  death  and  confiscation  of  their  estates,  to 
abandon  their  houses,  possessions,  and  dwellings,  within  three  days 
after  the  publication  of  that  order,  unless  they  would  pledge  them- 
selves to  relinquish  their  religious  profession  and  become  Catholics 
within  twenty  days.  And  that,  when,  with  all  becoming  humility,  they 
addressed  themselves  to  your  royal  highness,  petitioning  for  a  revoca- 
tion of  that  order,  and  a  reception  to  former  favour,  with  a  continuance 
of  such  liberties  as  were  granted  them  by  your  most  serene  predeces- 
sors, a  part  of  your  army  fell  upon  them,  most  cruelly  massacred  many, 
imprisoned  others,  banishing  the  rest  into  desert  places  and  mountains 
covered  with  snow,  where  some  hundreds  of  families  are  reduced  to 
such  extremity,  that  it  is  to  be  feared  they  will  all  miserably  perish  in 
a  short  time  with  hunger  and  cold. 

When  intelligence  was  first  brought  us  that  a  calamity  so  awful  had 
befallen  those  most  miserable  people,  it  was  impossible  for  us  not  to 
feel  the  deepest  sorrow  and  compassion.  For,  as  we  are,  not  only  by 
the  ties  of  humanity,  but  also  by  religious  fellowship  and  fraternal  re- 
lation, united  to  them,  we  conceived  we  could  neither  satisfy  our  own 
minds,  nor  discharge  our  duty  to  God,  nor  the  obligations  of  brotherly 
kindness  and  charity,  as  professors  of  the  same  faith,  if,  while  deeply 
sympathizing  with  our  afflicted  brethren,  we  should  fail  to  use  every 
endeavour  that  was  within  our  reach,  to  succour  them  under  so  many 
unexpected  miseries. 

We,  in  the  first  place,  therefore,  most  earnestly  desire  and  entreat 
your  highness  that  you  would  re-consider  the  acts  and  ordinances  of 


512  History  of  the  Christian  Church. 

your  most  serene  predecessors,  and  the  indulgences  which  were  by 
them  granted  from  time  immemorial,  and  ratified  to  their  subjects  of 
the  valleys.  In  granting  and  confirming  which,  as,  on  the  one  hand, 
they  unquestionably  did  that  which  itself  was  well  pleasing  to  God, 
who  intends  that  the  law  and  liberty  of  conscience  shall  remain  wholly 
in  his  own  power,  so,  on  the  other,  it  cannot  be  doubted  but  that  they 
had  a  respect  also  to  the  merit  of  their  subjects,  whom  they  had  always 
found  faithful  in  war  and  obedient  in  time  of  peace.  And  as  your  se- 
rene highness  has  imitated  the  example  of  your  predecessors,  in  all 
other  things  that  have  been  so  graciously  and  gloriously  achieved  by 
them,  so  we  beseech  you  again  and  again  that  you  would  abrogate  this 
edict,  and  any  other  that  has  been  issued  for  the  disquieting  of  your 
subjects  on  account  of  their  religion ;  that  you  would  restore  them  to 
their  native  homes,  and  the  possession  of  their  properties  ;  that  you 
would  confirm  to  them  their  ancient  rights  and  liberties,  cause  repara- 
tion to  be  made  to  them  for  the  injuries  they  have  sustained,  and  adopt 
such  means  as  may  put  an  effectual  stop  to  these  vexatious  proceed- 
ings. In  doing  this,  your  royal  highness  will  perform  what  is  accepta- 
ble to  God,  comfort  and  revive  those  miserable  and  distressed  people, 
and  give  satisfaction  to  all  your  neighbours  professing  the  reformed  re- 
ligion, and  especially  to  ourself,  who  shall  regard  your  favour  and 
clemency  towards  them  as  the  effect  and  fruit  of  our  mediation,  which 
we  shall  consider  ourself  bound  to  requite  by  a  return  of  every  good 
office,  while  it  will  also  be  the  means  of  not  only  laying  a  foundation 
for  our  good  correspondence  and  friendship,  but  also  of  increasing  it 
between  this  commonwealth  and  your  dominions.  And  this  we  pro- 
mise ourself  from  your  justice  and  clemency ;  whereunto  we  desire 
God  to  incline  your  heart  and  mind,  and  so  we  sincerely  pray  that  he 
would  confer  on  you  and  on  your  people  peace  and  truth,  and  that  he 
would  prosper  you  in  all  your  affairs. 

Given  at  our  palace  at  Westminster,  May  25,  1655. 

OLIVER  P. 

As  soon  as  the  duke  and  his  mother  had  made  themselves  acquainted 
with  the  contents  of  this  letter,  Madame  Royal  addressed  herself  to  the 
English  minister,  and  told  him  that  "as,  on  the  one  hand,  she  could  not 
but  extremely  applaud  the  singular  charity  and  goodness  of  his  highness, 
the  lord  protector,  towards  their  subjects,  whose  situation  had  been 
represented  to  him  so  exceedingly  lamentable,  as  she  perceived  by  his 
discourse  had  been  done,  so,  on  the  other,  she  could  not  but  extremely 
wonder  that  the  malice  of  men  should  ever  proceed  so  far  as  to  clothe 
such  paternal  and  tender  chastisements  of  their  most  rebellious  and 
insolent  subjects,  in  characters  so  black  and  deformed,  thereby  to  render 
them  odious  to  all  the  neighbouring  princes  and  states,  with  whom  they 
were  so  anxious  to  keep  up  a  good  understanding  and  friendship — es- 
pecially with  so  great  and  powerful  a  prince  as  the  lord  protector."  She 
at  the  same  time  gave  him  to  understand,  that  "  she  was  persuaded, 
when  he  came  to  be  more  particularly  informed  of  the  truth  of  all  that 
had  passed,  he  would  be  so  perfectly  satisfied  with  the  duke's  proceed- 
ings, that  he  ivould  not  %ive  the  least  countenance  to  his  disobedient 


Plea  of  the  Marquis  Pionessa.  513 

subjects.  However,  for  his  highness's  sake,  they  would  not  only 
freely  pardon  their  rebellious  subjects  for  the  very  heinous  crimes  which 
they  had  committed,  but  would  also  grant  them  such  privileges  and 
favours  as  could  not  fail  to  give  the  protector  full  proof  of  the  great  re- 
spect which  they  entertained  for  his  person  and  mediation." 

These  plausible  professions,  while  they  no  doubt  display  the  usual 
finesse  of  politicians,  yet  certainly  evince  no  ordinary  measure  of  respect 
for  the  head  of  the  English  government,  and  are  much  more  complaisant 
than  was  the  style  in  which  the  same  lady  had  previously  addressed 
Major  Weis,  the  deputy  from  the  Swiss  Cantons.  For  when  this  latter 
gentleman  delivered  to  the  duke  a  letter  from  the  six  protestant  Can- 
tons of  Switzerland  under  the  same  melancholy  occasion,  Madame 
Royal  promptly  replied,  that  they  were  not  obliged  to  give  an  account 
of  their  actions  to  any  prince  in  the  world;  nevertheless,  out  of  the 
respect  which  they  bore  to  his  master  of  the  Cantons,  they  had  given 
orders  to  the  Marquis  of  Pionessa,  to  acquaint  him  with  the  truth  of  all 
these  affairs. 

The  Marquis  in  consequence,-  waited  upon  Major  Weis,  and  endea- 
voured to  justify  all  his  proceedings,  by  casting  the  whole  blame  upon 
the  Waldenses,  repeatedly  protesting  that  he  never  had  the  least  design 
to  force  their  consciences,  and  that  all  the  reports  which  had  been  cir- 
culated respecting  the  massacre,  and  other  cruelties  were  mere  forgeries. 
To  all  which  the  major  replied,  that  "with  regard  to  the  massacre,  it 
was  a  thing  so  demonstrably  evident,  that  it  was  impossible  either  to 
conceal  or  deny  it.  And  as  to  the  people's  right  of  habitation  in  the 
places  from  whence  they  were  ordered  to  depart,  it  was  founded  upon 
justice  and  equity,  inasmuch  as  it  had  not  only  been  conceded  to  them 
by  Charles  Emanuel,  duke  of  Savoy,  but  also  purchased  of  his  royal 
highness  for  six  thousand  ducatoons,  which  were  actualy  paid  by  them 
on  that  very  account.'"  The  Marquis  told  him,  that  he  did  not  at  all 
deny  the  authenticity  of  the  charters  which  the  Waldenses  held,  but 
they  were  all  conditional,  and  that  the  Catholic  religion  ought  to  have 
been  freely  exercised  in  all  those  places,  which  they  would  never  allow. 
In  short,  that  their  continual  residence  in  all  those  places  for  the  last 
ninety  years,  could  be  called  no  better  than  a  ninety  years'  rebellion  and 
disobedience.  Such  were  the  miserable  pleas  of  this  intolerant  and 
blood-thirsty  man. 

It  is  obvious  from  all  that  can  be  collected  of  the  temper  and  influence 
of  the  Marquis  of  Pionessa,  the  bigoted  attachment  of  the  duke  and  his 
mother  to  the  court  of  Rome,  and  the  firm  hold  which  the  Catholic 
clergy  had  then  got  of  their  minds,  that  there  was  not  the  smallest  dis- 
position in  the  court  of  Savoy,  to  mitigate  their  sufferings,  or  abate  the 
rigorous  proceedings  which  had  hitherto  been  going  on  against  the  Wal- 
denses ;  and  that  had  it  not  been  for  the  seasonable  interference  of  the 
English  envoy,  the  Swiss  deputy  would  have  made  no  impression 
whatever  upon  them.  But  let  us  now  revert  to  the  further  proceedings 
in  England.  Besides  the  letter  to  the  King  of  France  and  that  to  the 
Duke  of  Savoy,  which  I  have  already  given,  the  following  were  trans- 
mitted on  the  same  occasion. 


514  History  of  the  Christian  Church. 

the  lord  protector  to  the  king  of  sweden. 
Most  Serene  King, 

The  report  has,  no  doubt  ere  this,  reached  your  dominions,  of  thai 
most  cruel  edict  which  has  been  issued  by  the  Duke  of  Savoy,  by 
means  of  which  he  has  utterly  ruined  his  subjects  of  the  Alps,  pro- 
fessing the  reformed  religion ,  having  given  orders  that  they  should  be 
driven  out  of  the  places  of  their  inheritance,  unless,  within  twenty 
days,  they  relinquished  their  own  and  embraced  the  Roman  religion. 
The  consequence  has  been,  that  many  have  been  slain,  the  remnant, 
plundered  and  exposed  to  certain  destruction,  are  at  this  moment  wan- 
dering up  and  down  with  their  wives  and  little  ones,  through  desolate 
mountains  of  never  wasting  snow,  ready  to  perish  through  hunger  and 
cold — nor  can  we  doubt  that  your  majesty  is  greatly  troubled  at  these 
things.  For,  though  in  lesser  matters  they  differ  among  themselves, 
yet  the  hatred  of  our  adversaries  which  is  common  to  us  all,  sufficiently 
demonstrates  that  the  protestant  name  and  cause  is  one.  Nor  can  any 
be  ignorant,  that  your  royal  progenitors,  the  kings  of  Sweden,  have 
alwajrs  made  common  cause  with  those  of  the  reformed  religion,  bring- 
ing their  armies  into  Germany  to  defend  it,  without  regard  to  minute 
distinctions. 

We  have,  therefore,  thought  it  necessary  to  state  to  your  majesty, 
what  has  come  to  our  knowledge  of  the  wretched  and  miserable  con- 
dition of  these  poor  distressed  people,  and  to  give  you  to  understand  the 
grief  and  sorrow  with  which  we  are  afflicted  on  their  behalf,  as  we  have 
also  done  to  our  other  friends  and  allies  of  the  same  profession  ;  and  that 
we  have  also  conveyed  our  sentiments  in  the  strongest  manner  we  could 
to  the  Duke  of  Savoy,  on  the  behalf  of  those  poor  innocent  people.  We 
are  also  persuaded  that  your  majesty,  detesting  such  inhuman  and  bar- 
barous massacres,  and  in  conformity  to  your  well-known  zeal  and  love 
of  religion,  has  already,  or  immediately  will,  interpose  your  mediation, 
and  intercede  with  the  Duke  of  Savoy  to  revoke  that  cruel  edict,  and 
recal  to  their  habitations  and  estates  the  little  remnant  of  those  poor 
men  that  are  yet  left  unbutchered. 

And,  certainly,  if  there  be  any  bond  of  union,  if  any  love  or  fellow- 
ship in  religion  is  to  be  either  believed  or  cultivated,  such  a  multitude 
of  our  guiltless  brethren,  members  of  the  same  body  of  Christ,  cannot 
suffer  without  the  whole  body  suffering,  and  having  a  mutual  sympa- 
thy with  them.  And,  indeed,  it  is  unnecssary  to  remind  your  majes- 
ty, that  the  principles  from  whence  these  cruelties  and  massacres  have 
proceeded,  equally  threaten  us  all.  As  your  wisdom  and  zeal,  there- 
fore, will  direct  you  to  such  counsels  as  shall  be  most  conducive  to  the 
relief  and  comfort  of  those  miserable  and  disconsolate  men,  we  have 
not  written  this  to  admonish  your  majesty,  but  merely  to  convey  to 
you  the  sense  we  entertain  of  their  suffering,  and  our  readiness  to  com- 
municate with  you  in  whatever  may  tend  to  their  succour,  and  for  the 
support  of  the  Protestant  interest  in  the  world.  In  the  mean  time  we 
heartily  recommend  your  majesty  unto  God  Almighty. 

Your  majesty's  good  friend, 

OLIVER  P. 
Given  at  our  palace  at  JVestminster,  May  25,  1655. 


Cromwell's  Letter  to  the  United  Provinces.  515 

the  lord  protector  of  england  to  the  king  of  denmark. 
Most  Serene  King, 

We  presume  your  majesty  must  have  heard,  ere  this,  by  how  se- 
vere and  merciless  an  edict,  Emanuel,  duke  of  Savoy,  has,  for  the  cause 
of  religion,  driven  out  of  their  native  country  his  subjects  who  inha- 
bited the  valleys  of  the  Alps — a  harmless  people,  who  for  many  ages 
have  been  retaining  the  purity  of  their  religious  profession ;  and  that 
very  many  of  them  being  slain,  he  has  exposed  the  rest,  naked  and 
destitute,  to  all  kinds  of  mischiefs  and  miseries  in  desolate  places ;  nor 
can  we  doubt  that,  as  became  so  great  a  patron  and  defender  of  the  re- 
formed religion,  you  have  been  deeply  affected  with  sorrow  on  this  ac- 
count. For  certainly,  agreeably  to  the  laws  of  Christianity,  if  our 
brethren  are  suffering  calamities  and  misery,  we  all  ought  to  sympa- 
thize with  them  ;  and,  indeed,  if  we  have  been  correctly  informed  of 
your  prudence  and  piety,  no  man  can  be  more  apprehensive  than  your 
majesty,  of  the  danger  which  this  example  portends  to  the  whole  Pro- 
testant profession. 

We  are,  therefore,  induced  to  write  you  freely,  wishing  you  to  un- 
derstand that  we  entertain  the  same  sorrow  for  the  calamity  of  our 
most  innocent  brethren,  and  the  same  opinion  and  judgment  concern- 
ing the  whole  of  this  matter,  which  we  trust  you  do.  We  have  also 
written  letters  to  the  Duke  of  Savoy,  in  which  we  have  implored  him 
to  commiserate  these  unhappy  people,  by  listening  to  their  petitions, 
and  not  permitting  that  cruel  edict  to  continue  in  force.  And  if  your 
majesty  and  the  other  princes  of  the  reformed  religion  will  do  the  same, 
(which  it  is  very  probable  you  have  already  done,)  we  may  hope  that 
the  mind  of  the  most  serene  duke  may  be  softened,  and  at  any  rate, 
that  he  will  at  the  earnest  solicitation  of  so  many  neighbouring  prince3, 
lay  aside  his  displeasure.  But  if,  instead  of  doing  that,  he  chooses 
rather  to  persist  in  his  purpose,  we  declare  that,  assisted  by  your  ma- 
jesty, and  the  rest  of  our  allies  of  the  reformed  religion,  we  are  pre- 
pared to  have  recourse  to  such  measures  as  may,  to  the  utmost  of  our 
power,  relieve  the  distress,  and  provide  for  the  safety  and  the  liberty 
of  so  many  poor  afflicted  people.  In  the  mean  time  we  pray  God  to 
bless  and  prosper  your  majesty. 

Your  majesty's  good  friend, 

OLIVER  P. 

Given  at  our  palace  at  Westminster, 
the day  of  May,  Anno  Bom.  1655. 

to  the  high  and  mighty  lords  of  the  united  provinces. 
High  and  Mighty  Lords  ! 

You  have,  no  doubt,  ere  this  been  apprized,  by  means  of  various 
expresses  and  advices  from  the  neighbouring  states,  of  the  recent  edict 
of  the  Duke  of  Savoy  against  his  subjects  of  the  valleys  of  Lucerne,  An- 
grogne,  and  other  parts  of  his  dominions,  who  have  long  professed  the 
orthodox  faith — by  which  edict,  they  were  enjoined  to  quit  their  dwell- 


516  History  of  the  Christian  Church. 

ings,  stripped  of  all  their  possessions,  unless  in  twenty  days  they  em- 
braced the  Roman  religion.  You  are  not  ignorant  of  the  rigour  with 
which,  by  virtue  of  that  edict,  they  have  proceeded  against  men  both 
inoffensive  and  helpless,  and  (which  most  nearly  touches  us)  those 
who  are  our  brethren  in  Christ,  multitudes  of  them  having  been  murder- 
ed by  a  party  of  soldiers  sent  against  them,  the  rest  plundered  and  driv- 
en out  of  their  houses,  insomuch  that  they  are  forced  to  wander  about 
with  their  wives  and  children,  in  desolate  mountains,  exposed  to  the 
continual  miseries  of  cold  and  hunger.  Of  your  distress,  and  the  sense 
you  entertain  of  our  brethren's  calamity,  we  can  form  some  apprehen- 
sion from  our  own  feelings.  For,  united  as  we  are  by  the  bond  of  re- 
ligious friendship,  we  cannot  but  be  affected  by  so  heavy  an  oppression 
of  our  brethren.  Your  lordships  have  given  abundant  proof  of  your 
kindness  towards  the  professors  of  the  reformed  religion  wherever  scat- 
tered and  oppressed,  in  the  most  difficult  and  adverse  times  of  the 
churches  ;  and  for  our  own  part,  we  had  rather  be  found  wanting  in 
any  thing,  than  in  our  zeal  and  affection  towards  our  brethren  who  are 
suffering  for  the  cause  of  religion,  preferring,  as  we  do,  the  peace  and 
prosperity  of  the  churches  to  our  own  ease  and  safety. 

We  have,  on  this  account,  written  to  the  Duke  of  Savoy,  entreating 
him  to  entertain  a  more  favourable  regard  towards  those  harmless  men, 
his  suppliants  and  subjects  ;  to  restore  to  them  their  houses  and  prop- 
erty, and  grant  them  their  ancient  religious  liberties,  as  we  have  also 
done  to  the  king  of  France,  requesting  him  to  intercede  with  the  said 
duke  in  their  behalf.  We  have  also  written  to  other  princes  and  states 
of  the  protestant  profession,  as  well  as  yourselves,  conceiving  this  to 
be  a  common  cause,  that  they  would  unite  with  us  in  this  intercession. 
For  if  an  example  so  evil  as  that  is,  should  come  to  be  followed,  which 
seems  to  be  the  intention  of  those  who  contrive  it,  we  need  not  apprize 
you  of  the  danger  to  which  the  protestant  faith  must  be  thereby  re- 
duced. And  if  the  duke  can  be  persuaded  and  prevailed  upon  by  our  joint 
entreaties,  it  will  surely  be  a  happy  and  satisfactory  remuneration  of 
all  the  labour  we  have  taken  therein.  But  if  on  the  other  hand,  he 
shall  continue  firmly  resolved  utterly  to  destroy,  and  to  drive  to  a  state 
of  distraction,  those  men,  among  whom  our  religion  was  either  planted 
by  the  first  preachers  of  the  gospel,  and  so  maintained  in  its  purity 
from  age  to  age,  or  else  reformed  and  restored  to  its  primitive  purity 
more  early  than  among  many  other  nations  :  we  hereby  declare  ourselves 
ready  to  advise,  in  common  with  you,  and  the  rest  of  our  brethren  and 
allies  of  the  reformed  religion,  by  what  means  we  may  most  conve- 
niently provide  for  the  preservation  and  comfort  of  those  distressed 
people. 

OLIVER  P. 

Palace  of  Westminster,  May  25,  1665. 

the  lord  rrotector  to  the  swiss  cantons. 

Most  Noble  Lords  ! 

The  calamity  which  has  lately  befallen  those  people  in  the  Alps, 
who  are  of  the  same  religious  profession  as  ourselves,  must  necessarily 


Cromwell's  Letter  to  the  Swiss  Cantons.  517 

have  come  to  your  knowledge  before  it  did  to  ours.  They  were  requir- 
ed by  an  edict  of  the  Duke  of  Savoy,  under  whose  dominion  they  were, 
to  forsake  their  native  country,  unless  they  would  in  three  days,  give 
assurance  that  they  would  embrace  the  Roman  religion.  Nor  was  that 
all,  for  they  were  immediately  afterwards  assaulted  by  force  of  arms ; 
numbers  of  them  put  to  death,  and  others  driven  into  banishment,  who 
are  now  wandering  in  a  state  of  wretchedness,  with  their  wives  and 
children,  over  desert  mountains  covered  with  snow,  without  house  or 
shelter,  in  want  and  nakedness,  ready  to  perish  with  cold  and  hunger. 
Nor  can  we  doubt  but  that,  as  soon  as  the  report  of  these  things  came 
to  your  ears,  a  calamity  such  as  this  must  have  affected  you,  as  sensi- 
bly as  it  did  ourself ;  and  perhaps  more  so,  in  as  much  as  the  proxim- 
ity of  your  situation  must  have  made  your  apprehensions  of  their  mis- 
ery more  lively  ;  for  we  well  know  your  singular  zeal  for  the  orthodox 
faith,  as  well  as  your  great  constancy  in  retaining,  and  your  fortitude 
in  defending  the  profession  of  it. 

Seeing  then  that,  by  the  endearing  ties  of  religious  fellowship,  we 
are  brethren,  or  rather  one  body  with  these  afflicted  men — of  which 
body  no  one  member  can  suffer",  but  all  the  fellow-members  must  sutler 
with  it ;  we  thought  proper  to  write  to  you,  and  signify  how  much  we 
considered  it  to  be  the  common  interest  of  us  all  to  assist  and  comfort 
our  exiled  and  disconsolate  brethren,  by  such  means  as  shall  be  thought 
proper  and  suitable,  and  thereby  make  provision  both  for  removing  the 
present  evils,  preventing  their  accumulation,  and  the  danger  to  which 
we  are  exposed  by  the  example  and  effects  of  this  act.  We  have  con- 
sequently written  letters  to  the  Duke  of  Savoy,  entreating  him  to  deal 
more  gently  with  his  faithful  subjects,  and  restore  them  to  their  pro- 
perty and  native  countries.  We  trust  that  he  will  be  prevailed  upon  by 
our,  or  rather  by  the  joint  entreaties  of  us  all,  and  that  he  will  cheerfully 
grant  what  we  so  anxiously  desire.  But  should  it  turn  out  that  he  is 
differently  minded,  we  are  ready  to  advise  with  you  about  such  means 
as  may  be  most  conducive  to  the  redress  and  relief  of  these  poor  inno- 
cent men,  our  dear  brethren  in  Christ,  who  groan  under  so  many  in- 
juries and  oppressions  ;  and  which  may  preserve  them  from  a  most  cer- 
tain and  unmerited  destruction,  and  whose  safety  and  preservation,  from 
your  well  known  piety,  we  are  persuaded,  lies  very  near  your  hearts. 
J  v  OLIVER  P. 

JVestminster,  May  25,  1655. 

Oliver,  Protector  of  the  Republic  of  England,  to  the  Most 
Serene  Prince  of  Transylvania. 

Most  Serene  Prince  ! 

Your  letters  of  the  16th  November,  1654,  have  communicated  to 
us  the  pleasing  intelligence  of  the  extraordinary  good  will  and  affec- 
tion which  you  bear  towards  us  ;  and  your  ambassador,  who  delivered 
those  letters  to  us,  has  more  fully  declared  the  desire  which  you  have 
to  contract  an  alliance  and  friendship  with  us. 

For  our  own  part,  we  certainly  do  not  a  little  rejoice  in  the  oppor- 
tunity which  is  now  afforded  us  of  publicly  avowing  the  cordial  esteem 
44 


518  History  of  the  Christian  Church. 

which  we  have  for  your  highness,  and  how  much  we  value  your  per- 
son. But  after  all  that  public  rumour  had  conveyed  to  us  of  your  me- 
ritorious exertions  and  indefatigable  labours  undertaken  in  behalf  of  the 
Christian  republic;  and  learning,  as  we  now  do,  by  letters  from  your- 
self, imparting  to  us,  in  the  most  friendly  manner,  what  you  have  fur- 
ther in  contemplation  to  do  for  promoting  the  Christian  interest,  we 
could  not  but  consider  it  as  an  abundant  occasion  of  joy  and  satisfac- 
tion, to  hear  that  God  had  raised  up  to  himself,  in  those  remote  re- 
gions, so  powerful  and  renowned  a  minister  of  his  glory  and  provi- 
dence :  and  that  this  great  minister  of  heaven,  so  famed  for  his  courage 
and  success,  should  wish  to  be  associated  with  us  in  the  common  de* 
fence  of  the  Protestant  religion,  which  is  at  this  time  so  wickedly  as- 
sailed in  word  and  deed.  Nor  can  we  doubt  that  God,  who  has  in- 
spired us  both,  though  separated  from  each  other  by  many  intervening 
climates,  with  similar  desires  and  purpose  of  defending  the  orthodox 
religion,  will  be  our  guide,  and  point  us  to  the  ways  and  means  by 
which  we  may  successfully  promote  our  own  interests  and  that  of  the 
other  reformed  countries,  provided  we  watch  the  opportunities  of  so 
doing,  which  God  shall  put  into  our  hands,  and  be  not  wanting  to  our- 
selves in  embracing  them. 

In  the  mean  time,  we  cannot  but  with  extreme  and  heart-rending 
sorrow  put  your  highness  in  mind,  how  unmercifully  the  Duke  of  Sa- 
voy has  persecuted  his  own  subjects,  professing  the  orthodox  faith,  in 
certain  valleys  at  the  feet  of  the  Alps  ;  whom  he  has,  by  a  most  severe 
edict,  not  only  compelled,  at  least  such  of  them  as  refuse  to  turn  Ca- 
tholics, to  forsake  their  native  habitations,  goods,  and  estates,  but  has 
also  fallen  upon  them  with  his  army,  inhumanly  put  several  to  the 
sword,  barbarously  tormenting  others  to  death,  and  driving  the  greater 
part  of  them  to  the  mountains,  there  to  perish  through  cold  and  hun- 
ger, exposing  their  houses  to  the  fury,  and  their  goods  to  the  plunder, 
of  his  executioners.  These  things,  as  they  have  already  been  report- 
ed to  your  highness,  so  we  readily  persuade  ourselves,  that  such  cru- 
elty cannot,  but  be  grievously  displeasing  to  your  ears,  and  that  you 
will  not  be  found  wanting  to  afford  your  relief  and  succour  to  those 
wretched  sufferers,  if,  indeed,  any  of  them  survive  their  multiplied 
slaughters  and  calamities. 

For  our  part,  we  have  written  to  the  Duke  of  Savoy,  beseeching  him 
to  remove  the  fierceness  of  his  anger  from  his  subjects.  We  have  also 
written  to  the  King  of  France  that  he  would  do  the  same  ;  and,  finally, 
we  have  addressed  the  princes  of  the  reformed  religion  with  the  view 
of  making  them  acquainted  with  our  sentiments  respecting  this  fierce 
and  savage  piece  of  cruelty,  which  though  it  has  commenced  with 
those  poor  and  helpless  people,  threatens  eventuallv  all  that  profess  the 
same  religion ;  and,  consequently,  imposes  upon  all  the  greater  neces- 
sity of  providing  for  themselves  in  general,  and  consulting  the  common 
safety  ;  which  is  the  course  we  shall  always  follow  as  God  shall  be 
pleased  to  direct  us.  We  beg  your  highness  to  be  assured  of  this,  as 
well  as  of  our  sincere  affection  for  your  serenity,  which  induces  us  to 
wish  all  possible  prosperity  and  success  to  your  affairs,  and  a  happy 


Letter  to  the  Senators  of  Geneva.  519 

issue  of  all  your  enterprises  and  endeavours,  in  asserting  the  liberty  of 
the  gospel  and  its  worshippers. 
Whitehall,  May,  1655. 

OLIVER,  PROTECTOR  OF  THE  COMMONWEALTH  OF  ENGLAND,  TO  THE  MOST 
NOBLE,  THE  CONSULS  AND  SENATORS  OF  GENEVA. 

We  should  ere  this  have  communicated  to  your  lordships  our  exces- 
sive sorrow  for  the  severe  and  unheard  of  calamities  which  have  be- 
fallen the  Protestants  inhabiting  the  \  alleys  of  Piedmont,  whom  the 
Duke  of  Savoy  persecutes  with  so  much  cruelty,  had  we  not  made  it 
our  business  that  you  should,  at  the  same  time,  understand  that  we  are 
not  only  affected  by  the  enormity  of  their  sufferings,  but  are  exerting 
our  utmost  efforts  to  relieve  and  comfort  them  under  their  distresses. 
For  this  purpose  we  have  taken  measures  to  have  a  general  collection 
throughout  the  whole  of  this  republic,  which,  upon  good  grounds,  we 
expect  will  be  such  as  shall  demonstrate  the  affection  of  this  nation  to- 
wards their  brethren  labouring  under  the  burden  of  such  inhuman 
proceedings;  and  that  as  the  communion  of  religion  is  the  same 
between  both  people,  so  the  sense  of  their  calamities  is  no  less  the 
same.  In  the  mean  time,  while  the  collections  of  the  money  are  going 
forwards,  which  it  may  require  some  time  to  finish,  and  as  the  wants 
and  necessities  of  those  distressed  people  will  not  well  admit  of  delay, 
we  have  thought  it  proper  to  remit  you  before-hand  two  thousand 
pounds  sterling  with  all  possible  speed,  to  be  distributed  among  such 
as  shall  be  considered  most  necessitous,  and  that  more  particularly  re- 
quire present  succour  and  relief. 

And  as  we  are  not  ignorant  how  deeply  the  miseries  and  wrongs  of 
those  very  harmless  people  have  affected  yourselves,  and  that  you  will 
not  grudge  any  labour  or  pains  which  may  contribute  to  their  relief,  we 
make  no  scruple  to  commit  the  distribution  of  this  sum  of  money  to 
your  care,  and  to  give  you  this  further  trouble,  that  according  to  your 
wonted  piety  and  prudence,  you  would  take  care  that  the  said  money 
be  distributed  equally  to  the  most  necessitous,  to  the  end  that,  though 
the  sum  be  small,  there  may,  nevertheless,  be  something  to  refresh  and 
revive  the  most  indigent  and  needy,  till  we  can  afford  them  a  more 
plentiful  supply. 

And  thus,  not  doubting  but  that  you  will  take  in  good  part  the  trouble 
imposed  upon  you,  we  beseech  Almighty  God  to  stir  up  the  hearts  of 
all  his  people  professing  the  orthodox  faith,  to  resolve  upon  the  common 
defence  of  themselves,  and  their  mutual  assistance  of  each  other  against 
their  inveterate  and  most  implacable  enemies  ;  in  doing  which  we  should 
rejoice  that  our  helping  hand  might  be  any  way  serviceable  to  the 
church. 

Farewell. 

June  8,  1655. 

P.  S.  £1,500  of  the  aforesaid  £2,000  will  be  remitted  by  Gerard 
Hench,  from  Paris,  and  the  other  £500  wril  be  taken  care  of  by  letters 
from  the  Lord  Stoup. 


520  History  of  the  Christian  Church. 

These  letters  abundantly  prove  the  firm  hold  which  the  case  of  the 
Waldenses  had  taken  on  the  mind  of  the  English  government,  and  the 
lively  interest  which  the  latter  so  honourably  took  in  their  affairs.  I 
cannot,  however,  dismiss  this  part  of  the  subject  without  laying  before 
the  reader  one  letter  more,  not  only  because  it  is  intimately  connected 
with  the  narrative,  but  because  it  exhibits  a  pleasing  specimen  of  the 
liberal  and  enlightened  policy  of  the  Protector's  counsels.  It  was  writ- 
ten in  the  following  year,  and  addressed  to  the  King  of  Sweden,  who 
was,  at  that  moment,  threatening  the  States  of  Holland  with  a  war. 

OLIVER,  PROTECTOR  OF  THE  COMMONWEALTH  OF  ENGLAND,  &C.  TO  THE 
MOST  SERENE  PRINCE,  CHARLES  GUSTAVUS,  KING  OF  THE  SWEDES, 
GOTHS,  AND  VANDALS,  &C. 

Most  Serene  King,  our  dearest  friend  and  confederate. 

As  we  are  fully  assured  of  your  majesty's  concurrence  both  in 
thoughts  and  counsels  for  the  defence  of  the  protestant  faith  against  its 
enemies,  which  never  Avas  more  dangerously  assailed  than  at  present ; 
though  we  cannot  but  rejoice  at  your  successful  enterprises  and  the 
daily  tidings  of  your  victories,  yet  we  cannot,  on  the  other  hand,  but  be 
as  deeply  concerned  at  one  thing  which  disturbs  and  interrupts  our 
joy ;  we  refer  to  the  sad  news  which  is  intermingled  with  so  much 
welcome  tidings,  that  the  ancient  friendship  between  your  majesty  and 
the  States  of  the  United  Provinces  presents  a  gloomy  aspect,  and  that 
the  mischief  is  exasperated  to  that  pitch,  particularly  in  the  Baltic  Sea, 
as  seems  to  forebode  an  unhappy  rupture!  We  acknowledge  ourselves 
ignorant  of  the  causes  ;  but  we  too  easily  foresee  that  the  events,  which 
God  avert,  will  be  fatal  to  the  interests  of  the  Protestants.  And,  there- 
fore, both  out  of  regard  to  that  most  intimate  alliance  now  subsisting 
between  us  and  your  majesty,  and  also  from  that  affection  and  love  to 
the  reformed  religion,  by  which  we  ought  all  of  us  chiefly  to  be  swayed, 
we  consider  it  our  duty,  as  we  have  most  earnestly  exhorted  the  States 
of  the  United  Provinces,  to  peace  and  moderation,  so  now  to  persuade 
your  majesty  to  the  same.  The  Protestants  have  enemies  every  where 
enough  and  to  spare,  inflamed  with  inexorable  revenge  :  nor  were  they 
ever  known  to  have  conspired  more  perniciously  to  our  destruction — 
— witness  the  valleys  of  Piedmont  still  reeking  with  the  blood  and 
slaughter  of  the  miserable — witness  Austria,  lately  embroiled  with  the 
emperor's  edicts  and  proscriptions — witness  Switzerland.  But  it  is 
needless  to  expatiate  at  large  in  recalling  the  bitter  lamentations  and  re- 
collections of  so  many  calamities.  Who  so  ignorant  as  not  to  know 
that  the  counsels  of  the  Spaniards  and  of  the  Roman  pontiff,  for  these 
two  years  past,  have  filled  all  these  places  with  conflagrations,  murders, 
and  persecutions  of  the  orthodox?  But,  if  to  these  mischiefs  there 
should  happen  the  still  greater  evil  of  dissension  among  the  Protestants 
themselves,  who  are  brethren,  and  more  especially  between  two  pow- 
erful states,  on  whose  courage,  wealth,  and  fortitude,  so  far  as  human 
strength  may  be  relied  on,  the  support  and  hope  of  all  the  reformed 
churches  depend,  the  protestant  religion  must  necessarily  be  in  great 
jeopardy,  if  not  upon  the  brink  of  destruction.     On  the  other  hand,  if 


Collections  to  relieve  the  Waldenses.  521 

the  whole  protestant  name  would  but  preserve  perpetual  peace  among 
themselves,  cultivating  that  brotherly  union  which  becomes  their  pro- 
fession, there  would  be  no  occasion  to  fear  what  all  the  artifices  and 
power  of  our  enemies  could  do  to  hurt  us,  which  our  fraternal  concord 
and  harmony  alone  would  easily  repel  and  frustrate.  And,  therefore, 
we  most  earnestly  request  and  beseech  your  majesty  to  foster  in  your 
bosom  propitious  thoughts  of  peace,  and  a  disposition  of  mind  to  repair 
the  breaches  of  your  ancient  friendship  with  the  United  Provinces,  if  in 
any  part  it  may  have  accidentally  Buffered  the  decays  of  mistakes  and 
misconstructions. 

If  there  be  any  thing  on  which  our  labour,  our  fidelity  and  diligence 
may  be  useful  towards  effecting  a  compromise,  we  tender  and  shall 
cheerfully  devote  all  to  your  service.  And  may  the  God  of  heaven 
favour  and  prosper  your  noble  and  pious  resolutions,  which,  together 
with  all  felicity  and  a  course  of  perpetual  victory,  we  cordially  wish  to 
your  majesty. 

Your  majesty's  most  affectionate, 

OLIVER,  Protector,  &c.  &c. 

From  our  palace,  Westminster,  August,  1656. 

It  has  been  already  noticed  that,  upon  the  very  first  annunciation  of 
the  distresses  of  the  Waldenses,  the  protector  issued  a  proclamation  for 
a  day  of  national  humiliation  throughout  England  and  Wales;  command- 
ing, at  the  same  time,  that  collections  should  be  made  in  all  the  churches 
and  chapels  for  their  relief;  and  a  committee,  consisting  of  about  forty 
of  the  first  of  the  nobility,  gentry,  and  clergy,  was  formed  for  conducting 
it,  Sir  Thomas  Viner,  and  Sir  Christopher  Pack,  aldermen  of  London, 
being  appointed  treasurers.  In  no  long  time  the  sum  total  of  the  col- 
lections amounted  to  thirty-eight  thousand,  two  hundred  and  forty- 
one  pounds,  ten  shillings  and  six  pence,*  which  if  we  take  into  ac- 
count the  relative  value  of  money  between  that  and  the  present  time, 
must  certainly  give  us  a  very  favourable  impression  of  the  liberality  of 
our  forefathers.  Nor  is  it  less  gratifying  to  witness  such  a  proof  of  the 
humane  and  benevolent  spirit  which,  as  Protestants,  our  countrymen 
evinced  on  an  occasion  that  so  justly  called  for  it. 

For  the  satisfaction  of  the  community  at  large,  the  protector  and  his 
council  ordered  a  narrative  to  be  published,  explanatory  of  their  pro- 
ceedings, with  a  very  minute  and  circumstantial  account  of  the  sums 
contributed,  specifying  the  counties,  the  number  of  parishes  in  each, 
with  the  precise  amount  of  their  contributions  as  well  as  of  the  appli- 
cation that  was  made  of  the  same,  through  the  medium  of  Sir  Samuel 
Morland,  who,  to  carry  into  effect  the  liberality  of  the  English  people, 
was  ordered  to  take  up  his  residence  at  Geneva,  a  city  contiguous  to 
the  valleys  of  Piedmont,  where  he  continued  about  three  years. 

The  whole  of  the  document  referred  to  is  interesting — but,  occupy- 
ing as  it  does,  twelve  pages  in  folio,  its  entire  insertion  in  this  place  is 
impracticable.  I  shall,  however,  gratify  the  reader  with  the  introductory 
paragraph, 

*  Of  this  amount  the  cities  of  London  and  Westminster  contributed  the  sum 
of  9,384/.  lis.  6c?.  exclusive  of  the  2,000/.  given  by  the  protector. 

44* 


522  History  of  the  Christian  Church. 

"His  highness,  the  lord  protector,  having  received  intelligence  about 
the  month  of  May,  1655,  that  many  hundreds  of  the  poor  Protestants 
in  the  valleys  of  Piedmont,  (otherwise  known  by  the  name  of  Walden- 
ses)  within  the  territories  of  the  Duke  of  Savoy,  were  most  cruelly 
massacred  by  a  Popish  party  ;  and  having  upon  his  spirit  a  deep  sense 
of  their  calamities,  which  were  occasioned  by  their  faithful-  adherence 
to  the  profession  of  the  reformed  religion,  was  pleased,  not  only  to  me- 
diate, by  most  pathetic  letters,  in  their  behalf,  to  the  King  of  France 
and  Duke  of  Savoy,  but  did  also  graciously  invite  the  people  of  this 
nation  to  seek  the  Lord  by  prayer  and  humiliation,  in  reference  to  their 
then  sad  condition  and  future  relief ;  and  from  a  confidence  that  the  good 
people  of  this  nation  would  be  sensibly  touched  "  with  the  afflictions 
of  Joseph,"  and  in  thatday  of  their  brethren's  trouble  manifest  a  sensi- 
ble resentment  of,  and  sympathy  Avith  the  sufferings  of  their  fellow- 
members,  professors  of  the  same  faith  ;  did  forthwith  publish  a  Declara- 
tion, expressing  his  earnest  desire  that  the  people  might  be  stirred  up 
to  a  free  and  liberal  contribution  towards  their  succour  and  support :  for 
the  management  of  which  collection,  certain  instructions  were  also 
agreed  upon  and  annexed  to  the  said  declaration :  and  for  the  more  ef- 
fectually promoting  of  the  work,  his  highness  appointed  a  committee, 
consisting  of  persons  of  known  honour,  fidelity,  and  integrity,  to  con- 
sider and  advise,  from  time  to  time,  how  the  money  that  should  be 
thereupon  raised,  might  be  employed  most  advantageously,  for  the  cer- 
tain supply  of  those  poor  distressed  members  of  Christ,  corresponding 
with  the  real  intentions  of  the  givers ;  amongst  whom  likewise  there 
were  two  select  persons  of  very  considerable  estate  and  reputation,  ap- 
pointed to  be  treasurers  for  the  receiving  in  of  the  said  moneys,  whose 
names,  together  with  the  number  and  names  of  the  aforesaid  committee, 
for  the  reader's  better  satisfaction,  are  here  inserted,"  &c. 

It  must  afford  pleasure  to  every  benevolent  mind  to  reflect  upon  the 
interest  that  was  now  taken  in  the  fate  of  the  Waldenses  by  all  the 
Protestant  states  of  Europe  ;  at  the  same  time  that  it  gives  us  a  satis- 
factory pledge  of  the  high  estimation  in  which  that  particular  class  of 
Christians  was  universally  held.  The  Elector  Palatine  of  the  Rhine, 
the  elector  of  Brandenburgh,  the  Duke  of  Wirtemburgh,  and  almost 
every  Protestant  prince  and  state  upon  the  continent,  wrote  letters  to 
the  Duke  of  Savoy,  declaring  their  abhorrence  of  that  sanguinary  mas- 
sacre, and  interceding  for  his  persecuted  subjects.  Sir  Samuel  Morland 
has  preserved  faithful  copies  of  most  of  these  letters  ;  but  none  of  them 
is  more  pointed  or  deserving  of  the  reader's  attention  than  that  of  the 
Landgrave  of  Hesse,  and  as  it  is  concise,  I  here  subjoin  it. 

Sir! 

Having  lately  received  the  news  of  that  cruel  massacre,  committed 
upon  the  Protestants,  who  are  commonly  known  by  the  name  of  Wal- 
denses, inhabiting  your  valleys  of  Angrogne  and  Pragela,  in  Piedmont, 
I  could  not  easily  be  brought  at  first  to  give  credit  to  such  a  dismal 
story,  as  not  being  once  able  to  imagine,  that  even  their  adversaries 
had  been  so  audacious  as  to  exercise  such  barbarous  cruelties  upon  poor 
innocent  people,  who  lived  peaceably  under  the  government  of  your 


Landgrave  of  Hesse  to  the  Duke  of  Savoy.  523 

highness,  and  in  entire  obedience,  without  giving  the  least  offence  to 
any ;  and  who,  for  so  long  a  time  together,  have  obtained  protection 
and  security  from  both  you  and  your  ancestors.  And,  indeed,  I  so 
much  the  less  imagined  this,  from  the  persuasion  I  had,  that  their  ene- 
mies had  learned,  by  the  experience  of  so  many  ages,  that  persecutions 
and  butcheries  are  not  the  means  to  suppress  our  religion,  but  rather  to 
preserve  and  spread  the  same  abroad.  But  this  news  having  been 
written  and  confirmed  to  me  from  so  many  places,  and  that  with  cir- 
cumstances so  wholly  deplorable,  as  that  I  could  no  longer  remain  in 
doubt,  it  has  seized  me  with  horror ;  and,  consequently,  being  moved 
with  pity  and  compassion  towards  so  many  thousands  of  souls  in  such 
extreme  distress  who  have  been  most  cruelly  robbed  and  spoiled  of 
their  lives  and  estates,  by  the  cruelty  of  their  furious  and  sworn  enemies, 
and  this  without  distinction  either  of  sex  or  age,  I  have  thought  it  my 
duty,  as  a  Christian  prince,  interested  in  the  preservation  of  those  of 
my  religion,  to  write  this  present  letter  to  your  highness,  and  to  beseech 
you  not  only  to  command  and  allow  that  the  remainder  of  those  poor 
innocent  people  who  have  escaped  the  violence  of  their  persecutors,  be 
established  in  their  lands,  goods,  and  possessions,  which  are  yet  left 
them  after  this  great  desolation,  but  also  that  they  may  find  the  effects 
of  this  powerful  protection  ;  and  that  you  will  be  pleased,  for  that  pur- 
pose henceforward  to  favour  them,  by  patiently  hearing  their  complaints, 
and  taking  cognizance  of  them  yourself,  as  a  good  and  righteous  prince, 
from  whom  they  ought  to  expect  all  the  effects  of  justice,  clemency,  and 
bounty  :  whereas  those  who  term  themselves  "of  the  congregation  for 
the  propagation  of  the  faith,  and  for  the  extirpation  of  heretics,"  are 
their  declared  enemies  ;  and  instead  of  turning  souls  to  righteousness 
by  "the  sword  of  the  word,"  have  employed  the  temporal  sword,  the 
fire,  and  the  rope,  and  all  the  barbarous  cruelties  which  outrageous 
men  could  possibly  invent  for  (tormenting)  the  bodies  of  those  poor 
creatures,  and  to  destroy  them  from  off  the  face  of  the  earth.  I  most 
earnestly  beseech  your  highness  to  grant  the  aforesaid  request,  and  to 
be  assured  of  my  inviolable  affection  for  your  interest  and  service,  and 
that  I  shall  account  it  an  happiness  to  have  an  opportunity  of  giving  you 
real  testimonies  of  the  same ;  as  being,  &c. 

William,  Landgrave  of  Hesse  Cassel. 
July  23,  1655. 

The  annals  of  Europe  scarcely  afforded  an  instance  of  such  a  state 
of  cordial  harmony  and  mutual  consent,  among  the  different  states  and 
nations  in  any  affair  of  religion,  as,  at  this  juncture,  appeared  in  behalf 
of  the  poor  Waldenses.  Their  case  was  clearly  understood,  and  gene- 
rally and  deeply  felt.  It  was  purely  a  case  of  persecution  for  con- 
science' sake  ;  and  taking  all  the  circumstances  into  account,  it  was  an 
instance  of  such  atrocious  and  brutal  outrage,  as  the  world  had  rarely 
seen  paralleled.  It  came  home  to  the  breasts  of  all  the  Protestants  in 
Europe,  and  they  took  a  lively  interest  in  it.  Men's  expectations  were 
raised  to  a  very  high  pitch  and  their  attention  fixed  upon  the  Protestant 
princes,  anxiously  waiting  to  see  whether  they  would  tamely  put  up 
with  such  an  open  and  diabolical  attack  upon  their  general  cause,  for 


524  History  of  the  Christian  Church. 

such  they  regarded  this ;  or  whether  by  a  joint  co-operation  of  power 
and  influence  they  would  at  once  relieve  and  re-establish  their  distress- 
ed friends. 

At  this  eventful  moment  the  Swiss  Cantons,  who  certainly  lay  the 
most  contiguous  to  the  valleys  of  Piedmont,  finding  that  they  were 
ably  supported  by  all  the  Protestant  states  of  Europe,  undertook  to 
mediate  with  the  Duke  of  Savoy  in  behalf  of  the  exiled  Waldenses, 
and  sent  four  of  their  leading  men  as  commissioners  to  the  court  of  the 
latter,  authorized  with  powers  to  negotiate  a  treaty  of  accommodation  ; 
and  the  rest  of  the  European  princes  had  such  confidence  in  them,  that 
they  unanimously  agreed  to  relinquish  the  affair  into  their  hands.  The 
names  of  these  commissioners  were,  Solomon  Hirtzel,  Charles  von 
Bonstetten,  Benedict  Socin,  and  James  Stockar. 

It  would  be  uninteresting  and  tiresome  to  the  reader,  to  trace  mi- 
nutely the  progress  of  this  negotiation.  And  it  but  too  plainly  appears 
from  the  result,  that  the  Swiss  commissioners  were  by  no  means  a 
match  for  the  Jesuitical  casuistry  of  the  court  of  Savoy.  A  treaty,  how- 
ever, was  at  length  agreed  upon  and  ratified  between  the  parties ;  but 
"  when  it  came  to  be  published  to  the  world,"  says  Sir  S.  Morland, 
"  and  accurately  examined  by  wise  and  sober  men,  it  was  found  to  re- 
semble a  leper  arrayed  in  rich  clothing  and  gay  attire  !  It  was  a  treaty 
as  full  of  grievances  as  poor  Lazaius  was  of  sores  !  The  greater  part 
of  the  articles  of  which  it  consisted  clashing  with  the  people's  interests 
and  ancient  privileges,  and  the  remainder  made  up  of  expressions  which 
looked  as  many  ways  as  the  mariner's  compass.  In  short,  it  cannot  be 
more  fitly  compared  to  any  thing  than  to  Ezekiel's  roll,  which,  though 
it  were  as  sweet  as  honey  in  the  people's  mouth,  yet  there  was  writ- 
ten within  nothing  but  lamentation,  and  mourning,  and  wo."  And 
such  it  proved  in  the  issue,  for  no  sooner  had  the  Swiss  commission- 
ers taken  their  departure  for  their  own  country,  than  an  infinite  num- 
ber of  difficulties  and  grievances  came  crawling  out  of  the  said  treaty, 
like  so  many  hornets  out  of  a  hollow  tree,  and  they  continued  to  sting 
the  poor  Waldenses  to  death. 

An  effort  was  certainly  made  by  those  that  were  in  exile,  to  avail 
themselves  of  the  conditions  of  this  treaty,  of  which,  as  it  was  intend- 
ed for  their  benefit,  they  were  disposed  at  first  to  think  very  favoura- 
bly. But  a  little  experience  convinced  them  that  it  was  not  in  reality 
what  their  friends  wished  for  them.  On  the  29th  of  March,  1656,  a 
general  meeting  of  the  churches  of  the  valleys  of  Piedmont  took  place, 
at  which  they  drew  up  a  paper  intituled,  "  The  grievances  of  the 
treaty  made  at  Pignerol."  It  is  truly  an  affecting  document,  and 
that  the  reader  may  form  some  judgment  of  it,  I  shall  subjoin  the  first 
paragraph.  They  complain  that  in  the  preamble  to  the  treaty,  they 
are  recognized  as  rebels,  and  disobedient  persons  who  had  taken  arms 
against  his  royal  highness,  their  natural  prince  and  sovereign,  and 
thereby,  as  persons  who  were  guilty  and  deserving  of  his  indignation, 
they  are  described  as  asking  pardon  for  those  outrages  which,  it  was 
pretended,  they  had  committed  ;  and  thus,  say  they,  "  we  are  plainly 
involved  in  the  crime  of  rebellion,  against  which  we  do  now,  and  al- 
ways have  protested ;  having  never  done  anyone  act  that  can  justly 


Treaty  of  Pignerol  inefficient.  525 

subject  us  to  that  imputation — no,  not  even  when  the  whole  state  was 
in  an  uproar — nor  even  when  they  came  to  destroy  us,  as  they  did  last 
year ;  for  although  we  had  very  great  cause  of  suspicion,  as  is  but  too 
manifest  from  the  event,  having  granted  for  the  most  part  to  the  squad- 
ron of  Savoy  their  winter-quarters,  yet  no  sooner  had  the  Marquis  of 
Pionessa  charged  us,  in  the  name  of  his  royal  highness,  to  receive  his 
forces,  than,  without  making  the  least  resistance,  we  permitted  them  to 
enter  and  do  whatever  they  chose."  This  is  the  first  of  fifteen  articles 
of  grievance  which  they  enumerate. 

This  melancholy  catalogue  of  their  grievances  was  drawn  up  with 
the  view  of  making  an  appeal  concerning  them  to  the  King  of  France, 
and  imploring  his  interposition  to  have  them  redressed.  Accordingly, 
having  specified  these  defects  in  the  articles,  they  subjoin  a  list  of  thir- 
teen other  particulars,  which  had  been  refused  to  their  deputies,  on 
which  they  humbly  pray  that  due  reflection  may  be  made.  Among 
other  matters,  they  plead,  that  "  having  been  always  faithful  to  the  ser- 
vice of  his  royal  highness  their  so\ereign,  and  yet  cruelly  massacred, 
burned,  and  pillaged,  contrary  to  his  intention,  he  would  be  pleased  to 
give  orders  that  justice  might  be  done  upon  those  that  had  been  the 
chief  authors  and  agents  against  them — that  his  royal  highness  would 
be  pleased  to  repeal  the  Order  of  Gastaldo,  as  being  contrary  to  all  their 
ancient  concessions,  and  likewise  all  the  orders  which  the  marquis  of 
Pionessa  had  caused  to  be  published  during  the  late  contest,  and  to 
command  that  every  one  might  be  restored  to  his  own  property  and 
possessions — that  they  might  no  longer  be  subject  to  the  quartering  of 
soldiers  upon  them,  a  thing  with  which  they  had  been  harassed  ever 
since  the  year  1624,  and  which  had  been  made  a  pretext  for  the  readier 
method  of  destroying  them;  but  that  in  lieu  of  it,  they  might  be  allow- 
ed, in  common  with  others,  to  contribute  their  proportion  in  money — 
that  no  more  (Catholic)  missionaries  might  be  sent  into  the  valleys, 
because  partly  by  their  rapes,  and  partly  by  seditions  and  false  reports, 
these  missionaries  had  always  been  fomenters  of  all  the  disorders  that 
came  to  pass — that,  in  short,  they  might  not  be  subject  to  the  council 
de propaganda '.fide,  nor  to  any  of  its  members,  nor  to  the  inquisition; 
but  that  every  thing  might  be  re-established  in  the  condition  it  was  be- 
fore the  late  troubles,  with  liberty  of  conscience,  and  the  free  exercise 
of  their  religion,  with  license  to  their  ministers  to  go  and  visit  the  sick 
wherever  they  lived,  as  well  as  the  liberty  of  preaching  the  gospel,  &c. 
&c.  and  the  whole  terminates  with  the  following  affecting  appeal : 

"  AVe  hope  from  the  equity  and  clemency  of  his  royal  highness, 
that  he  will  the  more  readily  grant  us  these  privileges,  as  there  is  no- 
thing in  them  but  what  we  have  quietly  enjoyed  under  the  happy  go- 
vernment of  his  most  serene  predecessors  of  glorious  memory,  accord- 
ing to  their  concessions,  and  nothing  but  what  may  tend  to  satisfy  us 
in  the  clearing  of  those  points,  which  as  experience  hath  showed  us, 
have  been  wrested  to  a  wrong  sense,  and  to  represent  the  true  meaning 
and  the  equity  of  the  particulars  therein  contained,  that  so  we  may,  once 
for  all,  take  away  from  the  disturbers  of  our  peace  all  occasion  of  trou- 
bling the  public  tranquillity,  and  be  enabled,  in  peace  and  security,  to 
render  to  God  that  which  belongs  to  God,  and  to  Caesar  what  is  Cae- 


526  History  of  the  Christian  Church. 

sar's ;  as  we  do  protest  before  God  and  his  holy  angels,  that  we  ever 
have  had,  and  will  ever  have  the  same  for  our  aim.  And  to  the  end 
that  those  things,  before  expressed,  may  stand  firm  and  inviolable,  we 
humbly  supplicate  his  most  Christian  majesty,  that  he  will  be  pleased 
to  procure  unto  us  this  favour  from  our  prince,  that  all  may  be  put  into 
the  form  of  a  transaction,  and  confirmed,  not  only  by  the  chamber  of 
Turin,  but  also  in  that  of  Chambery,  and  that  many  original  copies 
may  be  drawn  and  delivered  into  the  hands  of  those  to  whom  it  shall 
appertain." 

This  affecting  document  was  delivered  into  the  hands  of  Monsieur 
de  Bais,  the  French  minister,  and  by  him  transmitted  to  his  royal  mas- 
ter, who,  upon  receipt  of  it,  expressed  great  concern  for  the  deplorable 
condition  of  the  poor  Waldenses,  but  his  kind  intentions  towards  them 
were  entirely  frustrated  by  some  malignant  spirits  near  the  throne. 
"  But,  so  it  happened,"  says  Sir  Samuel  Morland,  "  that  from  this 
time  forward,  the  leading  men  in  the  Court  of  Savoy,  have  used  their 
best  endeavours  to  lay  heavier  loads  on  their  backs,  than  ever  they  had 
hitherto  done.  For  in  their  orders  of  April  20th,  and  October  6,  1656, 
and  August  24,  1657,  they  summoned  the  poor  people  to  pay  their 
taxes  for  the  year  1655,  contrary  to  the  treaty,  while  they  exempted 
the  Catholics  from  the  said  taxes  ;  and  when  they  appealed  to  the 
Duke,  October  6,  1657,  on  the  hardship  of  their  case,  they  were, 
among  other  things,  absolutely  prohibited  the  exercise  of  their  public 
worship  in  San  Giovanni."  It  would  be  endless  to  repeat  all  the 
edicts,  orders,  and  injunctions  that  were  issued  against  them  after  the 
cruel  patent  in  1655,  with  all  their  consequent  grievances  :  and  it  is 
painful  to  dwell  upon  so  melancholy  a  subject.  Our  countryman,  Sir 
Samuel  Morland,  remained  among  them  until  the  summer  of  1658,  at 
which  time  he  thus  affectingly  closes  his  narrative.  "It  is  my  mis- 
fortune that  I  am  compelled  to  leave  these  people  where  I  found  them, 
among  the  potsherds,  with  sackcloth  and  ashes  spread  under  them,  and 
lifting  up  their  voice  with  weeping,  in  the  words  of  Job — '  Have  pity 
on  us,  have  pity  on  us,  O  ye  our  friends,  for  the  hand  of  God  hath 
touched  us.' — To  this  very  day  they  labour  under  most  heavy  burdens, 
which  are  laid  upon  them  by  their  rigid  task-masters  of  the  church  of 
Rome — forbidding  them  all  kind  of  traffic  for  their  subsistence — rob- 
bing them  of  their  goods  and  estates — banishing  the  pastors  of  their 
flocks,  that  the  wolves  may  the  more  readily  devour  the  sheep — vio- 
lating the  young  women  and  maidens — murdering  the  most  innocent  as 
they  peaceably  pass  along  the  highways — by  cruel  mockings  and  re- 
vilings — by  continual  threats  of  another  massacre,  sevenfold  more 
bloody,  if  possible,  than  the  former.  To  all  which,  I  must  add  that, 
notwithstanding  the  liberal  supplies  that  have  been  sent  them  from 
England  and  other  places,  yet  so  great  is  the  number  of  these  hungry 
creatures,  and  so  grievous  are  the  oppressions  of  their  popish  enemies, 
who  lie  in  wait  to  bereave  them  of  whatever  is  given  them,  snatching 
at  almost  every  morsel  that  goes  into  their  mouths,  that  even  to  this 
day,  some  of  them  are  almost  ready  to  eat  their  own  flesh  for  Want  of 
bread.  Their  miseries  are  more  grievous  than  words  can  express — 
they  have  no  '  grapes  in  their  vineyards — no  cattle  in  their  fields — no 


Application  to  the  King  of  France.  527 

herds  in  their  stalls — no  corn  in  their  granaries— no  meal  in  their  bar- 
rel  no  oil  in  their  cruise.'     The  stock  that  was  gathered  for  them  by 

the  people  of  this  and  other  countries  is  fast  consuming,  and  when  that 
is  spent,  they  must  inevitably  perish,  unless  God,  '  who  turns  the 
hearts  of  princes  as  the  rivers  of  water,'  incline  the  heart  of  their 
prince  to  take  pity  on  his  poor,  harmless,  and  faithful  subjects."* 


SECTION  VII. 


HISTORY  OF  THE  WALDENSES  CONTINUED  ;  INCLUDING  A  NARRATIVE  OF 
THE  SANGUINARY  PROCEEDINGS  OF  THE  CATHOLICS  AGAINST  THEM  IN 
POLAND. A.  D.    1658. 

The  return  of  Sir  Samuel  Morland  from  his  mission  to  the  court  of 
Turin,  gave  him  an  opportunity  of  laying  before  the  English  govern- 
ment a  minute  and  circumstantial  explanation  of  the  state  of  the  Wal- 
denses  in  Piedmont,  at  the  time  of  his  departure  in  1658.  The  sub- 
stance of  this  account  the  reader  has  already  seen  in  the  close  of  the 
last  section,  and  its  truth  and  accuracy  are  further  ascertained  by  a  let- 
ter, bearing  date  30th  of  November,  1657,  from  the  four  Swiss  com- 
missioners who,  two  years  before,  had  been  engaged  in  negotiating  the 
treaty  of  Pignerol.  This  letter  is  addressed  to  Monsieur  de  Servient, 
ambassador  of  the  French  king,  who  was  present  at  the  ratification  of 
the  treaty,  and,  as  it  would  seem,  had  taken  a  considerable  interest 
therein.  The  Swiss  commissioners  complain  that  the  conditions  of 
the  treaty  were  grossly  violated  by  the  adversaries  of  the  Waldenses  ; 
that  interpretations  were  put  upon  various  clauses  contained  in  it,  the 
reverse  of  what  they  were  intended  to  bear ;  and,  in  short,  that  the  si- 
tuation in  which  these  poor  people  were  now  placed,  called  loudly  for 
the  cognizance  and  interference  of  the  court  of  France,  which  stood 
pledged  to  see  the  condition  of  the  treaty  punctually  fulfilled.  They, 
in  particular,  notice  the  lawless  proceedings  of  the  military  towards  the 
Waldenses,  in  plundering  them  of  their  fruits,  which  they  carried  away 
without  the  least  ceremony,  committing  robberies  in  their  houses,  and 
spoiling  them  of  their  goods — that  "  they  were  laden  with  reproaches 
and  injuries,  beaten  and  wounded  ;  the  virtue  of  their  females  attempt- 
ed, with  numerous  other  outrages,  altogether  inexcusable."  "  That  se- 
veral persons  who  had  been  sent  to  settle  among  them  in  the  capacity 
of  pastors  and  teachers,  from  their  sister  churches  in  Dauphiny,  had 
been  seized  and  banished  out  of  the  country,  on  the  ground  that  they 
were  not  natives,  and  that  therefore  the  condition  of  the  treaty  did  not 
extend  to  them — and  that,  in  particular,  one  of  their  pastors  who  had  ex- 
ercised the  holy  ministry  among  them  for  thirty  years,  together  with 
one  Mr.  Arnold,  a  physician,  had  been  turned  out  and  banished,  so 
that  by  these  and  similar  means  many  churches  and  congregations  were 

•  Morland's  Churches  of  Piedmont,  p.  682—708. 


528  History  of  the  Christian  Church. 

at  once  deprived  of  the  food  of  their  souls  and  comfort  of  their  bodies." 
After  enumerating  a  long  catalogue  of  similar  grievances,  they  say, 
"  Now  as  these  things  have  happened  to  our  friends  and  associates  in 
religion,  so  palpably  contrary  to  our  expectation,  our  hearts  are  so 
much  the  more  sensibly  affected  by  it,  both  because  we  were  present 
in  the  name  of  our  lords  and  superiors  at  the  negotiating  of  the  treaty, 
and  because  we  are  personally  interested  therein."  They,  therefore, 
supplicate  his  excellency  to  interpose  his  mediation  for  the  good  of 
their  friends,  and  for  his  own  interest  and  honour's  sake ;  and  to  insist 
that  the  spirit  and  meaning  of  the  treaty  be  in  future  fully  and  abso- 
lutely observed.  The  subject  was  also  taken  up  by  the  English  go- 
vernment, as  appears  in  the  following  letters,  both  of  which  bear  date 
May  26,  1658. 

HIS  HIGHNESS  THE  LORD  PROTECTOR  TO  THE  KING  OF  FRANCE. 

Most  Serene  and  most  Potent  King  ! 

Your  majesty  may  remember,  that  while  the  treaty  was  going  on 
about  remedying  the  alliance  between  us — an  alliance  that  has  now  hap- 
pily commenced,  as  the  many  advantages  resulting  to  both  nations  and 
the  numerous  inconveniences  which  arise  from  it  to  our  common  ene- 
mies, abundantly  show — the  dreadful  slaughter  of  the  Waldenses  took 
place;  and  that,  with  the  utmost  affection  and  humanity,  we  recom- 
mended the  case  of  those  afflicted  and  destitute  people  to  your  clemency 
and  protection. 

We  are  far  from  thinking  that  your  majesty  has  been  wanting  in  the 
exercise  of  your  influence  and  authority  with  the  Duke  of  Savoy  to  pro- 
mote so  pious  and  humane  an  object:  and  as  for  our  part,  we,  and  many 
other  princes  and  states,  have  not  failed  to  interpose  by  embassies,  let- 
ters, and  entreaties.  After  a  most  inhuman  slaughter  of  persons  of  both 
sexes,  and  of  every  age,  a  peace  was,  at  last,  concluded,  or  rather  a 
more  concealed  course  of  hostility,  under  the  disguise  of  peace.*  The 
conditions  of  the  treaty  were  agreed  upon  in  your  town  of  Pignerol — 
hard  ones  indeed — but  such  as  those  poor  people,  after  having  under- 
gone every  species  of  outrage  and  cruelty,  would  cheerfully  acquiesce 
in,  hard  and  unjust  as  they  are,  were  they  only  observed,  but  they  are 
not  observed.  For,  by  a  false  interpretation  of  every  article,  and  by 
one  subterfuge  or  other,  their  real  meaning  is  eluded,  and  faith  violated. 
Multitudes  are  ejected  from  their  ancient  possessions,  many  prohibited 
the  exercise  of  their  religion;  new  payments  are  exacted;  a  new  fort  is 

*  It  may  not  be  improper  in  this  place  to  correct  a  very  inaccurate  statement 
of  this  matter  which  appears  in  Neal's  History  of  the  Puritans,  vol.  iv.  ch.  iii.  un- 
der the  year  1655.  Referring'  to  the  interference  of  the  Protector  with  the  Duke 
of  Savoy,  it  is  said,  upon  the  authority  of  Bishop  Burnet,  "  Upon  this  the  perse- 
cution immediately  ceased ;  the  duke  recalled  his  army  out  of  the  valleys,  and 
restored  their  goods  ;  the  poor  people  returned  to  their  houses,  and  recovered  all 
their  ancient  rights  and  privileges."  flow  far  this  representation  corresponds  with 
the  truth  of  things,  let  the  impartial  reader  judge  after  carefully  perusing  the 
preceding  pages,  and  the  representation  that  Milton  has  given  of  the  real  state  of 
matters,  in  this  and  the  following  letter. 


Cromwell  to  the  King  of  France.  529 

built  for  the  purpose  of  placing  a  yoke  upon  them,  out  of  which  the 
soldiers  sally  forth,  plundering  and  putting  to  death  all  they  meet.  Be- 
sides which,  new  forces  are  of  late  privately  prepared  against  them,  and 
those  who  profess  the  Romish  religion  among  them  are  directed  to  with- 
draw for  a  time;  so  that  everything  seems  again  to  portend  the  slaugh- 
tering of  those  miserable  creatures  who  escaped  the  former  butchery — 
a  thing  which  I  entreat  and  beseech  your  majesty  that  you  will  not 
suffer  to  be  done  ;  nor  permit,  I  do  not  say  any  prince — for  such  enor- 
mous cruelty  cannot  enter  into  the  heart  of  any  prince,  much  less  can 
it  befall  the  tender  age  of  that  prince,  or  the  mind  of  his  mother, — but 
those  most  savage  murderers,  to  exercise  such  a  license  of  outrageous 
tyranny  :  Men  who,  while  they  profess  themselves  the  servants  of 
Christ,  and  followers  of  him  who  came  into  the  world  to  save  sinners, 
at  the  same  time  abuse  his  merciful  name  and  meek  precepts,  to  perpe- 
trate the  most  cruel  massacres  on  innocent  persons.  Oh  that  your  ma- 
jesty, who  are  able,  and  advanced  as  you  are  to  such  exalted  dignity ; 
who  are  worthy  of  the  power  you  possess  would  rescue  so  many  of 
your  poor  petitioners  out  of  the  hand?  of  bloody  men,  who  havingbeen 
lately  drunk  with  blood,  are  again  thirsting  after  it,  exulting  when  they 
are  enabled  to  fix  the  invidious  charge  of  cruelty  upon  princes  them- 
selves;  but  let  not  your  majesty  allow  the  borders  of  your  kingdom  to 
be  defiled  by  such  cruelty.  Recollect  that  those  very  people  threw 
themselves  under  the  protection  of  King  Henry,  your  grandfather,  a  firm 
friend  of  the  Protestants,  when  the  Duke  of  l'Esdiguires,  passing 
through  their  country,  which  affords  the  most  convenient  entrance  into 
Italy,  prosecuted  his  victory  against  the  duke  of  Savoy,  who  retreated 
beyond  the  Alps.  The  instrument  of  their  submission  remains  among 
the  public  records  of  your  realm  to  this  day ;  in  which,  among  other 
things,  it  is  excepted  and  provided,  that  the  people  of  the  valleys  should 
not,  at  any  future  time,  be  transferred  to  the  jurisdiction  of  any  other 
prince,  but  upon  the  same  conditions  on  which  they  were  received  into 
the  protection  of  your  majesty's  victorious  grandfather.*  The  same 
protection  they  once  more  implore,  and  submissively  entreat  from  his 
grandchild.  Their  anxious  wish  is,  that,  in  some  way  of  exchange,  if 
it  can  be  effected,  they  may  become  your  subjects,  rather  than  remain 
his  under  whom  they  now  are.  But  if  that  cannot  be  eiTected,  that 
they  may,  at  any  rate,  obtain  from  you,  patronage,  protection,  and  re- 
fuge. There  are  also  reasons  of  state  which  should  induce  your  ma- 
jesty not  to  abandon  the  Waldenses — but  I  am  not  willing  that  so  great 
a  king  should  be  stimulated  to  the  relief  of  men  whose  circumstances 
are  so  pitiable,  by  any  other  reasons  than  the  obligations  of  fidelity 
given  by  your  ancestors  and  your  own  piety,  added  to  your  royal  be- 
nignity and  the  greatness  of  your  own  mind.  Thus  the  honour  and 
renown  of  an  act  so  truly  glorious  will  be  wholly  your  own,  and  thereby 
your  majesty,  as  long  as  you  live,  may  expect  to  find  prosperity  and 
blessings  from  the  Father  of  mercies  himself,  and  from  his  Son  Christ 

•  In  this  last  sentence  Milton  seems  to  throw  some  light  upon  a  subject  which 
has  been  more  than  once  hinted  at  in  the  preceding1  pages. 
45 


530  History  of  the  Christian  Church. 

the  King,  whose  name  and  doctrine  you  Avill  be  the  means  of  vindicat- 
ing from  detestable  villany. 

Given  at  our  court  at  Westminster,  May  26,  1658. 

THE  PROTECTOR  TO  THE  EVANGELICAL  CANTONS  OF  SWITZERLAND. 

Most  Illustrious  and  most  Magnificent  Lords  ! 

Although  it  is  impossible  for  us  to  contemplate  the  monstrous  cruel- 
ties which  have  been  inflicted  upon  your  poor  distressed  neighbours  of 
the  valleys  without  astonishment ;  or  the  grievous  and  intolerable  things 
to  which  they  have  been  subjected  by  their  prince,  on  account  of  their 
religion  ;  we  thought  it  needless  to  write  to  you,  to  whom  those  things 
must  be  better  known  than  to  us.  We  have  seen  copies  of  the  letters 
which  your  ambassadors,  who  were  parties  and  witnesses  to  the  peace 
lately  made  at  Pignerol,  wrote  to  the  Duke  of  Savoy,  and  the  president 
of  his  council  at  Turin ;  in  which  they  particularly  show  that  all  the 
articles  of  the  peace  have  been  broken,  and  that  they  have  been  made 
use  of  for  the  purpose  of  deceiving,  rather  than  of  affording  protection 
to  these  miserable  people.  But  must  they  patiently  bear  this  violation 
of  the  articles,  which  began  the  instant  peace  was  concluded,  and  has 
been  persevered  in  to  the  present  moment,  and  which  grows  more  in- 
tolerable every  day  ?  Are  they  to  submit  basely,  and  give  themselves 
up  to  be  trodden  under  foot  and  utterly  ruined  ?  The  same  calamity 
hangs  over  their  heads,  and  another  massacre  similar  to  that  which 
wasted  and  destroyed  them,  with  their  wives  and  children  in  so  shock- 
ing a  manner  about  three  years  ago,  which,  should  it  take  place,  must 
inevitably  extirpate  them.  What  can  these  poor  distressed  creatures 
do,  who  have  no  door  opened  for  petitioning,  no  space  for  breathing, 
nor  any  place  of  security  to  which  they  can  flee  ?  They  have  to  do 
with  wild  beasts,  or  rather  with  furies,  in  whom  the  recollection  of 
former  slaughters  has  effected  no  repentance,  nor  any  compassion  to- 
wards their  own  countrymen,  no  sense  of  humanity,  no  satiety  with  the 
shedding  of  blood  !  In  plain  terms,  these  things  are  not  to  be  endured, 
whether  we  regard  the  safety  of  our  brethren  of  the  valleys — those  most 
ancient  professors  of  the  orthodox  faith ;  or  of  religion  itself. 

As  to  our  part,  .remote  as  we  are  in  situation  from  them,  we  have 
done  every  thing  that  was  in  our  power,  nor  shall  we  cease  to  perform 
whatever  is  yet  possible  for  them.  But  as  to  you  who  are  so  near,  not 
only  to  the  miseries  and  lamentations  of  our  brethren,  but  exposed  also 
to  the  fury  of  the  same  enemies,  we  beseech  you,  by  every  thing  that 
is  sacred,  to  consider,  and  that  without  delay,  what  it  behoves  you  to  do 
at  this  moment — consult  your  own  prudence,  your  piety,  and  even  your 
fortitude,  what  assistance  or  relief  you  can  or  ought  to  extend  to  your 
neighbours  and  brethren,  who,  otherwise,  are  ready  to  perish.  It  is 
the  very  same  cause  of  religion,  for  which  the  same  enemies  would 
have  destroyed  you  also — yea,  on  account  of  which  they  would,  in  the 
preceding  year,  during  the  civil  war  among  your  confederates,  have  ef- 
fected your  destruction.  Next  to  the  help  of  God,  it  seems  todevolve 
on  you,  to  provide  that  the  most  ancient  stock  of  pure  religion,  may 
not  be  destroyed  in  this  remnant  of  its  ancient  faithful  professors,  whose 


Cromwell  to  the  Swiss  Cantons.  531 

safety,  reduced  as  it  now  is  to  the  extremity  of  hazard,  if  you  neglect, 
beware  that  the  next  lot  do  not  speedily  fall  upon  yourselves ! 

While  in  this  free  and  fraternal  manner  we  thus  exhort  you,  we,  in 
the  mean  time,  do  not  faint  or  grow  weary.  Whatever  was  in  our 
power,  at  this  remote  distance,  we  have  done.  We  have  contributed 
our  utmost  endeavours,  and  shall  continue  so  to  do,  both  for  procuring 
the  safety  of  those  that  are  in  danger,  and  relieving  the  necessities  of 
those  that  want.  May  God  grant  to  both  of  us  such  tranquillity  and 
peace  at  home,  and  so  prosperous  a  state  of  affairs  and  of  opportunities, 
that  we  may  employ  all  our  power,  strength,  and  means  for  the  defence 
of  the  church,  against  the  rage  and  fury  of  its  enemies. 

Westminster,  May,  26,  1658. 

The  letter  addressed  to  the  King  of  France,  was  transmitted  to  Lord 
Lockhart,  who  then  filled  the  office  of  English  ambassador  at  the  French 
court,  to  whom  the  Protector,  at  the  same  time,  wrote,  giving  him  in- 
structions to  present  the  letter  to  his  majesty,  and  pointing  out  eight 
principal  topics  of  grievance  which  he  was  to  adduce  in  his  conversa- 
tion with  that  monarch,  and  to  use  his  utmost  endeavours  to  make  his 
majesty  sensible  of  them,  and  to  persuade  him  to  give  immediate  and 
positive  instructions  to  his  ambassador,  then  resident  at  the  Duke's 
court,  to  act  vigorously  in  behalfof  the  oppressed  Waldenses.  He  was 
also  to  urge  the  obligations  the  French  king  lay  under,  to  fulfil  the  en- 
gagement, of  his  royal  predecessor  Henry  IV.  with  the  ancestors  of  these 
very  people,  and  to  press  the  King  of  France  to  make  an  exchange  with 
the  Duke  of  Savoy  for  the  valleys  of  Piedmont,  resigning  some  part  of 
his  own  dominions  to  the  latter  in  lieu  thereof. 

in  me  same  j™-*,  iese,  ;*»j  „t  ,hP  moment  that  the  English  govern- 
ment was  making  such  laudable  exertions  to  relieve  the  YVaklensos  in 
Piedmont,  the  news  arrived  of  another  dreadful  scene  of  cruelty  and 
distress  exercised  towards  a  branch  of  the  same  people,  inhabiting  a 
distant  quarter.  The  three  following  papers,  which,  like  the  whole  of 
the  melancholy  subject  to  which  they  relate,  have  since  sunk  into  the 
most  profound  oblivion,  were  printed  by  authority,  at  the  time  ;  and 
as  they  sufficiently  explain  themselves,  it  is  needless  to  introduce  them 
by  any  formal  preamble.  There  can  be  little  doubt  that  the  first  of 
thorn  was  the  composition  of  Milton:  and  the  original  now  before  me, 
which  is  printed  in  Waclt  lCtt£C,  has  the  Protector's  arms  prefixed 
to  it. 

A  Declaration  of  his  Highness,  for  a  collection  towards  the  relief  of 
divers  Protestant  churches  driven  out  of  Poland  ;  and  of  twenty 
Protestant  families  driven  out  of  the  confines  of  Bohemia. 

His  highness,  the  lord  protector,  having  received  a  petition  from 
several  churches  of  Christ,  professing  the  reformed  religion,  lately 
seated  at  Lesna,  and  other  places  in  Poland,  representing  their  sad  and 
deplorable  condition,  through  the  persecution  and  cruelty  of  their  anti- 
christian  enemies  in  those  parts,  in  the  time  of  the  war  in  Poland,  by 
whom  they  have  not  only  been  driven  from  their  habitations  and  spoiled 


532  History  of  the  Christian  Church. 

of  their  goods,  upon  the  account  of  religion  only,  but  forced  to  fly  into 
Silesia,  for  the  preservation  of  their  lives,  and  for  the  liberty  of  their 
consciences,  where  a  considerable  number  of  them  continue  in  great 
■want  and  misery — the  truth  whereof  hath  been  witnessed,  as  well  by 
deputies  sent  unto  his  highness  from  the  said  churches,  authorized  by 
an  instrument  under  the  hands  of  the  pastors  of  five  of  those  churches, 
as  also  by  the  testimony  of  several  protestant  princes,  who,  out  of  a 
deep  sense  of  the  calamity  of  those  distressed  exiles,  have  afforded 
them  shelter  until  it  shall  please  the  Lord  otherwise  to  provide  for  them : 
And  his  highness  having,  in  like  manner,  received  a  petition  from  twenty 
protestant  families  heretofore  seated  in  the  confines  of  Bohemia,  where 
Misnia  belongs  unto  it,  representing  their  distressed  and  lamentable  con- 
dition, through  the  persecution  of  the  Jesuits  and  inquisitors  of  the 
house  of  Austria,  by  whom  they  have  been  driven  out  of  their  habita- 
tions, and  spoiled  of  their  goods,  upon  the  sole  account  of  their  religion  ; 
who  now,  for  the  safety  of  their  lives,  and  for  the  liberties  of  their  con- 
sciences, are  retired  into  the  marquisate  of  Culembach,  where  they  find 
a  present  shelter  in  this  their  very  sad  and  calamitous  condition,  which 
hath  been  witnessed  both  by  their  deputies  sent  unto  his  highness, 
authorized  by  an  instrument  under  the  hands  of  the  chief  of  those  fami- 
lies, as  also  by  a  public  certificate  from  thence.  And  it  being  the  earnest 
desire  of  the  said  afflicted  churches  and  families,  as  well  by  the  several 
petitions,  as  by  their  deputies,  that  his  highness,  out  of  compassion  to 
their  sufferings,  would  be  pleased  to  recommend  their  lamentable  con- 
dition to  their  brethren  in  these  nations,  in  whom  they  hope  to  find 
bowels  of  mercy,  yearning  towards  those  who,  professing  the  same  faith 
with  them,  are  now  under  so  great  extremities  and  misery  for  the  cause 
of  the  gospel,  and  testimony  of  the  I-orJ  !•»««. 

His  highness  being  greatly  afflicted  with  the  miserable  and  calamitous 
condition  of  the  said  churches  and  families,  and  not  doubting  but  the 
people  of  these  nations,  whom  the  Lord  hath  graciously  and  wonder- 
fully preserved  from  that  antichristian  bondage  and  tyranny,  will  have 
a  fellow-feeling  of  the  afflictions  of  their  brethren,  hath,  with  the  ad- 
vice of  his  privy-council,  thought  fit  to  recommend  their  case  to  the 
charity  of  those  whose  hearts  the  Lord  shall  stir  up  in  these  nations, 
to  afford  them  some  seasonable  relief,  whose  liberality  in  this  kind  hath 
been  testified  in  their  large  contributions  to  the  relief  of  the  poor  Pro- 
testants in  the  valleys  of  Piedmont,  to  the  refreshing  of  their  bowels, 
(touching  the  faithful  distribution  whereof,  an  account  is  ordered  by  his 
highness  to  be  printed  for  general  satisfaction.)  And  to  the  end  the 
said  collections  may  be  carefully  made,  and  the  money  thereupon  col- 
lected be  disposed  of  to  the  relief  of  the  said  poor  churches,  and  their 
members,  and  the  families  aforesaid,  and  to  no  other  uses ;  his  high- 
ness doth  hereby  require  and  command  the  ministers  and  churchwar- 
dens of  the  respective  parishes  within  England  and  Wales,  and  town  of 
Berwick-upon-Tweed,  the  next  Lord's  day  after  this  declaration  shall 
come  unto  their  hands,  to  publish  the  same,  and  on  the  Lord's. day  fol- 
lowing to  make  a  collection  of  the  charitable  contribution  of  the  peo- 
ple in  their  parishes,  and  that  within  three  days  after,  they  pay  over 
the  sum  or  sums  so  collected  unto  the  high  sheriff  of  the  respective 


Persecution  of  the  Waldenses  in  Polanl.  533 

counties,  to  be  by  him  paid  into  the  hands  of  Sir  Thomas  Viner  and 
Sir  Christopher  Pack,  knights,  aldermen  of  the  city  of  London,  who 
are  appointed  treasurers  for  this  service,  and  who  shall  transmit  the 
moneys  so  to  be  by  them  received  for  the  relief  of  the  said  poor  dis- 
tressed churches  and  their  members,  and  the  aforesaid  twenty  families, 
in  such  manner  and  proportions  as  the  committee  formerly  appointed 
for  the  disposing  of  the  moneys  for  the  relief  of  the  said  poor  Protes- 
tants in  Piedmont,  shall,  with  respect  to  their  several  numbers  and  suf- 
ferings, think  fit  and  direct,  and  to  the  end  that  none  of  the  moneys 
collected  for  so  pious  and  charitable  an  end  may  miscarry,  the  minis- 
ters and  churchwardens  aforesaid  are  enjoined,  upon  payment  of  the 
said  money  to  the  respective  sheriffs  as  aforesaid,  to  send  up  unto  the 
said  Sir  Thomas  Viner,  a  note  in  writing  under  their  hands,  of  the 
sum  so  collected,  the  parish  and  county  where  such  collection  was 
made,  and  the  person  to  whom  the  same  was  paid,  to  the  end  care  may 
be  taken,  and  the  same  may  be  duly  returned  and  employed  to  the  use 
intended. 

By  the  Committee  for  the  Affairs  of  the  poor  Protestants  in  the 
Valleys  of  Piedmont. 

The  all-wise  and  holy  God,  whose  ways  of  providence  are  always 
righteous,  though  often  secret  and  unsearchable,  hath  made  it  the  con- 
stant lot  and  portion  of  his  people  in  this  world,  to  follow  the  Lord  in 
bearing  the  cross  and  suffering  persecutions,  thereby  holding  forth  and 
verifying  that  irreconcilable  enmity  between  the  seed  of  the  woman, 
and  the  seed  of  the  serpent,  which  was  visiBle  betimes  in  the  blood- 
shed of  righteous  Abel,  whom  Cain  (though  his  brother)  slew,  being 
of  the  wicked  one,  yea,  and  for  this  cause,  for  that  his  own  works 
were  evil,  and  his  brother's  good.  Thus  they  that  are  born  after  the 
flesh,  persecute  them  that  are  born  after  the  Spirit  to  this  day,  and  so 
will  do  while  the  world  lasteth.  In  which  cause  and  quarrel  the  Lord 
hath  very  many  glorious  ends.  But  scarcely  have  any  sort  of  the 
church's  enemies  more  clearly  followed  the  pernicious  ways  of  Cain 
herein,  than  hath  the  antichristian  faction  of  Rome  done,  that  Mother 
of  Harlots  and  Abominations,  whose  garments  are  dyed  red  with  the 
blood  of  saints,  which  they  have  always  cruelly  shed,  and  made  them- 
selves drunk  with,  even  with  the  blood  of  those  holy  followers  of  the 
Lamb,  chiefly  who  would  not  receive  antichrists's  mark,  nor  worship 
his  image,  nor  drink  of  the  golden  cup  of  his  fornications,  but  rather 
come  out  from  them,  and  witness  against  them,  though  they  did  it  in 
sackcloth,  and  were  slain  for  it. 

Among  those  chosen  and  faithful  witnesses,  the  Lord  seemeth  very 
signally  to  have  raised  up  those  Christians,  who,  though  dispersed  in 
divers  countries,  have  been  commonly  known  by  the  name  of  Wal- 
denses, who,  for  some  centuries  of  years,  have  lived  among  their  ene- 
mies as  lambs  among  wolves,  to  bear  their  testimony  for  the  truth  of 
Christ,  against  the  apostasies  and  blasphemies  of  Rome,  for  which 
they  have  been  killed  all  the  day  long,  and  appointed  as  sheep  for  the 
slaughter.  .  Nevertheless,  the  Lord,  the  great  Shepherd  of  the  sheep, 
45* 


534  History  of  the  Christian  Church. 

hath  made  their  blood  thus  shed,  to  become  a  constant  seed  of  faithful 
and  valiant  witnesses  for  him  ;  which  is,  indeed,  the  more  marvellous 
in  our  eyes,  that  this  bush  hath  so  long  burned  and  is  not  yet  con- 
sumed. 

This  little  flock  and  remnant  which  the  Lord  hath  left  and  reserved, 
are  scattered  partly  in  the  valleys  of  Piedmont,  of  whose  tragical  suf- 
ferings we  have  not  long  since  heard,  and  have  drawn  forth  our  bow- 
els to  them,  whereof  a  very  faithful  account  is  given  to  the  world,  both 
for  the  satisfaction  of  brethren  and  friends,  and  for  stopping  the  mouths 
of  all  calumnies. 

The  other  part  of  this  poor,  yet  precious  remnant,  have  been  dis- 
persed in  the  kingdoms  of  Bohemia  and  Poland,  whose  sufferings,  to- 
gether with  the  Lord's  signal  providences  about  them,  have  been  very 
eminent  and  remarkable,  as  hath  been  made  appear  unto  us  by  three 
godly  persons,  delegated  by  those  persecuted  churches,  which  are  now 
the  sad  monuments  of  their  enemies'  rage,  and  of  the  Lord's  sparing 
mercies. 

These  have  made  their  addresses  to  his  highness  the  lord  protector, 
by  petition,  declaring  the  deplorable  estate  wherein  this  persecuted 
remnant  now  lieth,  and  with  loud  cries  importuning  the  Christian  bow- 
els and  bounty  of  this  nation,  which  cannot  but  be  moved  to  mourn 
over  them,  and  to  show  mercy  to  them.  And,  indeed,  upon  a  due 
sense  and  consideration  of  this  lamentable  subject,  even  common  hu- 
manity, but  much  more  Christian  charity,  should  provoke  us  to  a  fel- 
low-feeling of  their  present  distressed  condition. 

These  sometime  flourishing  churches,  were,  by  degrees  worn  out 
by  the  constant  underminings  and  open  outrages  of  the  antichristian 
party,  being  first  driven  out  of  Bohemia  into  Poland,  then  after  their 
taking  root  and  spreading  in  Poland  into  a  numerous  company,  were 
forced  out  of  the  chief  cities  there,  and  now,  at  last  by  the  jesuited 
and  enraged  Polish  army,  persecuted  in  their  few  hiding  places,  with 
fire  and  sword. 

Their  ministers  were  tortured  to  death  by  most  exquisite  and  un- 
heard-of barbarism,  by  cutting  out  of  the  tongues  of  some,  pulling  out 
the  eyes  and  cruelly  mangling  the  bodies  of  others  ;  nor  did  their  rage 
and  brutish  cruelty  reach  only  to  ministers,  but  to  others,  yea  even  to 
women  and  young  children,  whose  heads  they  cut  off,  and  laid  them  at 
their  dead  mothers'  breasts. 

Nay,  their  rage  brake  out  not  only  upon  the  living  (not  one  of  whom 
they  spared  that  fell  into  their  hands)  but  also  upon  the  dead,  plucking 
the  bodies  of  honourable  persons,  and  others  out  of  the  graves,  tearing 
them  to  pieces,  and  exposing  them  to  public  scorn. 

But  the  chief  eyesore  and  object  of  their  fury  was  the  city  of  Lesna, 
which,  after  plundering  and  murdering  all  whom  they  found  therein, 
they  burned  to  ashes,  and  laid  in  rubbish ;  only  the  Lord  in  his  mercy 
having  alarmed  the  city  of  their  enemies'  approaching  march,  the  great- 
est part  of  the  inhabitants  (being  three  famous  churches)  saved,  them- 
selves by  flight,  and  are  now  wandering  up  and  down  in  Silesia,  the 
Marquisate  of  Brandenburgh,  Lusatia,  and  Hungary,  poor,  destitute, 
afflicted,  and  naked. 


Persecution  of  the  Polish  Waldemes.  535 

His  highness  and  the  council  having  referred  unto  this  committee  the 
testimonials  and  petitions  sent  by  the  said  churches,  we  finding  upon 
examination  thereof,  their  case  to  be  thus  deplorable,  which  is  more  at 
large  stated  and  declared  in  their  own  narrative,  have  caused  the  said 
narrative  to  be  translated,  and  herewith  published,  thereby  to  stir  up 
the  Lord's  people  in  these  nations  to  put  on  bowels  of  mercies  towards 
these  their  exiled  and  afflicted  brethren,  refreshing  their  hearts  by  your 
love,  and  the  tokens  of  it  in  a  cheerful  and  liberal  supply,  which  will 
not  only  preserve  this  holy  seed  from  perishing,  that  hath  a  blessing 
in  it,  but  also  uphold  among  them  the  purity  of  religion  and  power  of 
the  gospel. 

'Die  rather,  considering  the  present  freedom  from  these  bloody  out- 
rages we,  the  people  of  these  nations,  do  by  the  blessing  of  the  Lord 
enjoy,  the  continuance  whereof  we  may  the  more  comfortably  hope 
for,  by  how  much  our  compassions  are  more  freely  extended  to  those 
in  misery.  And  if  a  cup  of  cold  water  given  to  one  disciple,  as  such, 
shall  not  lose  its  reward,  how  much  more  when  a  bountiful  relief  is 
given  to  more  than  five  thousand  disciples  ? 

Which  we  should  be  the  more  forward  to  advance,  because  they  ac- 
knowledge they  have  received  much  confirmation  in  the  religion  for 
which  they  suffer  by  light  received  from  our  countryman  John  Wick- 
liff,  that  famous  witness  of  Christ  against  antichrist,  even  in  the  dark- 
est times  of  popery. 

And  we  doubt  not  but  that  God  who  hath  lately  opened  your  bow- 
els to  so  large  and  eminent  a  contribution  towards  the  persecuted  Pro- 
testants of  Piedmont,  (for  which  many  thanksgivings  have  been  made 
to  God  in  your  behalf,)  will  again  draw  out  your  hearts  upon  this  like 
sad  occasion,  to  the  like  bountiful  liberality,  it  being  our  duty  to  cast 
our  bread  upon  the  waters,  and  to  give  a  portion  to  six  and  also  to  seven, 
not  being  weary  of  well-doing,  because  in  due  time  we  shall  reap  if  we 
faint  not.  Considering  also  how  honourable  it  is  to  act  grace,  and  to  lay 
out  ourselves  upon  such  occasions,  we  recommend  it  again  as  the  work 
of  God  accompanied  with  his  own  voice,  calling  aloud  upon  us  to  en- 
large ourselves  in  this  ministration,  and  withal  to  pour  out  our  hearts 
in  faith  and  prayer,  that  the  Lord  would  yet  please  to  raise  up  Sion 
upon  the  ruins  of  Babylon,  hastening  his  work,  and  blessing  means 
to  it. 

John  Trevor,  John  Oiven, 

Christopher  Pack,  William  Jenhjn, 

William  Purefoy,  Philip  Nye, 

Edward  Cresset,  THIUum  Cooper, 

Thomas  Vyner,  Edmond  Calamy. 

Joseph  Caryl, 

The  fury  of  Antichrist  against  the  Protestants,  or  reformed  church 
of  the  Bohemian  Confession  in  Poland,  set  down  in  a  brief,  but 
faithful  Narrative,  and  according  to  the  truth  of  the  matter. 

The  spouse  of  Jesus  Christ,  she  who  in  the  cradle  was  besprinkled 
with  the  blood  of  a  proto-martyr,  hath  always  brought  into  the  world 


536  History  of  the  Christian  Church. 

men  like  Abel  or  Stephen,  that  so  there  might  never  be  wanting  to  cry 
from  the  earth  unto  God,  and  that  the  wounds  of  that  rose  which  lies 
among  the  thorns  of  persecution  might  not  be  concealed.  Every  age, 
and  every  year  in  each  age,  and  every  month  and  day  in  each  year, 
hath  produced  new  inundations  of  blood  unto  this  day;  and  yet  the 
little  flock  of  the  Lord  hath  always  increased  under  persecutions,  one 
while  here,  another  there,  shifting  their  seats  and  habitations.  While 
it  pleased  God,  by  the  means  of  Wickliff,  to  kindle  the  light  of  the 
gospel  in  Great  Britain,  John  Huss  asserted  the  truth  of  Jesus  Christ 
in  the  midst  of  the  thick  darkness  of  popery  in  Bohemia,  many  thou- 
sands being  stirred  up  by  God  to  receive  it,  who,  despising  all  the 
cruelty  of  tyrants,  received  it  with  joy,  until,  by  God's  assistance,  they 
took  root  in  the  kingdom,  and  grew  up  into  flourishing  churches.  In  a 
short  time  after,  antichrist  breathing  out  his  fury,  the  truth  was  ban- 
ished out  of  Bohemia,  and  the  confessors  being  driven  out,  transplant- 
ed the  gospel  into  Poland;  where,  being  favourably  entertained  by 
King  Sigismund,  they,  in  a  short  time,  increased  to  so  great  a  num- 
ber, that  being  little  inferior  to  the  Papists,  they  were  able  to  boast  of 
an  equal  authority  and  privileges  with  them.  Hence  it  came  to  pass 
that  the  kings  at  their  coronations  were  wont  not  only  to  promise,  but 
solemnly  to  swear  protection  to  such  as  disagreed  from  the  Roman  re- 
ligion, and,  therefore,  they  proceeded  not  to  open  persecutions,  save 
only  in  those  cities  where  the  Jesuits  had  seated  themselves  in  power, 
to  wit,  Cracovia,  Posen,  Lubin,  Vilna,  &c.  where,  by  their  disciples, 
and  by  stirring  up  the  common  people  to  fury,  the  churches  of  the  re- 
formed professors  were  a  good  while  ago  demolished  and  divers  mi- 
nisters cruelly  massacred.  Nevertheless  the  malice  of  their  enemies 
being  no  whit  allayed,  they  were  many  ways  afflicted,  first  indirectly, 
afterwards  by  pretences  under  colour  of  law,  until  those  churches  be- 
ing worn  out  by  degrees,  and  overthrown,  were,  not  many  years  ago, 
reduced  to  a  very  inconsiderable  number,  especially  when,  as  in  the 
reign  of  the  late  king,  their  enemies  being  confident  they  might  do  any 
thing,  brought  things  to  this  pass  at  length,  that  there  were  no  more 
than  twenty-one  congregations  remaining  in  the  greater  Poland,  and 
those  also  ready  to  perish.  But  among  those  twenty-one  remaining 
churches,  the  chief,  and,  as  it  were,  the  mother  of  them  all,  was  that 
of  Lesna,  which  was  divided  into  three  congregations,  the  Bohemian, 
the  Polonian,  and  the  German  ;  each  of  which  had  their  own  pastors, 
but  the  communicants  jointly  were  about  two  thousand:  therefore,  it 
was  that  this  joint  church  in  the  first  place,  exposed  to  the  enemy's 
malice,  and  of  late  designed  to  the  slaughter,  as  well  by  reason  of  its 
being  very  much  frequented  and  grown  famous,  as  also  because  of  the 
synod  there  usually  celebrated,  as  likewise  a  famous  University  and 
printing-house,  and  books  frequently  published  to  the  world.  When, 
therefore,  in  the  year  1655,  the  Swedish  army  out  of  Pomerania  drew 
near  to  the  borders  of  Poland,  and  the  nobility  were  summoned  to 
arms,  according  to  the  custom  of  the  country,  it  came  to  pass-  that  the 
Papists  brake  forth  into  many  furious  expressions,  crying  out,  that  the 
heretics  had  invited  the  enemy,  and,  therefore,  they  were  first  of  all 
to  be  put  to  the  sword  and  extirpated :  which  reports,  though  falsely 


Persecution  of  the  TValdenses  m  Poland.  537 

scattered  abroad,  (for  the  Searcher  of  hearts  and  reins  knoweth,  that 
we  never  so  much  as  dreamt  of  it)  yet  they  easily  found  credit  among 
the  sworn  enemies  of  the  gospel,  who  sought  nothing  more  than  our 
ruin.  Hereupon  they  who  first  consulted  to  agree  with  the  Swedish 
army,  being  terrified  by  its  power,  concluded  about  the  surrender  of  all 
great  Poland  into  the  King's  protection,  and  namely,  the  royal  cities 
of  Posen,  Calissen,  Meseric,  &c.  to  which  also  Lesna  was  expressly 
added.  In  a  little  time  after,  they  endeavoured  to  cast  off  the  Swedish 
yoke,  and  turned  their  arms  not  against  the  Swedes,  but  first  against 
our  evangelical  professors,  as  conspiring  with  the  Swedes  upon  the  ac- 
count of  religion,  and  none  of  them  scrupled  to  take  revenge  upon 
them.  They  first  of  all  set  upon  those  of  Lesna,  with  the  resolution 
of  putting  all  to  the  sword,  and  destroying  that  heretical  city  by  fire, 
and  they  had  effected  both,  unless  God  had,  by  sending  some  persons 
before,  who,  by  signifying  the  coining  of  the  enemy,  and  with  what 
intent  they  came,  had  possessed  the  citizens  with  a  panic  fear,  so  that 
leaving  all  their  estates,  they  every  man  fled ;  and  thus  within  the 
space  of  one  hour,  a  most  populous  city,  abounding  with  all  manner  of 
wealth,  was  left  without  inhabitants,  who,  in  a  miserable  condition, 
wandered  then  into  the  neighbouring  woods  and  marshes  into  Silesia. 
But  the  Polish  nobility,  with  their  army,  entering  the  city,  did  what 
they  pleased,  slaying  a  great  number  of  decrepit  old  peoplu,  and  sick 
persons,  that  were  not  able  to  save  themselves  by  flight ;  then  the  city 
itself  was  first  plundered  ;  and  afterwards  so  destroyed  by  fire,  for 
three  days  together,  that  no  part  of  it  remained  besides  rubbish  and 
ashes.  In  what  manner  they  would  have  handled  the  citizens,  espe- 
cially their  pastors,  they  showed  by  their  heroic  actions  performed  in 
other  places,  by  the  most  savage  slaughtering  of  divers  ministers  of 
the  church,  and  other  faithful  members  of  Christ  of  both  sexes  :  for  of 
all  that  they  laid  hold  on,  they  gave  not  one  man  quarter,  but  very  cru- 
elly put  them  to  death  with  most  exquisite  tortures.  They  endeavour- 
ed to  force  Mr.  Samuel  Cardus,  pastor  of  the  church  of  Czuertzinen, 
to  renounce  his  religion,  after  they  had  taken  him,  and  miserably  han- 
dled him  with  all  manner  of  cruelty;  but  he  stoutly  resisting,  they 
first  put  out  his  eyes,  and  led  him  about  for  a  spectacle,  then  they 
pulled  off  his  fingers'  end  with  pincers  ;  but  he  not  yet  condescending 
to  their  mad  fury,  they  found  out  a  new  kind  of  torment,  poured 
molten  lead  into  his  mouth,  and,  at  length,  while  he  was  yet  half  alive, 
they  clapt  his  neck  between  folding  doors,  and  violently  pulling  them 
together  severed  his  head  from  his  body.  They  took  John  Jacobides, 
pastor  of  the  church  of  Dembnick,  and  Alexander  Wartens,  his  col- 
league, and  another  that  was  in  company  with  them,  as  they  passed 
through  the  town  of  Lubin,  and  hurrying  them  up  and  down  for  di- 
vers hours,  and  grievously  handling  them  after  the  manner  of  tyrants, 
they  last  of  all,  cutting  their  throats  with  a  razor,  threw  them  head- 
long, while  they  were  yet  breathing,  into  a  great  pit,  which  had  been 
before-hand  prepared  for  their  martyrs,  and  stifled  them  by  casting 
down  dung  and  dirt  upon  them.  They  a  great  while  pursued  Andrew 
Oxlitius,  a  young  man  designed  for  the  ministry,  whom,  after  long 
seeking,  they  at  last  found  in  the  open  field,  and  in  the  end  having 


538  History  of  the  Christian  Church. 

taken  him,  they  cut  off  his  head  with  a  scythe,  chopping  it  into  small 
pieces,  and  the  dead  carcass  also  they  slasht  in  a  barbarous  manner. 
The  same  fate  befel  Adam  Milota,  a  citizen  of  Lesna  ;  but  they  more 
grievously  handled  an  old  man  above  seventy,  whose  name  was  Simon 
Priten,  and  many  others,  whose  names  it  were  too  tedious  to  relate. 
Of  that  barbarous  execution  which  they  did  upon  the  weaker  sex, 
there  were,  besides  other  examples,  horrid  trophies  of  cruelty  erected 
in  the  said  city  of  Lesna;  a  pious  matron  there,  who  was  the  mother 
of  three  children,  not  being  able  quick  enough  to  leave  the  city,  and 
being  slain  in  the  open  street,  they  cut  off  her  hands  and  feet,  and  cut- 
ting off  her  children's  heads,  they  laid  two  of  them  at  her  breasts,  and 
the  third  by  her  side.  In  like  manner,  another  woman  having  her 
hands  and  feet  cut  off,  and  her  tongue  cut  out,  being  enclosed  and 
bound  in  a  sack,  lived  the  space  of  two  days,  making  most  miserable 
lamentation.  Grief  forbids  us  to  add  more,  for  they  behaved  themselves 
so  furiously  towards  us,  that  there  remains  not  an  example  of  any  one 
man  saved  of  all  those  that  happened  to  fall  into  their  hands.  It  is  no- 
toriously known  how  that  fury  of  theirs  tyrannized  also  over  the  dead; 
some  they  dragged  out  of  their  graves  and  cut  into  pieces,  as  at  Zich- 
lin  ;  others  they  exposed  naked  for  a  public  spectacle,  as  at  Lesna ;  of 
which  outrageous  action  we  had  an  example,  even  in  the  dead  body  of  the 
most  serene  Landgrave  of  Hessia,  which  was  drawn  out  of  the  grave,"who 
was  heretofore  slain  in  a  most  barbarous  and  tyrannical  manner  at  Kos- 
cian,  but  buried  by  our  friends  at  Lesna.  The  like  was  acted  also  upon 
the  body  of  the  most  noble  Arciszevius,  heretofore  the  valiant  admiral 
of  the  Hollanders  in  Brazil,  which  wUS  likewise  dragged  out  of  the 
grave,  and  being  stript  of  the  grave  clothes,  wm  found  after  the  firin^ 
of  Lesna.  There  are  divers  other  examples,  which  the  Christian  readef 
may  find  in  the  book  intituled  Lesnse  Excidium,  faithfully  written, 
and  lately  set  forth  in  print ;  but  they  are  such  examples  only  as  are 
commonly  known,  for  who  is  able  to  relate  all  things  in  particular?  as 
burning  men  alive,  drowning  others  with  stones  tied  about  their 
necks,  &c. 

Now  Lesna  being  destroyed,  the  fury  of  the  enemy  proceeded  to  the 
persecution  of  others  ;  they,  in  a  short  time,  utterly  demolished  all  our 
congregations,  not  only  driving  away  the  pastors,  but  also  either  burn- 
ing or  leaving  most  of  the  temples  desolate,  as  at  Karmin,  Dembnick, 
Skochy,  Czriuczin,  &c.  yea  and  the  auditories  themselves  were 
either  slain  (as  in  the  town  of  Skochy,  where  there  was  a  very 
flourishing  church  of  the  Bohemian  exiles,  sixty  persons,  both  men 
and  women,  were  cruelly  put  to  death)  or  else  they  were  scattered 
abroad,  so  that  there  remained  not  one  place  wherein  the  worship  of 
God  may  be  celebrated.  Lo,  this  is  the  most  miserable  state  and  con- 
dition of  our  churches ;  moreover  our  countrymen,  to  the  number  of 
five  thousand,  besides  youth  and  children,  being  dispersed  in  banish- 
ment (which  hath  now  befallen  most  of  us  the  second  time)  especially 
throughout  Silesia,  as  also  through  the  Marck,  Lusatia,  Hungary,  &c. 
find  no  comfort,  but  much  misery,  and  are  there  exposed  to  the  hatred 
and  envy  of  men.  We  that  are  pastors  dare  not  openly  minister  to  our 
auditories  with  the  word  and  sacraments,  but  only  in  private  meetings, 


Persecution  of  the  Waldenses  in  Poland.  539 

or  in  woods  among  fenny  places,  God  only  seeing  us,  who  is  wit- 
ness of  these  calamities,  and  our  comfort  in  extremities.  Indeed, 
being  thus  destitute  of  all  things  we  lead  a  wretched  life  in  banishment, 
being  afflicted,  with  hunger  and  nakedness,  and  are  become,  next  to  the 
most  miserable  "Waldenses,  the  greatest  spectacle  of  calamity  to  the 
Christian  world,  for  so  it  hath  seemed  good  to  that  sovereign  wisdom 
that  governs  all  things,  that  we  should  be  the  inheritors  of  the  cross 
and  persecutions  of  those  men  from  whom  we  have  derived  the  origi- 
nal of  our  doctrine  and  external  succession :  for  truly  we  are  the  re- 
maining progeny  even  of  the  Waldenses,  with  whom  being  raised  from 
the  ashes  of  blessed  Huss,  and  with  whom  combining  into  the  same 
holy  fellowship  of  the  faith  and  afflictions  of  Christ,  we  have  for  two 
whole  ages  and  more,  been  perpetually  subject  to  the  like  storms  of  ca- 
lamities, until  at  length  we  fell  into  this  calamity,  greater  than  ever 
was  known  in  the  memory  of  our  fathers,  and  which  threatens  us  with 
utter  destruction,  unless  God  prevent  it.  The  truth  is,  this  business 
constrains  us  to  amazement  and  tears  greater  than  can  be  expressed  in 
words,  to  set  forth  our  affliction  and  sorrow.  If  there  be  any  consola- 
tion in  Christ,  if  any  comfort  of  love,  if  any  fellowship  of  the  Spirit, 
if  any  bowels  and  mercies,  we  desire  that  this  affliction  of  Joseph  may 
be  recommended,  especially  to  all  that  are  of  the  household  of  faith. 
Let  them  not  suffer  those  to  perish  whom  the  same  Spirit  of  Christ 
hath  joined  with  them  in  so  near  a  relation ;  we  beseech  them  in  the 
name  of  Christ,  that  they  would  rather  make  haste  to  relieve  those 
who  are  ready  to  perish,  we  being  assured  that  we  suffer  this  perse- 
cution upon  no  other  account,  than  for  the  confession  of  the  truth,  from 
those  enemies  who  have  acted  such  things  as  these  against  us  in  times 
past,  and  are  now  at  length,  by  God's  permission,  pouring  out  their 
fury  upon  us. 

Signed  in  the  name  of  the  said  churches,  by  their  delegates,  and  now 
exiles  for  the  cause  of  Christ : 

Adam  Samuel  Hartman,  Pastor  of  the  church  of  Lesna,  in  Poland, 

and  Rector  of  the  famous  University  there. 
Paul  Cyril,  a  late  member  of  the  University  of  Lysna. 

Of  the  amount  contributed  in  consequence  of  this  second  appeal  to 
the  benevolence  of  our  countrymen,  I  am  unable  to  give  the  reader  any 
specific  information.  The  posture  of  public  affairs,  in  our  own  coun- 
try, now  became  extremely  critical  :  and  in  the  same  year  (1658)  in 
which  these  laudable  efforts  were  made  in  behalf  of  the  Waldenses, 
both  of  Poland  and  Piedmont,  proved  fatal  to  the  life,  and  of  course, 
to  the  influence  of  the  protector.  The  parliament  was  refractory,  and, 
in  the  spring  of  the  year,  he  dissolved  them.  Public  discontents  ran 
high,  and  a  pamphlet  made  its  appearance  entitled  "  Killing  no  mur- 
der"— the  object  of  which  was  to  prove  that  his  assassination  would 
be  the  discharge  of  a  public  duty.  His  fears  are  said  to  have  been  ex- 
cited ;  a  slow  fever  ensued,  and  on  the  3rd  of  September  he  died.  Of 
the  contributions  made  in  1655,  thirty  thousand  pounds  had  been  dis- 
tributed among  the  sufferers  in  the  Valleys  of  Piedmont,  but  the  con- 


540  History  of  the  Christian  Church. 

fusion  which  succeeded  on  the  death  of  the  protector  occasioned  the 
balance,  which  was  nearly  ten  thousand  pounds,  to  be  withheld  for  a 
time,  but  it  was  afterwards  remitted  them. 


SECTION  VIII. 

THE  HISTORY  OF  THE  WALDENSES  CONCLUDED. 

The  writer  of  the  Apocalypse  informs  us  that,  while  in  the  isle  of 
Patmos,  he  had  a  vision  of  a  beast  rising  up  out  of  the  sea,  having  se- 
ven heads  and  ten  horns — and  that  there  was  given  unto  him  a  mouth 
speaking  great  things  and  blasphemies — and  it  was  also  given  unto 
him  to. make  war  with  the  saints,  and  to  overcome  them  :  and  power 
was  given  him  over  all  kindreds,  and  tongues,  and  nations  ;  that  all 
that  dwell  upon  the  earth  should  worship  him,  except  those  whose 
names  were  written  in  the  slain  Lamb's  book  of  life,  from  the  founda- 
tion of  the  world.  Rev.  xiii.  That  this  prophetic  description  wa3 
designed  to  point  out  the  monstrous  antichristian  proceedings  of  Papal 
Rome,  is  now  scarcely  doubted  by  any,  except  the  members  of  that 
apostate  church :  and  with  how  much  propriety  such  an  application  of 
it  is  made,  may  be  very  safely  left  to  the  determination  of  those  who 
shall  have  impartially  perused  the  foregoing  narrative.  If  we  calmly 
review  the  conduct  of  the  court  of  Rome  towards  the  Waldenses,  and 
mark  the  savage  ferocity  with  which  they  had  now,  for  several  succes- 
sive centuries,  invariably  pursued  them  ;  how,  when  exiled  from  one 
country,  they  were  followed  into  another,  and  that  nothing  short  of  their 
total  extirpation  could  satisfy  the  relentless  cruelty  of  their  adversaries, 
we  can  scarcely  forbear  applying  to  them  the  affecting  language  of  the 
Psalmist,  "  For  thy  sake  are  we  killed  all  the  day  long,  we  are  ac- 
counted as  sheep  for  the  slaughter,"  Psal.  xliv.  23.  We  have  seen 
that,  whether  in  France,  or  Spain,  or  in  our  own  country  ;  in  Bohe- 
mia, Calabria,  or  Poland ;  throughout  Germany  or  the  Netherlands  ; 
in  Italy  or  the  Valleys  of  Piedmont ;  one  common  fate  awaited  them, 
and  that  they  never  failed,  sooner  or  later,  to  experience,  namely, 
"  to  be  slain  for  the  word  of  God  and  for  the  testimony  which  they 
held,"  Rev.  vi.  9.  But  the  crisis  of  their  affairs  was  now  arrived; — 
the  witnesses  who  had  so  long  and  so  nobly  prophesied  in  -sackcloth, 
before  many  peoples,  and  nations,  and  tongues,  and  kings,  were  about 
to  finish  their  testimony;  which  having  done,  it  remained  for  the 
"  beast  that  ascended  out  of  the  bottomless  pit  to  make  war  against 
them,  and  overcome  them,  and  kill  them,"  Rev.  xi.  3 — 7.  A  glance 
at  the  manner  in  which  this  was  effected  will  occupy  the  present  sec- 
tion, and  discharge  my  engagements  to  the  public;  so  far  at  least  as 
regards  this  undertaking. 

The  number  of  the  Waldenses  that  fell  in  the  massacre  of  Piedmont, 
in  1655,  is  estimated  by  contemporary  writers  at  more  than  six  thou- 


Recapitulatory  remarks.  541 

sand.*  Tn  consequence,  however,  of  the  humane  interference  of  our 
own  and  other  protestant  states,  the  residue  as  hath  been  already  stated, 
availed  themselves  of  the  treaty  that  was  signed  by  the  Duke  of  Savoy, 
on  the  9th  of  August,  1  655,  to  return  to  their  dwellings.  But  their 
enemies  were  by  no  means  satisfied  with  the  measure  of  calamity  which 
they  had  dealt  out  towards  them.  In  the  year  1663,  they  again  came 
forward  with  fire  and  sword,  and  the  atrocities  of  1655  were  once  more 
in  preparation  to  be  reacted.  Having  found  by  experience  that  to  stand 
in  an  attitude  of  self-defence  was  the  only  way  left  them  of  saving 
themselves,  the  Waldenses  were  now  constrained  to  take  up  arms, 
which  they  did,  and  defended  themselves  so  bravely,  that  about  the  end 
of  that  year  they  at  least  kept  their  enemies  at  bay  !  But  the  Swiss 
cantons,  ever  alive  to  their  affairs,  on  this  occasion  again  sent  ambassa- 
dors to  the  court  of  Turin,  to  mediate  between  the  parties,  and  in  Fe- 
bruary, 1664,  a  patent  was  granted  by  the  Duke  of  Savoy,  in  all  re- 
spects confirming  that  given  in  1655;  but  though  his  royal  highness 
now  personally  engaged  to  see  the  treaty  carried  into  effect,  it  was  no 
better  executed  than  the  former.  The  Waldenses,  however,  persevered, 
and  though  subject  to  innumerable  contumelies  and  very  injurious  treat- 
ment, which  the  rancour  of  the  council/or  propagating  the  faith  was 
continually  inflicting  upon  them,  they  bore  up  until  the  year  1672,  when 
an  event  transpired  that  afforded  them  an  opportunity,  in  a  very  signal 
manner,  of  evincing  their  loyalty,  and  of  rendering  essential  services  to 
their  sovereign  and  their  country. 

In  the  year  last  mentioned,  a  war  broke  out  between  the  Duke  of 
Savoy  and  the  Genoese.  The  army  of  the  former  was  commanded  by 
the  Marquis  of  Pionessa,  son  of  the  nobleman  of  that  name  who  nearly 
thirty  years  before  had  taken  so  active  a  part  in  the  massacre  of  the 
Waldenses.  Under  his  management  the  war  with  Genoa  proved  most 
unpropitious,  insomuch  that  the  affairs  of  the  Duke  of  Savoy  were 
brought  to  the  brink  of  ruin,  and,  as  Bishop  Burnet  assures  us,t  the 
duke  was  so  displeased  with  his  conduct  that  he  never  would  forgive 
him,  but  a  little  before  his  death  actually  enjoined  it  upon  his  mother 
never  to  employ  him  again!  It  was  in  this  critical  juncture  of  their 
national  affairs  that  the  Waldenses,  forgetting  all  that  was  past,  volunta- 
rily came  forward  to  enrol  themselves  in  their  sovereign's  cause,  and 
entered  into  the  war  with  such  zeal  and  courage  that  they  soon  retriev- 
ed the  fallen  fortunes  of  their  country  and  brought  the  war  to  a  speedy 
and  successful  termination.  Their  loyal  and  disinterested  behaviour  on 
this  occasion,  sensibly  affected  the  mind  of  their  prince,  who  testified 
his  approbation  of  their  conduct  in  a  letter,  of  which  the  following  is  a 
copy: 

*  History  of  the  Persecution  of  the  Valleys  of  Piedmont,  p.  4. 
f  Burnet's  Letters  from  Italy— Supplement  to  ditto,  Lett.  III.  p.  158.    Edit. 
1688. 

46 


542  History  of  the  Christian  Church. 

To  our  most  faithful  subjects,  the  communities  of  the  Valleys  of  Lu- 
cerne, Perouse,  San  Martin,  and  of  the  districts  of  Perrus'tin,  Saint 
Bartholomeiv,  and  Rocheplatte. 

THE  DUKE  OF  SAVOY,  PRINCE  OF  PIEDMONT,  &C  &C. 

Most  Dear  and  Faithful, 

Forasmuch  as  we  have  been  well  pleased  with  the  zeal  and  readiness 
with  which  you  have  provided  men  who  have  served  us  to  our  entire 
satisfaction,  in  the  affair  we  had  against  the  Genoese  ;  we  have  thought 
fit  to  testify  unto  you  by  these  presents  our  approbation  thereof,  and  to 
assure  you,  that  we  shall  keep  it  in  particular  remembrance,  to  make 
you  sensible  on  all  occasions  of  the  effects  of  our  royal  protection, 
wliereof  the  Count  Beccaria  shall  give  you  more  ample  information, 
whom  we  have  commanded  to  express  to  you  our  sentiments  more  at 
large,  and  also  to  take  a  list  of  the  officers  and  soldiers,  as  well  of  those 
that  are  dead  as  of  those  that  remain  prisoners,  that  he  may  report  the 
same  unto  us,  to  the  end  that  we  may  pay  due  regard  thereunto.  In 
the  meantime  these  presents  shall  serve  you  for  an  assured  testimony  of 
our  satisfaction  and  good  will ;  and  we  pray  God  to  preserve  you  from 
evil. 

Signed  C.  EMANUEL,  Buonfiglio. 

Turin,  November  5,  1672. 

The  following  is  a  copy  of  the  duke's  letter  to  Count  Beccaria. 
Trusty  and  w ell-beloved, 

The  men  whom  the  communities  of  Lucerne,  &c.  have  provided, 
have  served  us  so  faithfully,  that,  being  desirous  of  testifying  unto  them 
our  satisfaction  therewith,  we  have  sent  you  a  letter  herein  enclosed, 
which  we  have  written  to  them,  to  the  end  that  you  may  deliver  it  to 
them,  and  also  express  more  fully  the  good  will  that  we  bear  to  them 
on  that  account ;  and  that  you  may  assure  them,  that  whensoever  any 
thing  shall  happen  that  may  tend  to  their  advantage  we  will  particularly 
remember  their  affection.  And  on  this  occasion  you  shall  take  a  list 
of  the  officers  and  soldiers,  as  well  of  those  that  are  dead  as  of  those 
that  are  prisoners,  and  make  a  report  of  the  same  unto  us,  that  we  may 
pay  a  suitable  regard  to  such  ;  and  referring  to  you  for  what  may  be  said 
further  in  token  of  the  satisfaction  we  have  received,  no  less  by  their 
zeal  and  readiness,  than  by  the  good  services  which  their  officers  and 
soldiers  have  rendered  us  ;  we  prav  our  Lord  to  preserve  you. 

Signed  C.  EMANUEL. 

Turin,  November  5,  1672. 

To  Monsieur  Count  Beccaria,  Counsellor  of  State. 

In  scrupulous  conformity  with  the  tenour  of  these  letters  the  duke 
continued,  to  the  time  of  his  death,  which  happened  in  1675,  to  favour 
the  Waldenses  with  tokens  of  his  kindness  ;  and,  even  after  his  decease, 
the  duchess,  his  widow,  followed  his  example,  treating  them  with 
great  gentleness  and  goodness  ;  and,  in  the  year  1679,  she  pledges 
herself,  in  a  letter  to  the  Swiss  Cantons,  dated  28th  January,  to  main- 


Character  and  conduct  of  Louis  XIV.  543 

tain  the  Waldenses  in  the  undisturbed  exercise  of  their  religious  pri- 
vileges. 

Victor  Amadeus  II.  was  a  minor  at  the  time  of  his  father's  death, 
though  he  inherited  the  title  of  Duke  of  Savoy.  The  government  of 
Piedmont  was,  consequently,  during  this  interval  of  ten  years,  vested 
in  the  hands  of  his  mother,  the  widow  of  the  late  Charles  Emanuel  II. 
who  acted  as  regent  untill  the  year  1685,  when  Victor  Amadeus  arrived 
at  maturity  ;  and  it  appears  to  have  been  a  season  of  tranquillity  to  the 
churches  throughout  the  Valleys.  It  is  a  remarkable  circumstance  that 
both  father  and  son  were  poisoned  !  The  former,  indeed,  fell  a  sacrifice 
to  this  base  and  treacherous  act,  but  the  youth  of  the  son  carried  him 
through  it.*  It  was  the  misfortune  of  this  young  prince,  however,  to 
become  connected  by  marriage  with  Louis  XIV.  king  of  France,  one 
of  the  most  detestable  and  sanguinary  tyrants  that  ever  sat  upon  a 
throne;  and  who,  as  we  shall  presently  see,  compelled  him,  in  defiance 
of  his  own  inclination  and  judgment,  to  extirpate  the  Waldenses  from 
his  dominions.  "  There  is  nothing  more  visible,"  says  Bishop  Burnet, 
writing  at  the  very  time,  "than  that  the  Dukes  of  Savoy  have  sunk 
extremely  in  this  age,  from  the  figure  which  they  made  in  the  last ; 
and  how  much  soever  they  have  raised  their  titular  dignity  in  having 
the  title  of  Royal  highness  given  them,  they  have  lost  as  much  in  the 
figure  which  they  made  in  the  affairs  of  Europe. — The  truth  is,  the 
vanity  of  this  title  and  the  expensive  humour  which  their  late  mar- 
riages with  France  has  spread  among  them,  have  ruined  them;  for  in- 
stead of  keeping  good  troops  and  strong  places,  all  the  revenue  goes  to 
keeping  up  the  magnificence  of  the  court,  which  is  certainly  very  splen- 
did."! Of  the  justice  and  pertinency  of  these  observations  the  reader 
will  find  abundant  proof  in  the  sequel. 

During  the  reign  of  Louis  XIII.  the  Protestants  had  multiplied  in 
France  to  such  an  extent,  that,  at  the  period  of  his  death,  A.  D.  1613,  they 
were  computed  to  exceed  two  millions.  Their  religious  privileges  had 
been  guaranteed  to  them  by  the  well-known  edict  of  Nantz.  Louis  XIV. 
was  only  five  years  of  age  when  his  father  died,  and  of  course,  the 
queen  mother  was  appointed  sole  regent  during  his  minority.  When 
the  young  king  came  of  age,  in  1652,  the  edict  of  Nantz  was  again  con- 
firmed. But  his  prime  minister,  Cardinal  Mazarine,  with  his  con- 
fessors and  clergy,  were  continually  impressing  his  mind  with  the  ex- 
pediency of  revoking  that  edict :  and  when  the  management  of  affairs 
devolved  upon  his  own  hands,  in  1661,  he  resolved  to  effect  the  destruc- 
tion of  the  Protestants.  In  prosecution  of  this  design  he  began  by  ex- 
cluding the  Calvinists  from  his  household,  and  from  all  places  of  profit 
and  trust.  He  next  caused  several  laws  to  be  passed  in  favour  of  the 
catholic  religion.  Then  rigorous  methods  were  adopted  to  compel 
the  Calvinists  to  change  their  religion — their  places  of  worship  were 
shut  up — and  at  length,  October  22,  1685,  he  revoked  the  edict  of 
Nantz,  and  banished  them  from  the  kingdom.  The  cruelties  that  were 
indicted  upon  them  at  that  time,  if  possible,  surpass  in  atrocity  any  thing 

*   Bishop  Burnet's  Supplementary  Letters  from  Italy,  p.  161. 
f  Bishop  Burnet's  Supplementary  Letters  from  Italy,  p.  162. 


544  History  of  the  Christian  Church. 

that  is  to  be  found  in  the  persecutions  of  the  first  Christians  by  the 
Heathens.  "They  cast  some,"  says  Monsieur  Claude,  "into  large 
fires,  and  took  them  out  when  they  were  half  roasted.  They  hanged 
others  with  ropes  under  their  arms,  and  plunged  them  several  times 
into  wells,  till  they  promised  to  renounce  their  religion.  They  tied 
them  like  criminals  on  the  rack,  and  by  means  of  a  funnel,  poured  wine 
into  their  mouths,  till,  being  intoxicated,  they  declared  that  they  con- 
sented to  turn  Catholics.  Some  they  cut  and  slashed  with  pen-knives, 
others  they  took  up  by  the  nose  with  red  hot  tongs,  and  led  them  up 
and  down  the  rooms  till  they  promised  to  turn  catholics."  These 
cruel  proceedings  caused  eight  hundred  thousand  persons  to  quit  the 
kingdom. 

The  tranquillity  of  the  Waldenses  in  Piedmont  was  now  first  invaded 
by  a  proclamation  issued  by  the  governor  of  the  Valleys,  about  the  year 

1685,  ordering  that  no  stranger  should  come  and  continue  in  the  Valleys 
above  three  days  without  his  permission,  on  pain  of  being  severely 
punished.  This  seemed  mysterious,  but  it  was  soon  unravelled  by  the 
intelligence  which  presently  arrived  of  the  dreadful  proceedings  against 
the  French  Protestants  ;  for  they  immediately  saw  that  it  was  intended 
to  prevent  them  from  giving  an  asylum  to  any  of  the  unhappy  exiles  ;  yet 
they  little  apprehended  the  dreadful  tempest  that  was  gathering  around 
themselves. 

On  the  31st  of  January  1686,  they  were  amazed  at  the  publication 
of  an  order  from  the  Duke  of  Savoy,  forbidding  his  subjects  the  exercise 
of  the  protestant  religion  upon  pain  of  death  ;  the  confiscation  of  their 
goods;  the  demolition  of  their  churches;  and  the  banishment  of  their 
pastors.  All  infants  born  from  that  time,  were  to  be  baptized  and 
brought  up  in  the  Roman  Catholic  religion,  under  the  penalty  of  their 
fathers  being  condemned  to  the  galleys  I*  Their  consternation  was  now 
extreme.  Hitherto  the  treaty  which  secured  to  them  the  free  exercise 
of  their  religion  had  been  guaranteed  by  the  kings  of  France  ;  but  they 
were  now  given  to  understand  that  the  Duke  of  Savoy,  in  all  these  in- 
tolerant measures,  was  only  fulfilling  the  wishes  of  that  monarch  ;  and, 
to  crown  the  whole,  the  latter  had  marched  an  army  to  the  confines  of 
Piedmont  to  see  the  order  of  the  duke  properly  executed.  In  this  truly 
affecting  condition,  their  first  step  was,  by  submission  and  entreaty,  to 
soften  the  heart  of  their  sovereign.  Four  different  applications  were 
addressed  to  him,  beseeching  him  to  revoke  this  cruel  order  :  the  only 
advantage  they  reaped  was  a  suspension  of  the  impending  calamity 
until  their  enemies  were  better  prepared  to  execute  it  with  effect. 

Their  old  and  tried  friends  the  Swiss  Cantons,  being  informed  of  this 
state  of  things,  convened  a  Diet  at  Baden,  in  the  month  of  February, 

1686,  at  which  it  was  resolved  to  send  ambassadors  to  the  Duke  of  Sa- 
voy to  intercede  for  the  Waldenses  ;  and  early  in  the  following  month 
they  arrived  at  Turin,  where  they  delivered  in  their  propositions  relat- 
ing to  the  revocation  of  the  order  of  the  31st  of  January.  They  show- 
ed his  highness  that  they  were  interested  in  the  affair,  not  only  as  the 
brethren  of  the  Waldenses,  but  also  in  virtue  of  the  treaties  of  1655, 

•   See  Appendix,  No.  1 . 


Pleas  of  the  Swiss  for  the  IValdenses.  545 

and  1664,  which  were  the  fruits  of  their  mediation,  and  which  this  new 
order  annulled.  The  court  of  Turin  admitted  the  plea;  but  contented 
themselves  with  telling  the  ambassadors,  that  the  engagement  which  the 
duke  had  recently  entered  into  with  the  King  of  France  opposed  the 
success  of  their  negotiation.  The  Swiss  ambassadors  gave  in  a  memo- 
rial, and  urged  a  variety  of  pleas;  in  all  which  they  were  supported  by 
letters  from  many  protestant  princes  in  behalf  of  the  Waldenses.  They 
pleaded  that  the  predecessors  of  his  royal  highness  had  pledged  them- 
selves to  many  of  the  potentates  of  Europe,  and  particularly  to  the  Can- 
tons of  Switzerland,  to  observe  the  privileges  which  had  been  granted 
to  the  protestant  inhabitants  of  the  Valleys :  and  argued  that  such  for- 
mal and  authenticated  engagements  ought  to  stand  good;  for  that  the 
immunities  which  had  been  secured  to  them  by  letters  patent,  were  not 
to  be  regarded  merely  in  the  light  of  matters  of  momentary  toleration, 
but  as  perpetual  grants  and  irrevocable  laws  :  that  having  been  granted 
at  the  intercession  of  many  sovereign  princes,  they  must,  according  to 
the  laws  of  nations,  be  regarded  as  monuments  of  the  public  faith  :  and 
that  the  promise  of  princes  ought  to  be  maintained  sacred  and  inviolable. 
They  also  endeavoured  to  show,  by  arguments  deduced  from  maxims 
of  state  policy,  that  the  Duke  of  Savoy  acted  against  his  own  interest 
in  these  cruel  proceedings ;  and  that  even  from  a  regard  to  those  he 
should  continue  the  Waldenses  in  their  ancient  privileges — that  the 
laws  of  justice  and  motives  of  clemency  should  prevent  him  from  sub- 
jecting his  country  to  fire  and  sword  and  desolation;  for  that  he  was 
about  to  ruin  a  harmless  and  innocent  people,  who  had  done  nothing 
that  could  deservedly  entitle  them  to  the  effects  of  this  inhuman  order. 
But.  neither  the  reasoning  of  the  ambassadors,  nor  their  own  pressing 
solicitations,  nor  the  letters  of  intercession  which  had  been  presented 
in  their  behalf  from  many  other  protestant  princes,  could  avail  any 
thing  with  the  court  of  Turin.*  The  Marquis  of  Saint  Thomas,  to 
whom  they  delivered  their  memorial,  and  who  was  one  of  the  duke's 
ministers  of  state  for  foreign  affairs  returned  an  answer  in  a  few  days, 
stating  that  his  royal  highness  was  sorry  that  he  was  not  in  a  capacity 
to  grant  what  they  desired  in  their  own  and  in  the  name  of  their  mas- 
ters— that  he  had  far  stronger  reasons  for  enforcing  this  edict  than  they 
had  given  him  to  revoke  it;  and  that  he  could  not  so  much  as  mitigate 
it;  that  the  great  wheels  moved  and  carried  the  little  ones  along  with 
them — that  having  for  his  neighbour  a  prince  equally  powerful  and  jea- 
lous of  his  honour,  he  was  obliged  to  carry  himself  with  great  circum- 
spection, and  to  act  according  to  the  exigencies  of  the  times,  just  as  in 
Switzerland  they  were  sometimes  compelled  by  the  turn  of  their  affairs, 
to  take  certain  resolutions  contrary  to  the  good  intentions  they  might 
otherwise  have.  In  short,  the  duke  was  too  far  engaged — the  troops 
which  he  had  raised,  at  a  great  expense,  were  already  in  motion — that 
the  edict  could  not  be  revoked  without  wounding  his  royal  highness's 
reputation — that  he  was  forced  to  see  it  executed  for  very  cogent  rea- 
sons, on  which  the  ambassadors  might  make  their  own  reflections.  He 
added  that  the  grants  of  1655  and  1664,  were  a  mere  toleration,  and 

*  See  Appendix,  No.  2, 
46* 


546  History  of  the  Christian  Church. 

that  the  Waldenses  had  no  positive  right  to  exercise  their  religious  pro- 
fession— that  sovereigns  do  no  injustice  in  refusing  to  allow  more  than 
one  religion  in  a  country,  and  that  the  Swiss  Cantons  themselves  jus- 
tified the  conduct  of  his  royal  highness,  hy  not  enduring  Roman  Catho- 
lics among  them.  Besides,  the  concessions  granted  to  the  Waldenses 
had  been  legally  examined,  and  it  was  agreed,  that  the  concessions  and 
favours  which  a  prince  grants  to  his  subjects,  he  is  at  liberty  to  revoke 
at  pleasure — that  his  royal  highness  prohibited  nothing  to  the  Wal- 
denses but  the  exercise  of  their  religious  profession,  but  that  he  in  no 
respect  intended  to  force  their  consciences  ! 

The  ambassadors  in  reply  told  the  Marquis  of  St.  Thomas,  that 
however  strong  his  royal  highness's  reasons  were  to  consent  to  his 
edict  of  January  last,  they  could  not  annul  those  that  necessarily  en- 
gaged him  to  observe  the  promises  given  before  this  edict.  That  some 
considerations  of  state  ought  not  to  dispense  a  prince  from  performing 
his  word,  especially  if  he  entered  into  this  engagement  by  the  media- 
tion of  another  sovereign  ;  and  that  whereas  the  patents  and  concessions 
granted  to  the  inhabitants  of  the  Valleys  had  been  acquired  by  the  in- 
tercession of  several  kings,  princes,  and  states,  and,  in  particular,  of 
their  excellencies  the  protestant  Cantons,  and  confirmed  by  his  royal 
highness,  he  could  allege  nothing  sufficient  to  discharge  him  from  the 
obligation  of  seeing  them  punctually  observed  ;  and  the  rather,  because 
these  patents  have  been  enrolled  by  the  parliament  of  Savoy ;  and  that 
the  enrolling  of  the  year  1620  alone,  had  cost  the  churches  of  the  Val- 
leys six  thousand  crowns. 

They  urged  that  the  concessions  granted  by  the  predecessors  of  his 
royal  highness  to  the  inhabitants  of  the  Valleys,  did  acquire  them  an 
incontestible  right,  which  they  could  not  lose  but  by  an  enormous 
crime,  and  by  a  rebellion  against  their  lawful  sovereign,  and,  that  far 
from  being  guilty  of  any  want  of  their  duty,  they  could  produce  a  letter 
of  his  royal  highness,  of  the  2d  of  September,  1684,  which  is  an  au- 
thentic and  glorious  proof  of  the  fidelity  and  inviolable  adherence  which 
they  had  always  shown  to  their  prince's  interest.  That  if,  after  the 
publication  of  the  last  edict,  some  particular  persons  amongst  them  had 
taken  up  arms,  they  had  not  done  it  to  make  use  of  them  against  their 
sovereign,  but  only  to  defend  themselves  against  those  that,  abusing  his 
authority,  had  undertaken  to  attack  and  insult  them ;  and  that  in  case 
there  had  been  some  disorders  committed,  those  that  were  the  authors 
ought  to  be  punished;  but  that  it  ought  not  to  be  imputed  to  the  whole 
body  of  the  churches  of  the  Valleys,  that  were  in  no  respects  guilty 
of  it. 

They  insisted  that  the  prince  was  equally  obliged  to  execute  the 
promises  he  had  made  to  his  subjects,  as  those  which  regarded  persons 
who  are  in  no  manner  under  his  submission.  That  such  obligations 
were  grounded  upon  public  faith  and  honour,  which  ought  to  rule  in 
all  treaties  of  sovereigns,  without  distinction  ;  that  if  it  were  allowable 
to  fail  in  what  they  had  solemnly  promised  to  their  people,  it  would 
be  impossible  to  terminate  differences  that  should  arise  between  them, 
or  to  appease  the  troubles  that  might  happen  in  their  state;  and  that 
two  parties  making  war  on  one  another,  would  never  end  their  quarrels, 
but  be  the  total  ruin  of  one  of  them. 


Pleas  of  the  Swiss  for  the  Waldenses.  547 

They  added  to  this,  that  sovereigns  had  reason  to  employ  their  utmost 
endeavours  to  unite  their  subjects  in  the  same  religion  ;  but  that  to  effect 
it,  they  ought  not  to  violate  treaties  which  had  been  formerly  made  with 
them.  That  all  that  was  allowed  them  in  such  a  case,  was,  to  em- 
ploy instruction  and  exhortation,  and  all  the  winning  ways  of  sweetness, 
that  are  calculated  to  make  truth  enter  into  the  minds  of  their  people, 
to  enlighten  their  understandings,  and  move  them  to  embrace,  with 
good  will,  the  true  religion  ;  but  that  which  deserved  a  particular  con- 
sideration in  this  contest  is,  that  the  inhabitants  of  the  Valleys  did  not 
hold,  by  the  concessions  of  their  princes,  the  liberty  to  exercise  in  pub- 
lic their  religion;  because  it  was  established  in  this  country  above  eight 
centuries  ago ;  and  that  they  enjoyed  this  right  long  before  they  were 
the  subjects  of  his  royal  highness's  ancestors;  insomuch  that  having 
never  been  of  the  same  religion  as  their  prince,  it  could  not  be  said  that 
they  had  abandoned  it,  nor  he  oblige  them  to  return  to  it. 

These  reasons,  and  many  others  which  were  adduced,  were  so  strong, 
that  the  ambassadors  hoped  they  would  have  some  effect  on  his  royal 
highness's  mind ;  and  that  the  Marquio  of  St.  Thomas  would  be  pleased 
to  make  them  known  to  him,  and  employ  the  credit  which  he  had  with 
him,  to  obtain  the  revoking  of  an  edict  which,  without  doubt,  he  had 
thought  to  be  just,  and  which  he  would  not  have  published,  if  he  had 
been  persuaded  that  it  was  contrary  to  what  a  just  and  equitable  sove- 
reign owes  to  his  faithful  subjects. 

But  they  did  not  merely  content  themselves  in  representing  the  right 
of  the  Piedmontese  churches,  and  supporting  it  by  solid  reasons ;  for 
they  employed  several  days  in  soliciting  all  the  ministers  of  his  royal 
highness,  and  all  persons  they  judged  capable  of  contributing  to  the  suc- 
cess of  their  embassy  :  above  all  they  stuck  close  to  the  Marquis  of  St. 
Thomas,  as  one  upon  whom  depended  all  the  good  and  all  the  evil  they 
could  expect  in  this  affair;  and  if  we  judge  of  things  by  appearance,  the 
pains  they  took  to  dispose  him  to  be  favourable  to  them  were  not  al- 
together unsuccessful.  For  he  protested  upon  oath,  that  he  had  laid 
before  his  royal  highness  the'contents  of  the  reply  which  he  had  been 
charged  to  present  to  him;  that  he  had  done  all  he  could  to  make  him 
sensible  of  the  reasons  they  made  use  of  to  obtain  the  revoking  of  the 
edict;  but  that  the  Juncture  of  affairs  was  the  reason  why  he  could  not 
persuade  his  royal  highness  to  grant  them  their  requests.  "  Neverthe- 
less," added  he,  "whereas  the  prince's  troops  are  not  yet  upon  the 
march,  the  inhabitants  of  the  valleys  may  make  a  show  as  if  they  were 
willing  to  execute  the  edict,  because  that  such  a  conduct  is  not  contrary 
to  the  maxims  of  your  religion,  and  by  these  means  they  will  disarm 
the  prince,  and  they  may  find  afterwards  some  means  to  prevent  the 
evils  they  are  threatened  with." 

"  Our  doctrine,  answered  the  ambassadors,  does  in  no  respect  coun- 
tenance the  dissembling  of  our  faith,  or  oblige  us  to  profess  before  men 
the  truth  whereof  our  hearts  are  not  persuaded.  But  this  is  not  our 
business  at  present;  the  question  is  to  know  whether  his  royal  highness 
could  lawfully  revoke  the  concessions  granted  to  the  churches  of  the 
Valleys.  For  as  they  are  engagements  into  which  he  has  entered  by 
the  mediation  of  several  sovereigns,  and  amongst  others,  by  that  of  the 


548  History  of  the  Christian  Church. 

Swiss  Cantons,  our  sovereign  lords,  it  is  evident  that  nothing  can  war- 
rant him  in  breaking  them." 

In  answer  to  all  these  pleas,  the  ministers  of  the  prince  gave  the 
ambassadors  to  understand,  that  the  council  of  state  having  examined 
them,  judged  they  were  not  strong  enough  to  hinder  the  prince  from 
publishing  his  edict  against  his  subjects  of  the  Valleys  :  and  that  sup- 
posing the  edict  should  really  cause  some  inconvenience  to  his  royal 
highness,  he  would  nevertheless  not  desist  from  it,  for  fear  a  change  of 
this  nature  should  be  injurious  to  his  authority;  and  that  endeavouring 
to  preserve  some  of  his  subjects,  he  might  run  the  hazard  to  lose  them 
all.  And  though  the  ministers  wished  to  be  thought  firm  in  their  senti- 
ments, and  to  show  they  were  not  convinced  of  the  justice  of  the  de- 
mands the  ambassadors  made,  it  was  well  known  that  they  defended 
the  edict  against  their  own  opinion  ;  for  one  of  them  frankly  confessed, 
that  his  royal  higlmess's  counsellors  had  not  properly  examined  the 
concessions  of  the  years  1655  and  1G64,  and  that  if  they  had  made  the 
necessary  reflections  on -them,  they  would  never  have  advised  the  prince 
to  revoke  them ;  but  he  assured  them,  that  the  evil  was  now  without 
remedy,  and  that  all  the  solicitations  of  the  ambassadors,  to  oblige 
the  prince  to  change  his  will,  would  be  in  vain;  indeed,  one  of  the 
ministers  frankly  confessed,  that  the  prince  was  not  master  of  this 
affair,  and  that  they  executed  at  Turin  those  orders  that  were  given 
at  Versailles. 

This  honest  confession  convinced  the  ambassadors  that  all  their  soli- 
citations would  produce  no  effect;  therefore  seeing  it  would  be  impos- 
sible for  them  to  obtain  the  revocation  of  the  edict,  they  thought  fit, 
according  to  the  chief  head  of  their  instructions,  to  demand  that  which 
related  to  the  second  article  of  the  orders  which  they  had  received  from 
their  sovereigns,  viz.  to  procure  the  inhabitants  of  the  Valleys  the 
means  of  retreating  somewhere  else,  and  of  disposing  of  their  goods  as 
they  should  think  fit. 

But  as  their  instruction  was,  to  make  no  proposals  to  the  court  of 
Turin,  on  this  point,  except  with  the  consent  of  the  inhabitants  of  the 
Valleys,  they  told  the  Marquis  of  St.  Thomas  that  having,  for  several 
reasons,  entertained  no  correspondence  with  them,  they  were  willing 
to  take  a  journey  into  the  Valleys,  to  inform  themselves  exactly  of  the 
disposition  of  the  people,  and  when  acquainted  with  their  intentions,  to 
make  some  overtures  of  a  new  negotiation.  But  they  gave  him  to 
understand,  at  the  same  time,  they  would  by  no  means  undertake  the 
journey,  except  with  his  royal  higlmess's  full  consent. 

The  Marquis  of  St.  Thomas,  having  acquainted  his  royal  highness 
with  the  design  of  the  ambassadors,  sent  them  word  that  he  approved 
of  their  intentions,  and  that  he  would  give  orders  to  the  governor  of 
Lucerne  to  do  them  all  the  honour,  and  to  show  them  all  the  respect, 
that  was  due  to  their  character. 

When  the  ambassadors  arrived  in  the  Valleys,  they  acquainted  all 
the  communities  with  their  arrival,  who  despatched  immediately  two 
deputies  and  two  ministers  to  them,  to  whom  they  represented,  that 
they  had  employed  their  utmost  endeavours  to  cause  the  edict  of  the 
31st  day  of  January,  to  be  revoked,  but  that  all  their  pleading  had  been 


The  Wcddenses  deliberate.  549 

unsuccessful:  that  it  had  been  given  them  to  understand,  that  his  royal 
highness  was  so  much  engaged  with  one  of  the  most  powerful  monarchs 
in  the  world,  that  it  was  impossible  for  him  to  break  it:  and  that  he 
was  resolved  to  use  all  his  endeavours  to  unite  his  subjects  in  the  same 
religion,  as  he  had  promisee]  to  do. 

There  were,  therefore,  no  hopes  left  of  obtaining  the  revocation  of 
the  orders  that  had  been  given  against  them.  That  their  sovereign 
lords  had  commanded  them,  in  case  his  royal  highness  should  persist 
in  his  resolution  to  execute  his  edict,  that  thev  should  demand  his  per- 
mission to  give  them  leave  to  retreat  out  of  his  territories,  and  to  dis- 
pose of  their  goods  ;  but  that  they  were  unwilling  to  enter  into  any 
negotiation  upon  this  article,  without  being  first  informed  of  their  in- 
tentions about  it.  That,  therefore,  they  should  assemble  to  deliberate 
seriously  about  so  important  an  affair,  and  acquaint  them  afterwards 
what  they  desired  of  them  in  the  present  juncture. 

The  deputies  and  ministers  having  conferred  together  about  this  pro- 
position, before  they  resolved  upon  any  thing,  they  entreated  the  am- 
bassadors to  assist  them  with  their  best  advice  and  prudent  counsel; 
but  the  ambassadors  declined  to  advise  them  in  so  intricate  a  business, 
telling  them  they  were  better  acquainted  with  their  own  forces ;  with 
the  situation  of  the  places  where  they  intended  to  intrench  themselves  ; 
with  their  ammunition  and  provisions,  than  they  were ;  and  that,  there- 
fore, they  themselves  could  adopt  the  best  measures  about  it. 

The  ministers  and  deputies  finding  that  they  could  not  agree  amongst 
themselves,  and  that,  besides,  it  was  a  business  which  could  not  be  de- 
cided but  by  their  commonalties  ;  told  the  ambassadors,  that  the  case 
in  question  being  of  the  greatest  importance,  they  could  take  no  reso- 
lutions about  it  without  having  first  assembled  all  their  commonalties 
to  consult  upon  it,  and  they  promised  to  bring  to  them  at  Turin  their 
last  resolutions,  provided  they  could  get  passports  for  them. 

The  ambassadors  returned  to  Turin,  and  informed  the  Marquis  of 
St.  Thomas  of  the  success  of  their  journey,  who  assured  them  that 
this  negotiation  was  very  agreeable  to  the  court.  They  then  demand- 
ed a  safe  conduct,  that  some  of  the  inhabitants  of  the  valleys  might 
have  liberty  to  come  and  bring  the  deliberations  that  should  be  taken 
in  this  assembly  :  but  it  was  refused  under  two  pretences  ;  one  was, 
that  the  Duke  of  Savoy  would  not  permit  that  any  Waldenses  should 
appear  at  his  court :  the  other  was,  that  he  designed  to  do  nothing 
in  this  affair  but  only  for  the  sake  of  the  ambassadors.  They  were 
forced,  therefore,  to  send  the  secretary  of  the  embassy  into  the  val- 
leys and  fetch  these  deliberations.  This  secretary  found  the  com- 
munities assembled  at  Angrogne,  the  28th  of  March,  very  much  un- 
resolved what  course  to  take;  for,  on  one  side,  they  saw  the  la- 
mentable consequences  of  war ;  on  the  other  side,  the  dangers  and 
almost  insurmountable  difficulties  in  the  execution  of  their  retreat. 
Besides,  although  they  might  depart  without  danger,  they  could  not 
contemplate,  but  with  extreme  regret,  the  hardship  of  being  forced 
to  abandon  their  goods  and  native  country  to  go  into  a  foreign  land 
to  lead  a  miserable,  disconsolate,  and  wandering  sort  of  life.  At  last 
they  resolved   to   send   a  memorial   to   the   ambassadors,  stating  the 


550  History  of  the  Christian  Church. 

dangers  and  difficulties  that  obstructed  their  departure,  and  wrote  a  let- 
ter to  them  signed  by  nine  ministers  and  eight  laymen,  in  which,  after 
having  entreated  them  to  reflect  on  these  obstacles,  they  declared,  that 
they  would  refer  the  whole  to  their  prudence  and  conduct.  Upon  re- 
ceiving this  letter  the  ambassadors  made  it  their  business  to  obtain  per- 
mission for  the  Waldenses  to  retire  out  of  the  estates  of  Piedmont, 
and  to  make  sales  of  their  goods  ;  but  the  Duke  of  Savoy,  to  whom 
this  proposition  was  referred,  answered,  that  before  he  would  return 
any  reply  thereto,  he  expected  that  the  communities  of  the  valleys 
should  send  deputies  to  him  with  full  power  to  make  those  submissions 
that  were  due  to  him,  and  to  beg  leave  to  depart  out  of  his  territories, 
as  a  peculiar  favour  that  they  should  implore  of  their  prince.  The 
ambassadors  had  reason  to  be  surprised  at  this  preamble.  They  had 
denied  them  the  safe  conduct  that  they  had  demanded  for  the  coming 
of  the  deputies  of  the  valleys  to  Turin.  They  had  assured  them  seve- 
ral times,  that  if  they  should  grant  to  the  Waldenses  leave  to  retreat,  it 
was  only  upon  the  account  and  at  the  intercession  of  the  ambassadors : 
nevertheless,  they  would  by  no  means  have  it  said,  that  the  ambassa- 
dors desired  permission  for  them  to  depart,  on  their  own  behalf;  but, 
on  the  contrary,  that  it  was  the  Waldenses  themselves  that  made  this 
request.  This  alteration  was  not  without  cause,  and  it  was  not  for  no- 
thing that  they  now  adopted  measures  altogether  different  from  the  for- 
mer. The  council  of  the  propagation  who  managed  this  affair,  had 
without  doubt  respect  to  these  two  several  points  ;  one  was,  that  they 
would  not  have  the  ambassadors  named  in  the  permission  of  departure, 
to  the  end  that  they  should  have  the  less  right  to  demand  the  execu- 
tion of  those  things  that  should  be  promised  to  the  Waldenses ;  the 
other,  that  the  Waldenses  themselves  desiring  this  permission  as  a  fa- 
vour, they  might  be  at  liberty  to  impose  on  them  what  conditions  they 
pleased  ;  and  lastly,  that  the  Waldenses  making  those  submissions  that 
the  duke  required  of  them,  must  needs  be  in  the  state  of  supplicants, 
and  would  by  consequence,  be  forced  to  lay  down  their  arms  ;  other- 
wise they  could  not  be  in  the  condition  of  petitioners.  But  however 
it  were,  the  ambassadors,  willing  to  take  away  every  pretext  from  the 
enemies  of  the  Waldenses,  took  a  safe  conduct  to  bring  up  the  depu- 
ties whom  they  demanded :  they  sent  this  safe  conduct  into  the  valleys 
by  the  secretary  of  the  embassy,  who  caused  the  communities  to  be 
assembled  to  nominate  their  deputies.  But  as,  on  the  one  hand,  there 
were  many  who  never  engaged  in  the  design  of  departing:  and  that, 
on  the  other,  the  new  marches  of  their  enemies  appeared  suspicious, 
the  communities  were  not  all  of  one  mind,  nor  the  orders  they  gave  to 
their  respective  deputies  conformable  one  with  another.  For  the  tenor 
of  some  was  to  beg  leave  to  depart  and  to  sell  their  goods  ;  while 
others  required  the  maintenance  of  the  exercise  of  their  religion  and 
their  other  rights.  These  deputies  being  arrived  at  Turin,  the  ambas- 
sadors thought  it  not  convenient  for  them  to  appear  at  court  thus  di- 
vided ;  but  sent  them  back  into  the  valleys  to  endeavour  a  union  be- 
tween themselves,  and  laboured  in  the  mean  time  to  obtain  a  truce  for 
them.* 

•  See  Appendix,  No.  7. 


A  new  Edict  issued.  551 

Their  enemies  heard,  with  great  satisfaction,  that  the  communities 
were  divided  among  themselves  upon  the  point  of  departing ;  they 
were  so  well  persuaded  that  this  division  would  he  an  infallible  means 
to  destroy  them,  that  they  caused  it  to  be  carried  on  and  fomented,  by 
perfidious  persons  whom  they  had  gained  for  that  purpose.  It  is  also 
to  be  presumed,  that  they  never  had  proposed  the  expedient  of  depart- 
ing, but  with  a  prospect  that  it  might  be  the  occasion  of  the  disunion 
of  the  Waldenses.  To  take  advantage  therefore,  of  the  various  dispo- 
sitions of  the  communities,  their  enemies  changed  their  minds  once 
more.  They  had  lately  declared,  thai  they  expected,  in  the  first  place, 
that  the  Waldenses  should  themselves  desire  permission  to  depart,  and 
should  make  their  submission  thereon.  The  Waldenses  had  not  made 
this  request  nor  these  submissions  :  several  of  the  communities  were 
not  of  the  opinion  to  retire  :  the  ambassadors  did  not  solicit  any  longer 
a  permission  to  depart,  but  a  truce,  as  appears  by  a  letter  which  they 
wrote  to  the  Marquis  of  St.  Thomas,  the  8th  of  April,  1686.  In  the 
mean  time,  notwithstanding  all  this,  to  accomplish  absolutely  the  divi- 
sion of  the  Waldenses,  and  consequently  to  ruin  them  with  the  greater 
ease,  they  published,  unknown  to  the  ambassadors,  an  edict,  dated  the 
9th  of  the  same  month  of  April,  granting  to  the  Waldenses  an  amnes- 
ty, and  permission  to  retire  out  of  the  state  of  Piedmont.* 

This  edict  was  published  in  the  valleys  the  11th  of  April,  the  same 
day  on  which  the  ambassadors  wrote  a  letter  to  the  same  effect  to 
some  of  the  communities  to  know  their  resolution.  In  the  meantime 
they  gave  in  a  very  pressing  memorial  to  the  Marquis  of  St.  Thomas, 
to  obtain  some  assurance  that  the  troops  should  not  enter  into  the 
valleys,  and  to  gain  for  the  Waldenses  certain  conditions  more  favoura- 
ble than  those  of  the  edict  :t  but  the  court  of  Turin  assured  them  that 
there  was  nothing  to  be  expected  for  the  Waldenses,  till  they  had  laid 
down  their  arms,  of  which  the  ambassadors  gave  advice  to  the  deputies 
of  the  valleys  who  had  been  at  Turin,  by  a  letter  dated  the  13th,  which 
they  wrote  to  them  on  that  subject.^  On  the  14th  the  communities 
held  a  general  assembly  at  Rocheplatte,  when,  having  examined  the 
terms  and  conditions  of  the  edict,  they  were  of  opinion,  that  their 
enemies  thought  of  nothing  less  than  in  reality  to  permit  the  departure 
which  they  pretended  to  grant  to  them,  and  that  this  edict  was  nothing 
but  a  snare  that  they  had  laid  to  entangle  them,  and  to  destroy  them 
with  more  ease :  they  resolved  therefore  not  to  accept  of  it,  but  to 
follow  the  example  of  their  ancestors,  and  to  refer  the  event  of  it  to 
Providence.  In  fact,  this  edict,  which  was  designed  altogether  to 
divide  them,  wrought  a  quite  contrary  effect,  and  served  much  to  unite 
them  in  the  same  judgment. 

The  principal  reasons  that  hindered  them  from  accepting  this  edict, 
were,  first,  that  as  it  ordains  the  entire  execution  of  the  order  of  the 
31st  of  January,  which  condemned  all  the  churches  to  be  demolished, 
they  must  of  necessity  demolish  all  their  churches  within  eight  days, 
because  the  edict  declares  expressly,  that  if  every  thing  contained  in  it 

*  See  Appendix,  No.  9.  f  Appendix,  No.  12. 

i  Appendix,  No.  13. 


552  History  of  the  Christian  Church. 

be  not  executed  within  the  space  of  eight  days,  they  are  deprived  of 
and  forfeit  those  favours  that  are  stipulated  in  it.  It  must  follow  then, 
that  for  the  execution  of  the  edict,  either  that  the  Waldenses  them- 
selves should  demolish  their  churches,  or  that  their  enemies  should  do 
it.  The  Waldenses  could  not  resolve  to  demolish  them  themselves, 
and  therefore  they  would  have  sent  for  troops,  which,  under  the  pre- 
text of  this  demolishing,  would  have  infallibly  oppressed  the  Wal- 
denses. Secondly,  if  they  designed  to  permit  them  retire  without 
disturbance,  why  did  they  not  defer  the  execution  of  the  order  of  the 
31st  of  January,  till  after  their  departure?  Why  should  they  oblige 
them  to  demolish  their  churches,  within  the  eight  days  that  were 
given  them  to  prepare  themselves  to  abandon  for  ever  their  native 
country,  were  it  not  to  render  their  retreat  impossible  ?  Thirdly,  this 
edict  further  requires,  that  they  should  lay  down  their  arms,  and  that 
they  should  open  their  country  to  monks,  missionaries,  and  Catholics. 
Now  it  is  plain  that  if  they  had  thrown  away  their  arms,  and  opened 
their  country  before  their  departure,  they  would  have  been  exposed  to 
the  mercy  of  their  enemies,  and  to  the  fury  of  troops  who  would  not 
have  failed  to  enter  into  their  country,  to  oppose  the  retreat  of  the 
Waldenses,  and  to  torment  them  till  such  time  as  they  had  changed 
their  religion,  as  had  been  practised  elsewhere:  but  their  fear  was  so 
much  the  more  justifiable  on  this  occasion,  in  regard  that  they  gave 
them  no  assurance  that  their  troops  should  not  enter  into  the  valleys. 
Fourthly,  the  Waldenses  were  also  obliged  to  retire  in  three  separate 
brigades,  and  to  rendezvous  in  those  places  where,  the  troops  being 
encamped,  they  must  consequently  surrender  themselves  to  the  discre- 
tion of  the  soldiers ;  and  deliver  themselves  up  to  be  butchered. 
Fifthly,  the  permission  which  the  same  edict  gives  to  the  Waldenses 
to  sell  their  goods,  was  altogether  useless  to  them.  For  besides  that 
the  sale  could  not  be  made  to  Catholics,  till  after  their  departure,  and 
by  the  management  of  commissioners,  they  were  bound,  out  of  the 
price  of  the  said  goods,  to  indemnify  the  monks,  the  missionaries,  the 
ancient,  the  modern,  and  the  future  Catholics,  for  whatever  damages 
they  should  pretend  to,  which  they  would  have  enhanced  above  the 
value  of  their  goods.  Sixthly,  the  edict  also  ordered,  that  besides 
those  that  should  go  out  of  the  valleys  of  their  own  accord,  the  prince 
should  reserve  to  himself  a  power  to  banish  whom  he  should  think  fit 
for  securing  the  repose  of  those  that  remain,  which  supposes  not  only 
that  the  conditions  of  the  edict  were  so  disadvantageous,  that  there 
would  be  many  Waldenses  who  would  not  accept  them,  nor  depart  out 
of  their  station;  but  also  that  their  departure  ought  not  to  be  looked 
upon  as  a  favour,  but  as  a  punishment  that  they  intended  to  inflict  on 
several  Waldenses;  since  they  reserved  to  themselves  a  power  to 
banish  those  who  should  have  a  mind  to  stay.  Seventhly,  the  ambas- 
sadors were  not  named  in  the  edict,  and  the  Waldenses  had  no  security 
for  the  execution  of  those  things  that  were  therein  contained.  They 
had  good  reasons  then  very  much  to  mistrust  these  proceedings,  since 
the  sad  experience  they  had  on  several  occasions  how  ill  their  enemies 
kept  their  word,  especially  in  this  juncture,  when  they  had  broken  the 
most  inviolable  laws,  were  but  too  just  a  ground  for  their  suspicions. 


The  Duke  prepares  for  an  Attack.  553 

Lastly,  since  the  Duke  of  Savoy  had  declared  that  he  was  not  the 
master  of  this  affair,  because  of  the  engagements  which  he  had  entered 
into  with  the  king  of  France,  it  was  not  to  be  presumed  that  the  latter 
monarch,  on  whom  tin's  matter  depended,  would  take  any  milder  mea- 
sures, in  respect  of  the  Waldenses,  than  those  he  had  taken  with 
regard  to  his  own  subjects.  The  Waldenses  had  also  several  other 
reasons  grounded  on  the  impossibility  of  their  departure  in  so  short  a 
time,  and  upon  other  obstacles. 

The  communities  sent  their  resolution  to  the  ambassadors,  who 
used  all  the  exertions  imaginable  to  procure  for  the  Waldenses  condi- 
tions more  certain,  and  more  advantageous  than  those  that  are  contained 
in  the  edict ;  but  neither  their  reasons  nor  their  solicitations  produced 
any  effect.  They  were  always  told,  that  as  long  as  the  AValdenses 
were  in  arms,  they  could  not  agree  to  any  thing,  nor  so  much  as 
promise  any  thing  positively.  On  the  other  hand,  the  Waldenses 
being  persuaded  that  they  would  not  disarm  them  but  to  destroy  them 
without  trouble  and  without  resistance,  could  by  no  means  yield  to  it, 
and  persisted  in  their  resolution  to  defend  themselves,  if  they  came  to 
attack  them. 

A  circumstance  transpired  at  this  time  that  served  much  to  confirm 
them  in  this  resolution.  Two  or  three  days  after  the  publication  of  the 
edict,  several  inhabitants  of  the  Valleys  went  to  the  superintendent,  to 
declare  to  him,  that  they  and  their  families  intended  to  quit  Piedmont 
conformably  to  the  edict,  and  to  desire  of  him  safe  conducts,  which  he 
refused  them  under  the  pretence  that  they  ought  to  stay  till  they  went 
out  with  the  rest.  Moreover,  because  there  were  several  that  resisted 
his  solicitations  to  change  their  religion,  he  caused  them  to  be  put  in 
prison,  where  some  of  them  languished  and  at  last  died,  and  others  re- 
mained there  above  nine  months  viz.  till  the  time  when  all  the  other 
prisoners  were  discharged.  There  needed  no  other  proof  to  make  it 
appear  that  their  design  was  to  destroy  the  Waldenses,  who  would  not 
change  their  religion.  However,  the  communities  of  the  Valleys  hav- 
ing received  a  letter  from  the  ambassadors,  called  another  assembly  at 
Rocheplatte,  the  19th  of  April:  they  persisted  in  their  resolution  not  to 
comply  with  the  edict,  but  to  defend  themselves.  It  was  then  ordered 
in  that  assembly,  that  all  the  ministers  should  preach,  and  administer 
the  sacrament  the  following  Sunday.  The  Valley  of  St.  Martin  entered 
into  this  deliberation  with  the  rest,  but  put  it  not  into  execution.  Some 
of  that  Valley  changed  their  minds  without  acquainting  the  other  Val- 
leys of  it.  And  the  elders  of  the  church  of  Villeseche  wrote  to  the  am- 
bassadors, who  were  yet  at  Turin  upon  the  point  of  their  departing,  a 
letter  dated  the  20th  of  April,  wherein  they  declared  to  them,  that  they 
would  execute  the  edict,  and  entreated  them,  for  that  reason  to  procure 
for  them  a  safe  conduct,  and  time  to  provide  for  their  retreat.  One  of 
the  ambassadors  took  the  pains  to  go  to  the  camp  to  demand  a  safe  con- 
duct ;  but  they  denied  it,  under  pretence  that  they  had  not  desired  it  in 
time.  It  was  always  too  soon  or  too  late,  and  the  time  was  never  con- 
venient to  grant  safe  conducts.  In  the  mean  time  the  Duke  of  Savoy 
arrived  at  the  camp  some  days  after  the  publication  of  the  edict,  hoping 
probably  he  might  strike  terror  into  the  Waldenses  by  his  presence,  and 
47 


554  History  of  the  Christian  Church. 

force  them  to  sccept  of  the  conditions  that  he  had  imposed  on  them. 
He  had  made  a  review  of  his  troops,  and  of  those  of  France  that  were 
encamped  on  the  plain  at  the  foot  of  the  Alps  ;  his  own  army  was  com- 
posed of  his  family,  all  the  cavalry  and  infantry,  and  the  militia  of 
Mondovi,  of  Barjcs,  of  Bagnols,  with  a  great  number  of  foreigners. 
And  the  army  of  France  consisted  of  several  regiments  of  horse  and 
dragoons,  of  seven  or  eight  battalions  of  foot  that  had  passed  the  moun- 
tains, and  a  part  of  the  garrisons  of  Pignerol  and  CasaJ.  The  duke  had 
also  made  the  necessary  preparations  for  attacking  the  Waldenses,  as 
soon  as  the  truce  that  was  granted  them  should  expire,  having  appointed 
his  own  army  to  storm  the  Valley  of  Lucerne  and  the  community  of 
Angrogne ;  and  the  army  of  France  to  attack  the  Valleys  of  St.  Martin 
and  Perouse.  The  Waldenses,  on  the  other  hand,  had  taken  some 
pains  to  defend  themselves.  They  possessed  only  a  part  of  the  Valley 
of  Lucerne ;  for  the  tower  that  gave  name  to  this  Valley,  and  many 
other  considerable  places,  were  in  the  enemy's  hand.  The  community 
of  Angrogne,  from  which  some  call  the  valley  by  the  same  name,  by 
reason  of  its  large  extent,  was  not  wholly  occupied  by  the  Waldenses. 
In  the  Valley  of  Perouse  they  took  up  only  certain  posts  in  the  places 
that  depend  on  the  state  of  Piedmont ;  for  this  valley  is  divided  by  the 
river  Cluson  between  the  King  of  France  and  the  Duke  of  Savoy;  but 
they  were  in  possession  of  all  the  Valley  of  St.  Martin,  being  the 
strongest  of  all  by  its  situation.  They  had  fortified  themselves  in  every 
one  of  those  Valleys  with  several  intrenchments  of  earth  and  dry  stones. 
They  were  about  two  thousand  five  hundred  men  bearing  arms;  they 
appointed  captains  and  officers  of  the  chiefest  among  themselves,  for 
they  had  no  foreigners,  and  they  waited  the  approach  of  the  enemy 
with  great  resolution.  But  as  on  the  one  hand  they  had  neither  regular 
troops,  nor  captains,  nor  experienced  officers ;  and  that,  on  the  other, 
there  were  several  Waldenses  who  had  been  corrupted,  or  that  had  re- 
lented during  the  negotiation  ;  it  is  not  to  be  wondered  at  if  they  took 
not  all  the  necessary  precautions  that  were  in  their  power.  One  of  the 
greatest  faults  they  committed  was,  their  striving  to  maintain  all  their 
posts :  for  if  they  had  abandoned  the  most  advanced,  and  had  retired 
within  the  intrenchments  they  had  made  in  the  mountains,  it  is  not 
likely  they  would  have  been  beaten  out  of  them. 

On  the  22d  of  April,  being  the  day  appointed  for  the  attack,  the 
French  army  commanded  by  Catinat,  governor  of  Casal,  marched  two 
hours  before  day,  by  torch-light,  against  the  Valleys  of  Perouse  and  St. 
Martin,  having  for  some  time  followed  the  river  Cluson  on  the  king's 
territories.  Catinat  sent  out  a  detachment  of  infantry,  commanded  by 
Vellevieille,  lieutenant-colonel  in  Limosin,  who  having  passed  the  river 
over  a  bridge,  entered  into  the  Valley  of  Perouse  on  the  side  of  Pied- 
mont. He  seized  on  St.  Germain,  a  village  that  the  Waldenses  had 
abandoned,  and  proceeded  to  attack  an  intrenchment  that  they  had 
made  hard  by,  in  which  there  were  two  hundred  men.  The  Waldenses 
quitted  this  post  after  some  resistance,  and  took  possession  of  another 
more  advantageous.  In  the  mean  time  a  new  detachment  of  horse  and 
yellow  dragoons  having  again  passed  the  river,  came  to  relieve  the  foot 
who  had  begun  the  engagement.  They  used  their  utmost  efforts  to  gain 


Hostilities  in  Piedmont.  555 

the  intrenchments  of  the  Waldenses,  of  which  they  thought  easily  to 
become  masters,  since  they  were  six  to  one ;  but  they  found  so  stout  a 
resistance,  that  after  having  lost  many  of  their  soldiers,  they  were 
forced  to  intrench  themselves  at  a  pistol  shot  distance ;  continual 
firings  were  kept  up  on  both  sides  for  more  than  ten  hours  together; 
but  at  length  the  Waldenses  went  out  of  their  intrenchments  with  their 
swords  in  their  hands,  surprised  the  French,  who  little  expected  so  bold 
an  action,  and  drove  them  even  into  the  plain  on  the  other  side  of  the 
Cluson,  where  opportunely  they  found  a  bridge  that  kept  them  from 
being  drowned.  There  were,  on  this  occasion,  more  than  five  hundred 
Frenchmen  killed  and  wounded,  and  among  the  rest  several  officers  of 
note,  though  the  Waldenses  had  but  two  men  killed  and  some  few 
wounded. 

While  things  passed  thus  in  Perouse,  the  body  of  the  king's  army 
repassed  the  Cluson  to  the  fort  of  Perouse  on  the  side  of  France,  where 
Catinat  formed  a  detachment  of  horse  commanded  by  Melac,  who  hav- 
ing passed  the  river  by  two  bridges,  fetched  a  compass  about  to  gain 
the  high  grounds  that  separate  the  Valley  of  St.  Martin  fromDauphiny. 
The  rest  of  the  army  having  likewise  passed  the  river,  went  to  encamp 
with  Catinat  atBolards  part  of  the  night,  and  the  next  day  attacked  the 
Valley  of  St.  Martin  at  a  village  called  Rioclaret.  But  as  those  who  had 
the  command  in  that  valley  did  not  think  that  they  would  molest  them, 
after  they  had  shown  their  inclination  to  accept  of  the  amnesty,  espe- 
cially as  the  day  appointed  for  their  departure  out  of  that  valley  was 
not  fixed;  the  Waldenses  were  not  in  a  condition  to  defend  themselves 
nor  to  make  any  resistance,  but  consented  to  lay  down  their  arms,  and 
implore  the  pity  and  compassion  of  the  conqueror.  But  the  French 
being  enraged  with  what  had  passed  before  St.  Germain,  were  not  con- 
tent merely  to  burn,  ravish,  and  pillage,  but  they  massacred  without 
distinction  of  age  or  sex,  with  unparalleled  fury  all  that  could  not  escape 
their  barbarous  cruelty.  Catinat  having  ravaged  all  the  country  of  Rio- 
claret after  a  most  horrid  manner,  left  some  troops  in  the  Valley  of  St. 
Martin,  traversed  with  the  body  of  his  army  the  mountains  that  sepa- 
rate this  valley  from  that  of  Perouse,  and  encamped  without  any  oppo- 
sition, in  the  community  of  Pramol  in  the  Valley  of  Perouse;  the  sol- 
diers notwithstanding  put  to  the  edge  of  the  sword  all  that  fell  into  their 
hands,  without  respect  to  women  or  children,  to  the  aged  or  the  sick. 
In  the  mean  time  the  detachment  that  Melac  commanded,  having  en- 
camped one  night  on  the  eminences  of  the  Valley  of  St.  Martin,  entered 
through  divers  passages  into  that  valley,  unknown  to  any  but  the  inha- 
bitants of  the  country.  Wherever  he  passed  he  left  the  marks  of  an 
unheard  of  cruelty,  and  joined  the  main  body  of  the  army  that  was  en- 
camped  at  Pramol.  I  shall  not  here  give  an  account  of  the  atrocities 
that  were  exercised  on  these  and  many  other  occasions:  it  will  be  suffi- 
cient to  relate,  in  the  sequel,  some  instances  whereby  one  may  judge 
of  the  rest. 

It  is  necessary  to  interrupt  the  relation  of  the  actions  of  the  French 
in  the  Valley  of  Perouse,  because' there  happened  things  in  the  Valleys 
of  Lucerne  and  Angrogne  that  ought  to  be  previously  known. 

The  army  of  the  Duke  of  Savoy  having  rendezvoused  at  the  plain 


556  History  of  the  Christian  Church. 

of  St.  John  the  22d  of  April,  was,  the  next  day,  divided  into  several 
bodies,  to  attack  different  intrenchments  that  the  Waldenses  had  made 
in  the  Valleys  of  Lucerne  and  Augrogne.  The  Waldenses  not  being 
able  to  resist  the  enemy's  cannon  in  the  posts  that  were  too  open, 
where  the  horse  might  also  draw  up,  were  forced,  after  some  resist- 
ance, to  abandon  a  part  of  these  intrenchments,  and  to  withdraw  into 
a  fort  that  was  more  advantageous  above  Angrogne,  where  they  found 
themselves  to  be  nearly  five  hundred  men.  The  enemy  having  burnt 
all  the  houses  that  they  found  in  their  way,  came  to  storm  this  fort  of 
the  Waldenses,  who  received  them  so  warmly  with  their  muskets  and 
stones,  and  defended  themselves  so  vigorously  against  this  great  body, 
that  they  kept  their  post  all  that  day  without  the  loss  of  more  than 
five  men;  the  enemy  lost  above  three  hundred,  though  they  were 
covered  with  an  intrenchment  beyond  pistol  shot.  The  Waldenses 
fearing  that  they  should  not  be  able  to  keep  this  fort  any  longer,  by 
reason  that  the  troops  increased,  passed  into  another  an  hundred  paces 
beyond  it,  in  a  more  convenient  place,  where  they  waited  with  great 
resolution  the  army  that  advanced  to  attack  them ;  when  the  next  day, 
being  the  24th  of  April,  they  were  informed  that  the  Valley  of  St. 
Martin  had  surrendered,  and  that  the  French  were  coming  on  their 
rear ;  for  from  that  valley  there  is  an  easy  passage  to  those  of  Lucerne 
and  Angrogne.  This  news  obliged  the  Waldenses  to  treat  with  Don 
Gabriel  of  Savoy,  uncle  to,  and  general  of  the  armies  of,  the  Duke  of 
Savoy,  and  with  the  rest  of  the  general  officers,  who  having  understood 
the  mind  of  his  royal  highness,  promised  positively  on  his  part  and 
on  their  own,  that  the  Waldenses  should  be  absolutely  pardoned,  and 
that  they  should  be  admitted  to  the  terms  of  the  order  of  the  9th  of 
April,  provided  they  would  deliver  themselves  up  to  his  clemency : 
but  the  Waldenses  making  some  difficulty  to  confide  in  this  promise, 
Don  Gabriel,  Avho  had  notice  of  it,  sent  them  a  note  written  and 
signed  with  his  own  hand  in  the  name  of  his  royal  highness,  to  this 
effect,  "Lay  down  your  arms  immediately,  and  submit  yourselves  to 
his  royal  highness's  clemency;  in  so  doing,  assure  yourselves  that  he 
will  pardon  you,  and  that  your  persons  and  those  of  your  wives  and 
children  shall  not  be  touched."  An  assurance  of  this  nature  might 
give  full  satisfaction  to  the  Waldenses  for  the  security  of  their  lives 
and  liberties.  For,  besides  that  this  promise  was  made  in  the  name 
and  on  the  part  of  the  duke;  on  the  other  hand,  though  it  had  been 
made  only  by  Don  Gabriel  and  the  general  officers,  it  ought  not  to  be 
less  inviolable.  The  Waldenses,  therefore,  laid  down  their  arms, 
relying  on  his  promise,  and  the  greatest  part  of  them  went  and  surren- 
dered themselves  to  their  enemies  believing  that  they  should  be  quickly 
released.  But  all  those  that  yielded  themselves  into  their  hands,  were 
made  prisoners,  and  carried  to  the  city  of  Lucerne,  under  pretence  of 
leading  them  to  his  royal  highness  to  make  their  submissions.  Their 
enemies  also  seized  all  the  posts  that  the  Waldenses  possessed  in  the 
community  of  Angrogne  ;  they  were  not  content  to  plunder,  to  pillage, 
and  to  burn  the  houses  of  these  poor  people,  but  they  also  caused  a 
great  number  of  the  Waldenses  of  every  age  and  sex  to  be  put  to  the 
sword;  they  ravished  abundance  of  women  and  virgins,  and,  in  fine, 


Hostilities  in  Piedmont.  557 

committed  actions  so  barbarous  and  brutal,  that  they  are  enough  to 
strike  horror  into  the  minds  of  all  that  have  any  shame  or  sense  of 
humanity  left.  There  were,  nevertheless,  many  Waldenses,  who  after 
this  compromise  dispersed  themselves  up  and  down,  not  being  willing 
to  deliver  themselves  into  the  hands  of  their  enemies,  till  they  had 
heard  what  became  of  the  first  that  did  so.  But  seeing,  on  the  one 
hand,  that  the  army  exercised  all  manner  of  outrage  wherever  it  came, 
and,  on  the  other,  that  all  those  that  had  surrendered  themselves  were 
detained,  they  hid  themselves  in  the  woods,  and  sent  a  petition  to  Don 
Gabriel,  to  entreat  the  release  of  their  brethren  whom  they  kept  in 
hold  contrary  to  their  word  and  to  cause  a  cessation  of  hostilities 
which  the  armies  executed  after  so  barbarous  a  manner.  Don  Gabriel 
returned  no  answer  to  this  request ;  but  certain  officers  replied,  that 
they  carried  the  Waldenses  to  Lucerne,  for  no  other  cause  but  to  ask 
forgiveness  of  his  royal  highness,  and  that  afterwards  they  should  be 
released.  In  the  meantime  Don  Gabriel  caused  the  highest  places  of 
the  Valley  of  Angrogne,  to  be  gained  by  part  of  his  army,  who  finding 
no  more  opposition,  came  as  far  as  the  tower,  being  the  most  conside- 
rable fort  of  the  Waldenses,  in  which  they  had  the  greatest  part  of 
their  cattle.  The  Marquis  de  Parella,  who  commanded  this  body  of 
the  array,  gave  the  Waldenses  to  understand,  that  a  peace  being  con- 
cluded by  the  capitulation  of  Angrogne,  he  offered  to  them  the  enjoy- 
ment of  the  fruits  of  the  said  peace.  He  assured  them  to  this  effect, 
on  the  word  and  honour  of  a  gentleman,  that  if  they  would  deliver 
themselves  into  his  hands,  their  persons,  and  those  of  their  wives  and 
children,  should  be  preserved  harmless ;  that  they  might  carry  away 
with  them  whatever  they  chose,  without  fear  of  having  any  thing  taken 
away  from  them  ;  that  they  had  nothing  to  do  but  to  come  to  Lucerne 
to  make  their  submissions  to  his  royal  highness ;  and  that,  upon  this 
condition,  those  that  were  willing  to  turn  Catholics,  might  return  with 
all  safety  to  their  houses  and  goods,  and  those  that  would  go  out  of  the 
estates  of  Piedmont,  should  have  liberty  to  depart  conformably  to  the 
order  of  the  9th  of  April.  The  Waldenses  that  were  in  the  field  and 
in  the  tower  surrendered  themselves  upon  the  credit  of  these  promises, 
but  they  were  no  better  performed  than  the  other :  for  their  enemies 
were  no  sooner  entered  within  the  bounds  of  the  tower,  than  not  only 
all  that  belonged  to  the  Waldenses  was  given  up  to  the  plunder  of  the 
soldiers  and  of  the  banditti  of  Mondovi,  their  mortal  enemies,  who 
enriched  themselves  with  their  spoils;  but  those  poor  people,  the 
greatest  part  of  whom  consisted  of  old  men,  sick  persons,  and  of 
women  and  children,  were  made  prisoners,  with  some  ministers  who 
were  among  them,  and  all  hurried  along  so  violently,  that  those  who, 
through  age  or  infirmity,  could  not  march  as  fast  as  the  soldiers  would 
have  them,  had  their  throats  cut,  or  were  flung  headlong  down 
precipices. 

In  the  Valley  of  Perouse,  the  French  committed  almost  the  same 
outrages  that  the  duke's  troops  had  done  at  Angrogne  and  at  the  tower 
in  the  Valley  of  Lucerne.  They  were  encamped  in  a  quarter  of  the 
community  of  Pramol,  called  La  Rua,  distant  about  half  an  hour's 
march  from  another  quarter,  called  Peumian,  where  a  party  of  the 
47* 


558  History  of  the  Christian  Chitrch. 

communities  of  Pramol,  St.  Germain,  Perustin,  and  Rocheplatte  were 
retreated,  to  the  number  of  fifteen  hundred  persons,  men,  women,  and 
children.  The  French  might  easily  make  a  descent  from  their  quar- 
ters to  St.  Germain,  and  carry  away  the  two  hundred  Waldenses  who 
had  so  valiantly  defended  themselves  before,  and  were  retreated  within 
their  intrenchments  :  but  they  being  informed  of  the  loss  of  the  Valley 
of  St.  Martin,  and  of  the  enemy's  march,  quitted  this  entrenchment, 
fearing  lest  they  should  be  surprised  in  it,  and  went  into  Peumian 
with  their  brethren.  Here  they  were  consulting  how  they  might 
defend  themselves  against  the  French  who  prepared  to  attack  them, 
when  certain  inhabitants  of  the  valleys,  who  had  revolted  to  the  enemy, 
came  and  assured  them  that  the  Valleys  of  Angrogne  and  Lucerne  had 
already  submitted  to  their  prince's  discretion,  who  had  pardoned  them, 
and  referred  them  to  the  terms  of  the  order  of  the  9th  of  April.  They 
told  them  also,  that  he  only  wanted  them  to  put  an  end  to  a  war,  the 
weight  whereof  they  were  not  able  to  sustain  alone,  and  to  procure  for 
themselves  an  advantageous  peace.  This  news  having  in  part  broke 
the  measures  of  the  Waldenses,  they  sent  deputies  and  a  drummer  to 
treat  with  the  general  of  the  French  army,  who  desired  nothing  more 
tli an  a  proposition  of  peace.  He  told  them  that  his  royal  highness's 
intention  was  to  pardon  them,  and  promised  them  positively  on  the 
part  of  the  prince  and  on  his  own  behalf,  the  lives  and  liberties  of  the 
Waldenses,  with  a  permission  to  return  with  all  security  to  their 
houses  and  goods,  provided  they  would  readily  lay  down  their  arms: 
and  whereas  the  deputies  represented  to  him  that  they  feared  lest  the 
French,  being  exasperated  with  what  had  passed  at  St  Germain, 
should  revenge  themselves  on  the  Waldenses  when  they  were  dis- 
armed; he  made  great  protestations  to  them,  and  confirmed  them  with 
oaths,  that  although  the  whole  army  should  pass  by  their  houses,  yet 
they  should  not  kill  so  much  as  a  chicken.  This  proposition  being 
made,  Catinat  detained  with  him  one  of  the  deputies,  and  sent  back 
the  others  to  give  notice  to  the  Waldenses,  and  to  oblige  all  them  that 
were  dispersed  to  meet  together  the  next  day,  being  the  25th  of  April, 
at  Peumian,  to  the  end  that  every  one  might  return  to  his  house  after 
they  were  informed  of  the  peace. 

While  the  Waldenses  were  gathering  together  their  scattered  families 
at  Peumian,  Catinat  gave  an  account  of  this  capitulation  to  Don  Gabriel, 
who  sent  a  courier  to  him  in  the  evening,  and  he  passing  through  Peu- 
mian assured  the  Waldenses  that  he  brought  peace ;  and  the  next  day, 
on  his  return,  told  them  that  the  peace  was  concluded.  They  were  so 
well  persuaded  of  it,  that  they  had  laid  down  their  arms  the  day  before, 
observing  the  conditions  of  the  treaty,  and  confiding  wholly  in  Catnait's 
promises.  In  these  circumstances  they  were  expecting  the  news  at 
Peumian,  when  there  arrived  one  of  the  king's  officers  from  the  garri- 
son of  the  fort  of  Perouse,  with  several  dragoons  with  him.  This  offi- 
cer, who  was  very  well  known  to  the  Waldenses,  repeated  to  them  the 
assurances  of  peace,  and  caused  the  men  to  be  put  in  one  quarter,  and 
the  women  and  children  in  another.  The  French  troops  being  arrived 
at  the  same  time,  told  the  men  that  they  had  orders  to  lead  them  to  their 
own  houses,  and  caused  them  to  march  four  by  four.     These  poorpeo- 


TFaldenses  imprisoned.  559 

p]e  being  now  forced  to  leave  their  wives  and  their  daughters  exposed 
to  the  discretion  of  the  soldiers,  were  conducted,  not  to  their  houses,  as 
they  had  been  told,  but  to  Don  Gabriel,  who  was  encamped  on  the 
mountain  of  Vachiere,  and  he  gave  orders  for  them  to  be  conveyed  to 
Lucerne  as  prisoners  of  war !  In  the  meantime  the  females  were  sub- 
jected to  all  the  abominable  treatment  that  the  rage  and  lust  of  brutish 
soldiers  could  invent.  Not  satisfied  with  plundering  them  of  their  pro- 
perty, these  barbarians  violated  the  persons  of  both  married  women  and 
maidens,  in  a  manner  that  modesty  forbids  our  relating ;  and  several 
were  put  to  death  merely  for  resisting  in  defence  of  their  honour. 
Mons.  Catinat  was  not  present  when  these  atrocities  were  perpetrated 
at  Peumian.  He  left  the  management  of  this  affair  to  certain  of  his  of- 
ficers, no  doubt  that  he  might  be  out  of  the  way  of  hearing  the  com- 
plaints which  the  Waldenses  would  have  made  to  him,  and  not  choos- 
ing to  be  a  spectator  of  these  barbarous  proceedings.  It  is  certain, 
however,  that  besides  those  that  were  put  to  death,  and  others  that 
escaped  by  flying  to  the  woods  and  mountains,  from  the  persecution  of 
these  monsters,  numbers  were  dragged  to  prison  after  a  most  inhuman 
manner. 

The  Valley  of  Perouse  being  now  reduced  like  the  rest  by  the  capi- 
tulation of  Peumian,  a  detachment  of  the  French  army  quitted  it  and 
proceeded  to  join  Don  Gabriel  at  la  Vachiere.  And  now,  having  com- 
pleted their  work,  the  conquered  Waldenses  were  collected  from  all 
parts  of  Piedmont,  and  lodged  in  different  prisons  or  castles  under  pre- 
tence of  leading  them  to  his  royal  highness  to  ask  his  pardon  and  ob- 
tain their  liberation.  But  this  furnished  their  unfeeling  adversaries  with 
a  fresh  opportunity  of  displaying  their  inhumanity.  The  utmost  pre- 
caution was  taken  to  separate  the  different  branches  of  the  same  family  ! 
The  husband  was  carefully  parted  from  his  wife,  and  the  parent  from 
his  child — thus  depriving  them  of  those  means  of  succour  and  consola- 
tion which  the  ties  of  consanguinity  naturally  inspire.  By  this  piece 
of  refined  cruelty  they  no  doubt  hoped  to  find  the  victims  of  their  per- 
fidy and  malice  the  less  able  to  withstand  temptation,  or  endure  the  evils 
they  had  in  store  for  them.  Those  that  could  ill  bear  the  wretchedness 
of  a  close  confinement,  were  to  be  consumed  with  the  corroding  anxiety 
and  regret  which  must  result  from  being  separated  from  their  dearest 
earthly  connections.  There  were,  indeed,  a  great  number  of  children, 
wrhom  they  did  not  send  to  prison,  but  dispersed  them  throughout  Pied- 
mont in  private  houses  :  but  this  was  a  piece  of  Jesuitical  craftiness,  for 
they  hoped  by  that  means  to  get  them  the  more  readily  instructed  in 
the  principles  of  the  Catholic  religion. 

.  But  I  must  not  prosecute  this  melancholy  narrative  more  in  detail, 
though  what  has  now  been  laid  before  the  reader  can  only  be  considered 
as  a  sample  of  the  harvest.  Dreadful  as  were  the  proceedings  which 
took  place  in  the  massacre  in  1655,  as  detailed  in  a  former  section  of 
this  work,  they  do  not  appear  by  any  means  to  have  surpassed  in 
enormity  the  cruelties  inflicted  upon  the  Waldenses  in  1686.*     Those 

*  A  pretty  circumstantial  relation  of  these  things  is  to  be  found  in  several  pub- 
lications which  appeared  at  the  time,  and  particularly  in  two  tracts  now  before 


560  History  of  the  Christian  Church. 

who  deny  the  existence  of  the  devil  and  his  agency  in  prompting  the 
human  race  to  destroy  one  another,  if  they  could  account  for  the  infernal 
cruelties  that  are  related  to  have  been  now  inflicted  by  the  Catholics  on 
the  poor  Waldenses,  simply  on  the  principle  of  human  depravity,  must 
necessarily  entertain  a  much  worse  opinion  of  human  nature  than  the 
writer  of  these  pages  has  yet  been  able  to  bring  himself  to  adopt.  He 
can,  indeed,  admit  much  that  militates  against  the  dignity  of  human 
nature  in  its  lapsed  state,  but  he  can  only  account  for  the  monstrous 
cruelties  that  were  perpetrated  on  a  class  of  his  fellow-creatures,  the 
most  harmless  and  inoffensive  that  ever  inhabited  the  earth,  on  the 
principle  of  the  active  agency  of  "the  prince  of  the  power  of  the  air, 
the  spirit  that  worketh  in  the  children  of  disobedience" — he  was  "  a 
murderer  from  the  beginning" — "  that  old  serpent,  which  is  the  devil 
and  Satan" — the  grand  adversary  of  God  and  man.  The  present  was 
his  hour  and  the  power  of  darkness ;  but  to  return  from  this  digression. 

The  armies  of  France  and  Savoy,  having  inhumanly  butchered  a 
multitude  of  the  Waldenses,  committed  more  than  twelve  thousand  of 
them  to  prison,  and  dispersed  two  thousand  of  their  children  among 
the  Catholics ;  concluding  that  their  work  was  accomplished,  they 
caused  all  their  property  to  be  confiscated.  And  thus  were  the  Valleys 
of  Piedmont  depopulated  of  their  ancient  inhabitants,  and  the  light  of 
the  glorious  gospel  extinguished  in  a  country  where,  for  many  pre- 
ceding centuries,  it  had  shone  with  resplendent  lustre. 

In  the  month  of  September,  1686,  the  Swiss  Cantons  convened  a 
general  assembly  at  Aran,  to  deliberate  on  the  condition  of  those  who 
were  either  imprisoned  or  in  a  state  of  exile  in  Piedmont ;  and  they 
came  to  the  resolution  of  sending  deputies  to  demand  from  the  duke  the 
release  of  all  that  were  conlined,  and  the  privilege  of  quitting  the  coun- 
try. The  latter,  probably  by  this  time  glutted  with  human  carnage, 
signed  a  treaty,  in  consequence  of  which  the  prisons  were  set  open, 
and  leave  given  to  such  as  had  survived,  to  depart  peaceably,  through 
that  part  of  Savoy  which  borders  upon  Berne  and  the  territory  of  Ge- 
neva. But  a  bare  recital  of  the  miseries  which  the  prisoners  had  suf- 
fered during  their  confinement,  is  sufficient  to  sicken  the  heart.  More 
than  ten  thousand  persons  were  distributed  among  fourteen  prisons  or 
castles  in  Piedmont.  They  were  fed  for  months  upon  bread  and  wa- 
ter— the  former,  in  which  were  often  found  lime,  glass,  and  filth  of  va- 
rious kinds,  was  so  bad  as  scarcely  to  deserve  the  name ;  while  the 
latter,  in  many  instances  brought  from  stagnant  pools,  was  scarcely  fit 
for  the  use  of  cattle.  Their  lodging  was  upon  bricks  or  filthy  straw. 
The  prisons  were  so  thronged  that,   during  the  heat  of  the  summer 

me,  from  which  the  materials  of  this  section  are  drawn.  The  first  is  entitled, 
"  The  History  of  the  Persecution  of  the  Valleys  of  Piedmont,  containing  an  account 
of  ivhat  passed  in  the  dispersion  of  the  churches,  in  the  year  1686."  Printed  in  4to. 
London,  1688.  (See  pp.  31—35.)  The  other  is  entitled,  "  The  State  of  Savoy, 
in  which  a  full  and  distinct  account  is  given  of  the  Persecution  of  the  Protesta7its, 
by  means  of  the  French  counsels."  4to.  London,  1691.  To  this  last  mentioned 
work  I  am  indebted  for  the  valuable  documents  which  the  reader  will  find  in  the 
Appendix.  Both  the  publications  are  so  rare  that  I  have  not  been  able  to  meet 
with  a  second  copy  of  either  of  them. 


Reception  of  the  Waldenses  at  Geneva.  561 

months,  they  became  intolerable,  and  deaths  were  daily  taking  place. 
Want  of  cleanliness  necessarily  engendered  diseases  among  them — 
they  became  annoyed  with  vermin,  which  prevented  their  sleep  either 
by  night  or  day.  Many  women  in  child-bearing  were  lost  for  the  want 
of  the  care  and  comforts  necessary  to  such  a  situation,  and  their  in- 
fants shared  the  same  fate. 

Such  was  the  state  of  these  afflicted  and  persecuted  creatures,  when 
the  Duke  of  Savoy's  proclamation  was  issued  for  releasing  them.  It 
was  now  the  month  of  October ;  the  ground  was  covered  with  snow 
and  ice ;  the  victims  of  cruelty  were  almost  universally  emaciated 
through  poverty  and  disease,  and  very  unfit  for  the  projected  journey. 
The  proclamation  was  made  at  the  castle  of  Mondovi,  for  example: 
and  at  five  o'clock  the  same  evening  they  were  to  begin  a  march  of 
four  or  five  leagues  !  Before  the  morning  more  than  a  hundred  and 
fifty  of  them  sunk  under  the  burden  of  their  maladies  and  fatigues,  and 
died.  The  same  thing  happened  to  the  prisoners  at  Fossan.  A  com- 
pany of  them  halted  one  night  at  the  foot  of  Mount  Cenis  ;  when  they 
were  about  to  march  the  next  morning,  they  pointed  the  officer  who 
conducted  them  to  a  terrible  tempest  upon  the  top  of  the  mountain,  be- 
seeching him  to  allow  them  to  stay  till  it  had  passed  away.  The  in- 
human officer,  deaf  to  the  voice  of  pity,  insisted  on  their  marching ; 
the  consequence  of  which  was,  that  eighty -six  of  their  number  died, 
and  were  buried  in  that  horrible  tempest  of  snow.  Some  merchants 
that  afterwards  crossed  the  mountains,  saw  the  bodies  of  these  misera- 
ble people  extended  on  the  snow,  the  mothers  clasping  their  children 
in  their  arms  ! 

It  is  but  an  act  of  justice,  however,  to  add  that,  in  some  {e\v  in- 
stances, the  officers  who  conducted  the  different  troops  of  Waldenses  out 
of  the  country,  treated  them  with  more  humanity.  Their  own  histo- 
rians admit  the  fact,  and  it  ought  to  be  recorded,  that  some  took  a  par- 
ticular care  of  them  :  and  certainly  the  picture  that  is  drawn  of  their 
deplorable  condition,  is  such  as  was  well  calculated  to  melt  the  most 
unfeeling  heart  to  tenderness.  The  greater  part  of  them  were  almost 
naked  and  without  shoes;  and  they  all  bore  such  striking  marks  of  suf- 
fering and  wretchedness  that  the  very  sight  of  them  was  enough  to 
pierce  the  heart.  Those  who  survived  the  journey,  arrived  at  Geneva 
about  the  middle  of  December,  but  in  such  an  exhausted  state,  that  se- 
veral expired  between  the  two  gates  of  the  city,  "  finding  the  end  of 
their  lives  in  the  beginning  of  their  liberty."  Others  were  so  be- 
numbed with  cold  that  they  had  not  power  to  speak ;  many  staggered 
from  faintness  and  disease,  while  others  having  lost  the  use  of  their 
limbs  were  unable  to  lift  up  their  hands  to  receive  the  assistance  that 
■was  tendered  them. 

At  Geneva  they  experienced  that  kind  and  hospitable  reception  which 
was  due  to  them  as  their  fellow-creatures,  and  more  especially  as  their 
persecuted  Christian  brethren.  They  clothed  the  naked,  fed  the  hun- 
gry, succoured  the  afflicted,  and  healed  the  sick.  But  what  pen  can  de- 
scribe the  affecting  scene  which  now  took  place,  while  they  halted  at 
Geneva  for  rest  and  refreshment,  before  they  proceeded  forward  into 
Switzerland!     Those  who  arrived  first,  naturally  went  out  to  meet 


562  History  of  the  Christian  Church. 

those  that  came  after,  anxiously  inquiring  for  their  relations  and  friends, 
of  whom  they  had  heard  nothing  since  the  fatal  catastrophe  in  the  Val- 
leys of  Piedmont.  The  father  inquired  after  his  child,  and  the  child 
after  its  parent — the  husband  sought  his  wife,  and  the  latter  her  partner 
in  life.  Every  one  endeavoured  to  gain  some  intelligence  of  his  friend 
or  neighbour;  but  as  three-fourths  of  them  had  died  in  prison  or  on 
the  road,  it  exhibited  a  melancholy  spectacle  to  see  so  many  dissolved 
in  tears  at  the  distressing  accounts  they  received.  Their  principal 
earthly  comfort  now  arose  from  the  hospitable  kindness  of  the  people 
of  Geneva,  who  flocked  around  them  and  evinced  such  solicitude  to 
conduct  them  to  their  own  homes,  that  the  magistrates  of  the  city 
were  obliged,  in  order  to  prevent  confusion  and  disorder,  to  issue  an  in- 
junction, prohibiting  any  from  going  out  of  the  city.  There  was  a  noble 
emulation  who  should  entertain  the  most  sick,  or  those  that  were  most 
afflicted.  They  received  them  not  merely  as  strangers  in  distress,  but 
as  Christian  brethren,  who  brought  peace  and  spiritual  blessings  into 
their  families.  All  that  needed  clothing,  were  either  supplied  by  those 
that  lodged  them,  or  by  the  Italian  Bank,  the  directors  of  which,  from 
first  to  last,  evinced  all  the  marks  of  tender  compassion,  and  of  disin- 
terested kindness. 

But  it  was  not  only  at  Geneva  that  the  Waldenses  met  with  this 
kind  and  hospitable  treatment.  The  Cantons  of  Switzerland  opened 
to  them  their  country,  and  not  their  country  only,  but  their  hearts  and 
affections  also.  The  conduct  of  the  Swiss,  indeed,  was  so  noble  and 
disinterested  throughout  the  whole  of  this  distressing  period,  that  it 
would  be  unjust  to  their  memory  to  pass  it  over  with  a  slight  mention.* 
Perhaps  the  best  way  of  evincing  my  own  impartiality  will  be  to  lay 
before  the  reader  the  testimony  of  Dr.  Burnet,  who  in  his  Letters  from 

*  It  would  seem  that  the  Valleys  of  Piedmont  were  not  the  only  spot  in  which 
the  disciples  of  Christ  were,  at  this  period,  the  subject  of  persecution.  The 
following  passage  in  Dr.  Burnet's  Second  Letter,  written  from  Switzerland,  in 
1685,  lately  struck  my  attention  in  glancing  over  that  entertaining  performance. 

"In  April,  1685,  about  five  hundred  persons,  of  different  sexes  and  ages, 
passed  through  Coire  (a  town  in  Switzerland)  who  gave  this  account  of  them- 
selves. They  were  inhabitants  of  a  valley  in  Tirol,  belonging  mostly  to  the 
archbishopric  of  Saltzburg — a  remnant  of  the  old  JValdenses.  They  worshipped 
neither  images  nor  saints;  and  they  believed  the  sacrament  (of  the  Lord's  sup- 
per) was  only  a  commemoration  of  the  death  of  Christ;  and  in  many  other  points 
they  had  their  opinions  different  from  those  of  the  church  of  Rome.  They  knew 
nothing  of  either  Lutherans  or  Calvinists  ,•  and  the  Orisons,  though  their  neigh- 
bours, had  never  heard  of  this  nearness  of  theirs  to  the  Protestant  religion.  The 
archbishop  of  Saltzburg  hearing  of  them,  sent  some  persons  into  the  country  to 
examine  them,  and  to  exhort  them  to  return  to  mass,  and  to  threaten  them  with 
all  possible  severity  if  they  continued  obstinate.  Perceiving  a  terrible  storm 
ready  to  break  upon  them,  they  resolved  to  abandon  their  houses  and  all  that 
they  had,  rather  than  sin  against  their  consciences:  and  the  whole  inhabitants  of 
the  valley,  old  and  young,  to  the  number  of  two  thousand,  divided  themselves  into 
several  bodies;  some  intended  to  go  to  Brandenburgh,  others  to  the  Palatinate, 
and  about  five  hundred  took  the  road  to  Coire,  intending  to  disperse  themselves 
in  Switzerland.  The  Swiss  ministers  told  me  they  were  much  edified  by  their 
simplicity  and  modesty;  for,  a  collection  being  made  for  them,  they  desired  only 
a  little  bread  to  carry  them  on  their  way."  Burnet's  Letters,  p.  87 — S9.  Amst. 
1686. 


Mndness  of  the  Swiss  Cantons.  563 

Italy,  written,  as  it  were,  at  the  very  moment,  and  from  the  very  scene 
of  action,  thus  proceeds  : — 

"  There  is  one  thing  for  which  the  Swiss,  and  those  of  the  Canton 
of  Berne  in  particular,  cannot  be  sufficiently  commended.  Ever  since 
the  persecution  commenced  in  France  (alluding  to  the  revocation  of  the 
edict  of  Nantz)  they  have  opened  a  sanctuary  to  such  as  retired  thither 
in  so  generous  and  Christian  a  manner,  that  it  merits  all  the  honourable 
remembrance  that  can  be  made  of  it.  The  ministers  and  others  that 
had  been  condemned,  not  only  found  here  a  kind  reception,  but  all  the 
support  that  could  be  expected,  and,  indeed,  much  more  than  could  rea- 
sonably have  been  expected.  They  assigned  to  the  French  ministers 
a  salary  of  five  crowns  per  month,  if  single,  and  increased  it  to  such  as 
have  wives  and  families,  so  that  some  have  been  allowed  more  than  ten 
crowns  a  month. — And  in  this  last  total  and  deplorable  dispersion  of 
the  churches,  the  whole  country  has  been  animated  with  such  a  spirit 
of  love  and  compassion,  that  every  man's  house  and  purse  has  been 
opened  to  the  refugees,  who  have  passed  thither  in  such  numbers  that 
sometimes  there  have  been  more  than  two  thousand  in  Lausanne  alone, 
and  of  these  there  were,  at  one  time,  nearly  two  hundred  ministers ; 
and  they  all  met  with  a  kindness  and  frankness  of  heart  that  looked 
more  like  the  primitive  age  revived,  than  the  degenerate  age  in  which 
we  live."* 

Here,  however,  I  think  I  may  pause  and  draw  this  narrative  towards 
a  conclusion,  which  I  shall  do  by  offering  a  few  obvious  reflections  on 
the  whole  of  this  interesting  history.  And  the  first  thing  that  suggests 
itself  is,  that,  however  we  may  be  inclined  to  blame  the  conduct  of  the 
Duke  of  Savoy,  that  of  Louis  XIV.  who  compelled  him  to  these  san- 
guinary proceedings,  is  entitled  to  our  chief  condemnation.  Referring 
to  this  final  extirpation  of  the  Waldenses  from  Piedmont,  our  country- 
man, Dr.  Burnet,  who  was  then  making  the  tour  of  the  Continent,  has 
the  following  remarks,  in  a  letter,  which  he  dates  from  Turin,  to  a 
friend  in  this  country: 

"  I  will  not  engage,"  says  he,  "  in  a  relation  of  this  last  affair  of  the 
Valleys  of  Piedmont ;  for  I  could  not  find  particulars  enough  to  give 
you  that  so  distinctly  as  you  might  probably  desire  it.  It  was  all  over 
long  before  I  came  to  Turin ;  but  this  I  found,  that  all  the  court  were 
ashamed  of  the  matter;  and  they  took  pains  with  strangers,  not  with- 
out some  affectation,  to  convince  them  that  the  duke  was,  with  great 
difficulty,  forced  into  it — that  he  was  long  pressed  to  it,  by  repeated 
entreaties,  from  the  court  of  France — that  he  excused  himself  from  com- 
plying therewith,  representing  to  the  court  of  France  the  constant  fide- 
lity of  the  Waldenses  ever  since  the  last  edict  of  pacification,  and  their 
great  industry,  so  that  they  were  the  most  profitable  subjects  that  the 
duke  had,  and  that  the  body  of  men  which  they  had  given  his  father  in 
the  last  war  with  Genoa,  had  done  great  service,  for  it  had  saved  the 
whole  army.  But  all  these  excuses  were  unavailable  ;  for,  the  court  of 
France  having  broken  its  own  faith  which  had  been  pledged  to  heretics, 
and  therein  manifested  how  true  a  respect  it  paid  to  the  council  of  Con- 

*  Dr.  Burnet's  Letters  from  Italy,  Letter  I.  p.  57.  and  58. 


564  History  of  the  Christian  Church. 

stance,  now  wished  to  engage  other  princes  to  follow  this  new  pattern 
of  fidelity  which  it  had  set  the  world.  So  the  duke  was  not  only  pressed 
to  extirpate  the  heretics  of  those  Valleys,  but  he  was  also  threatened 
that  if  he  would  not  do  it,  the  king  would  send  his  own  troops  to  extir- 
pate heresy,  for  he  would  not  only  not  suffer  it  in  his  own  kingdom, 
but  he  would  even  drive  it  out  of  his  neighbourhood.  He  who  told  me 
all  this,  knowing  of  what  country  I  was,  added,  that  probably  the 
French  monarch  might  very  soon  send  similar  messages  to  some  others 
of  his  neighbours  ?* 

If  Louis  XIV.  had  any  such  favours  in  contemplation  for  our  own 
country,  as  those  that  are  hinted  at  in  the  conclusion  of  the  foregoing 
paragraph,  Britons  have  reason  to  be  thankful  to  God,  whose  overrul- 
ing providence  frustrated  such  sanguinary  projects: — and  had  the  race 
of  the  Stuarts  continued  to  fill  the  British  throne,  it  is  more  than  pro- 
bable that  the  horrible  scenes  of  Piedmont  had,  indeed,  been  reacted 
among  our  forefathers  in  this  happy  land.  But  the  glorious  revolution 
which  gave  us  a  protestant  monarch,  took  place  in  1688,  the  very  year 
after  Dr.  Burnet  wrote  his  Supplementary  Letters,  from  which  the  fore- 
going extract  is  taken ;  and  happily  saved  us  from  all  danger  of  the 
tyrant's  rage.  And  here,  with  a  few  reflections,  I  close  the  history  of 
the  Waldenses. 

Enough  I  presume,  and  more  than  enough,  has  appeared  in  the  pre- 
ceding pages  to  satisfy  any  unprejudiced  reader,  that  the  extermination 
of  the  churches  of  the  Waldenses  in  Piedmont  was  the  act  of  the  King 
of  France;  or,  if  the  shadow  of  a  doubt  should  exist  upon  that  subject, 
it  must  for  ever  be  removed  by  a  careful  perusal  of  the  Duke  of  Savoy's 
letter  to  the  Duke  of  Orleans,  which  will  be  found  in  the  Appendix  to 
this  volume.t  In  fact,  the  whole  of  the  correspondence  between  the 
court  of  Turin  and  that  of  France,  which  I  have  there  given,  affords 
such  incontestible  proof  of  the  overwhelming  despotism  of  Louis  XIV. 
towards  the  Duke  of  Savoy,  that  the  indignation  which  at  first  sight  one 
is  tempted  to  indulge  against  the  latter,  is  converted  into  pity  and  com- 
passion for  him  ;  and  horrible  as  were  the  transactions  committed  under 
his  reign,  every  liberal  mind  will  regard  him  as  a  sovereign  "  more 
sinned  against  than  sinning."  But  let  a  reflecting  mind  contemplate 
these  events  as  instigated  by  the  counsels  of  France  and  perpetrated  by 
the  power  of  her  arms  :  let  them  be  connected  in  idea  with  the  cruel- 
ties inflicted  upon  the  Protestants  in  France,  in  consequence  of  the  re- 
vocation of  the  edict  of  Nantz,  which  took  place  only  a  few  years  be- 
fore; and  if  he  believe  "  there  is  a  God  who  judgeth  in  the  earth"  he 
Avill  find  little  difficulty  in  tracing  the  hand  of  distributive  justice  in  the 
series  of  calamities  which  have  now,  for  nearly  thirty  years,  afflicted 
that  unhappy  country.  These  are  topics  that  Christians  are  but  too 
apt  to  overlook,  but  they  are  of  serious  import  and  deserve  considera- 
tion. 

*  Dr.  Burnet's  Letters  from  Italy — Supplementary  Letters,  p.  162.     Written 
in  1687,  and  printed  the  following'  year, 
f  See  Appendix.  No.  16. 


Concluding  Remarks.  565 

But  what  shall  we  say  of  the  court  of  Rome,  the  great  moving  spring 
in  all  this  machinery  of  complicated  villany  :  that  "holy  mother  church," 
which  kept  the  conscience  of  Louis  XIV.  and  of  the  other  crowned 
heads,  who,  from  time  to  time,  obsequiously  lent  their  aid  tonnassacre 
the  Waldenses  ?  I  trust  I  may  be  permitted,  without  arrogance,  on  this 
occasion,  to  adopt  the  language  of  an  unknown  writer,  who  reviewed 
the  first  edition  of  this  history.  "  The  narrative  which  we  have  been 
perusing,"  said  this  liberal  and  enlightened  critic,  "leaves  on  the  mind 
impressions  of  the  utmost  detestation  for  the  spiritual  tyranny  exercised 
by  the  court  of  Rome.  Providence  never  made  use  of  so  terrible  a 
scourge  to  chastise  mankind.  No  power  ever  outraged  the  interests  of 
society,  the  principles  of  justice,  and  the  claims  of  humanity,  to  the 
same  extent.  Never  did  the  world  behold  such  blasphemy,  profligacy, 
and  wantonness,  as  in  the  proceedings  of  this  spiritual  domination.  It 
held  the  human  mind  in  chains,  visited  with  exemplary  punishment 
every  inroad  on  the  domains  of  ignorance,  and  sunk  nations  into  a  state 
of  stupidity  and  imbecility.  Its  proscriptions,  massacres,  and  murders, 
and  all  the  various  forms  which  its  cruelties  assumed;  the  miseries 
which  it  heaped  on  the  objects  of  its  vengeance ;  its  merciless  treat- 
ment of  them,  and  the  grasp  of  its  iron  sway,  seemed  at  one  time  to 
leave  no  room  to  hope  for  the  liberation  of  the  human  race ;  and  surely 
nothing  can  appear  more  hideous  than  this  power  in  its  true  colours  : 
it  leaves  the  mind  full  of  horror,  at  its  cruelties."*  In  all  this  I  have 
the  happiness  to  agree ;  and  though  I  have  rarely  ventured  to  express 
myself  in  terms  so  forcible  as  this  writer  has  done,  I  have  no  hesita- 
tion of  saying  in  the  words  of  an  apostle — "  This  witness  is  true." 
Butl  desist:  and  now  take  leave  of  the  subject  with  presenting  to  the 
reader  one  extract  more  from  the  learned  Dr.  Allix. 

"  Never,"  says  this  excellent  writer,  "  did  the  church  of  Rome  give 
a  more  incontestible  evidence  of  her  own  antichristian  spirit,  than  by 
her  insatiable  thirst  after  the  blood  of  those  Christians,  who,  six  hun- 
dred years  ago,  renounced  her  communion :  and  to  allay  which  she 
has  made  the  blood  of  these  poor  innocent  creatures  every  where  to 
run  down  like  rivers  ;  exterminating  by  fire  and  sword,  those  who 
were  not  terrified  by  her  anathemas.  During  this  long  interval  the 
Waldenses  have  ever  been  in  the  condition  of  sheep  led  to  the  slaugh- 
ter, by  their  continual  and  uninterrupted  martyrdoms  maintaining  and 
adorning  tiie  religion  of  Christ  our  Saviour,  which  the  church  of  Rome 
having  forsaken,  now  sought  to  accommodate  to  her  corrupt  and  world- 
ly interests  ;  and  to  the  design  she  had  formed  of  making  it  a  stalking 
horse  to  the  pomp,  lordliness,  and  tyranny  of  her  pope  and  clergy. 

"  Whatever  rellections  the  members  of  the  church  of  Rome  may  in- 
dulge relative  to  the  circumstance  of  God's  having  apparently  relin- 
quished these  poor  churches  to  the  fury  of  their  cannibal  adversaries, 
I  am  fully  persuaded  that  those  who  have  made  the  conduct  of  divine 
Providence  towards  the  primitive  church  their  study,  will  not  be  stum- 
bled at  this  apparent  desertion  of  the  Waldenses,  and  their  being  aban- 
doned to  the  outrageous  cruelty  of  their  persecutors,  nor  regard  the  os- 

*  Monthly  Review,  June,  1814.  p.  204. 
48 


566  History  of  the  Christian  Church. 

tensible  triumphs  of  that  apostate  church  as  any  indication  of  the  weak- 
ness of  the  truth  professed  by  the  Waldenses.  For,  notwithstanding 
the  extreme  rigour  of  their  persecutions,  we  find  that  God  hath  ten- 
derly preserved  them  till  the  Reformation ;  and  though  he  has  often 
exposed  them  to  the  rage  and  barbarous  usage  of  their  persecutors,  yet 
has  he,  from  time  to  time,  afforded  them  such  deliverances  as  have  en- 
abled them  to  continue  until  this  day.  Their  persecutions,  like  those 
of  the  apostolic  churches,  have  only  served  to  procure  martyrs  to 
the  truth  of  the  glorious  gospel,  and  to  disperse  throughout  every  land 
the  knowledge  and  savour  of  that  which  the  Romish  party,  treading  in 
the  steps  of  the  ancient  synagogue,  so  cruelly  persecuted. 

"  Let  the  bishop  of  Meaux  then,  if  he  please,  insultingly  tell  the 
Protestants  to  go  and  look  for  their  ancestors  among  the  Waldenses, 
and  hunt  for  them  in  the  caverns  of  the  Alps.  His  declamation  shall 
never  make  us  forego  one  jot  of  that  tender  veneration  and  respect 
which  we  have  so  justly  conceived  for  this  nursery  and  seed-plot  of 
the  martyrs,  and  for  those  valiant  troops  who  have  so  generously  la- 
vished their  blood  in  defence  of  the  truth  against  all  the  efforts,  all  the 
machinations,  and  all  the  violence  of  the  Roman  Catholic  party.  The 
judgment  that  St.  Hilarius  expresses  in  his  writings  against  Auxentius, 
ought  to  be  sufficient  to  arm  us  against  all  the  cavils  of  those  who 
would  insinuate  that  it  is  impossible  the  church  should  lose  its  purity, 
or  that  this  purity  should  be  preserved  by  churches  reduced  to  caverns 
and  mountains." — "  Of  one  thing  I  must  carefully  warn  you,"  says 
he,  "  beware  of  antichrist !  It  is  ill  done  of  you  to  fall  in  love  with 
walls.  It  is  ill  done  of  you  to  reverence  the  church  of  God  in  build- 
ings and  stately  edifices  ;  it  is  wrong  to  rest  in  these  things.  Can  you 
doubt  that  it  is  on  these  antichrist  will  fix  his  throne  1  Give  me  moun- 
tains, forests,  pits,  and  prisons,  as  being  far  safer  places  ;  for  it  was  in 
these  that  the  prophets  prophesied  by  the  Spirit  of  God."* 

*  Dr.  Allix's  History  of  the  Churches  of  Piedmont,  p.  293—296. 


APPENDIX, 


CONTAINING 


PROOFS   AND   ILLUSTRATIONS. 


No.  1. 

edict  of  the  duke  of  savoy,  for  the  extirpation  of  the  waldenses, 
jan.  31,  1686. 

Victor  Amadeus,  by  the  grace  of  God,  Duke  of  Savoy  and  of  Pied- 
mont, and  King  of  Cyprus. 

Political  as  well  as  Christian  prudence,  advises  us  very  often  to 
neglect,  in  some  manner,  the  ulcers  that  are  not  yet  in  a  condition  to 
be  healed,  and  that  might  be  made  worse  by  a  precipitate  cure.  This 
conduct  has  been  observed  as  well  in  other  monarchies,  as  by  our  most 
serene  predecessors,  who  in  truth  had  never  any  other  design,  than  to 
rescue  their  subjects  professing  the  pretended  Reformed  Religion,  out 
of  the  darkness  of  heresy,  which  by  an  unhappy  vicissitude,  and  a  fatal 
corruption  of  these  times,  had  passed  from  the  very  centre  of  the  Val- 
leys of  Lucerne,  into  the  very  heart  of  Piedmont.  Nevertheless,  by 
reason  of  the  succours  which  the  zealots  of  that  religion  received  from 
foreign  countries,  this  holy  work  could  not  be  brought  to  the  end  we 
so  much  desired ;  insomuch  that  not  having  been  able  to  purge  our 
country  of  this  poison,  we  did  reduce  them  to,  and  shut  them  up  in  the 
Valleys  of  Lucerne,  of  Angrogne,  of  St.  Martin,  of  Cernse,  of  St.  Bar- 
tholomew, of  Roccapiata,  and  of  Parustin  ;  and  by  way  of  toleration, 
we  did  suffer  them  to  exercise  there  their  false  religion,  in  the  limits 
before  prescribed  them,  according  to  the  juncture  of  times,  till  it  should 
please  God  Almighty  to  give  us  a  favourable  opportunity  of  bringing 
back  those  misled  souls  into  the  bosom  of  the  holy  and  only  catholic, 
apostolic,  and  Romish  religion.  Yet  time  has  discovered  how  much 
it  was  necessary  to  cut  off  the  numerous  heads  of  this  hydra,  since  the 
said  heretics,  instead  of  answering  this  favour  with  a  deep  submission, 
and  with  a  sincere  acknowledgment  of  this  kind  toleration,  have  very 
often  made  bold  to  be  disobedient,  to  a  scandal,  and  to  rise  against  their 
own  Sovereign. 


568  Appendix. 

And  because  at  present  the  principal  cause  of  this  said  toleration 
is  now  removed  by  the  zeal  and  piety  of  the  glorious  monarch  of 
France,  who  has  brought  back  to  the  true  faith  his  neighbouring  here- 
tics ;  we  think  the  particular  graces  we  have  received  from  his  divine 
majesty,  and  which  we  enjoy  still,  would  accuse  us  of  the  greatest  in- 
gratitude, if  by  our  negligence  we  should  let  slip  the  opportunity  of 
executing  this  work,  according  to  the  intention  of  our  glorious  prede- 
cessors. It  is  for  this,  and  several  urgent  reasons,  that  by  virtue  of 
this  present  edict,  with  our  full  knowledge,  and  by  our  absolute  power, 
as  also  by  the  advice  of  our  council,  we  have  declared  and  ordered,  and 
do  declare  and  order  by  these  presents,  to  our  subjects  of  the  pretended 
Reformed  Religion,  to  desist  for  the  future  from  all  the  exercise  of  the 
said  religion.  And  we  do  prohibit  them  further,  after  the  publishing 
of  this  edict,  from  holding  any  assemblies  or  conventicles,  in  any  place 
or  particular  house,  to  exercise  the  said  religion,  under  what  title,  pre- 
text, or  occasion  whatsoever,  under  pain  of  their  lives,  and  confiscation 
of  their  goods.  And  we  ordain  also,  that  the  past  pretended  toleration 
be  of  no  effect,  under  what  colour  or  pretence  whatsoever.  Our  will 
is  also,  that  all  the  churches,  granges,  and  houses,  in  which  at  present 
the  said  religion  is  exercised,  shall  be  razed  to  the  /ground  ;  and  also  all 
other  places  in  which  for  the  future  such  assemblies  shall  be  held,  to 
the  prejudice  of  what  the  precedent  articles  contain;  and  this  is  to  be 
executed,  though  the  owners  of  such  places  are  ignorant  thereof.  And 
we  command  accordingly  all  ecclesiastics,  ministers,  and  schoolmasters, 
of  the  said  pretended  Reformed  Religion,  who  in  one  fortnight  after  the 
publishing  this  present  edict,  do  not  effectually  embrace  the  Catholic 
Religion,  shall  retreat  out  of  our  territories  after  the  said  term  be  past, 
under  pain  of  death,  and  confiscation  of  their  goods  ;  with  express  com- 
mand, and  under  the  same  punishment,  not  to  make,  within  the  said 
time,  or  before  their  departure,  any  sermon,  exhortation,  or  any  other 
act  of  the  said  religion.  And  furthermore,  we  forbid,  under  the  said 
punishment,  and  the  forfeiture  of  our  favour,  all  those  that  make  pro- 
fession of  the  pretended  Reformed  Religion,  to  keep  for  the  future  any 
public  or  private  school :  it  being  our  intention,  that  from  this  very  time 
their  children  shall  be  instructed  by  Catholic  schoolmasters.  And  con- 
cerning the  ministers  who  within  the  said  time  shall  embrace  the  Ca- 
tholic Religion,  our  will  and  pleasure  is,  that  during  their  lives,  and 
after  they  are  dead,  their  widows  as  long  as  they  shall  live  unmarried, 
shall  enjoy  the  said  exemptions  and  immunities  which  they  enjoyed 
heretofore,  during  the  exercise  of  their  charge.  And  our  will  is  over 
and  above,  that  to  the  said  ecclesiastics  who  shall  be  made  converts  in 
the  said  manner,  there  shall  be  paid  during  their  life  a  pension  one- 
third  part  larger  than  the  salary  was  which  they  enjoyed  in  quality  of 
being  ministers  of  the  said  religion  ;  and  that  after  their  death  their 
widows  enjoy  one  half  of  the  said  pension  as  long  as  they  shall  continue 
unmarried.  And  concerning  the  children  that  shall  be  born  by  father 
and  mother  of  the  said  pretended  Reformed  Religion,  our  intention  is, 
that  after  the  publishing  this  present  edict,  they  shall  be  baptized  by 
the  priests  of  the  parish  that  are  already,  or  that  shall  be  established  for 
the  future  in  the  said  valleys  :  to  this  purpose,  we  command  their  fathers 


Proofs  and  Illustrations.  569 

and  mothers  to  send  or  bring  them  to  the  churches,  under  pain  of  being1 
sent  five  years  to  the  galleys  for  their  fathers,  and  whipping  for  their 
mothers ;  and  moreover  the  said  children  shall  be  brought  up  in  the 
said  Catholic,  Apostolic,  and  Roman  Religion.  And  we  command  ex- 
pressly all  judges,  bailiff's,  gaolers,  and  other  officers,  to  see  these 
presents  duly  executed.  And  we  do  confirm  also  the  edict  we  have 
published  the  4th  of  November  past,  concerning  the  subjects  of  His 
Most  Christian  Majesty  that  make  profession  of  the  pretended  Reform- 
ed Religion,  and  that  are  to  be  found  in  our  territories,  and  that  have 
left  their  merchandises,  money,  or  other  effects  behind  them  ;  and  con- 
cerning the  other  foreigners  of  the  said  religion,  who,  to  the  prejudice 
of  some  of  our  predecessors'  edicts,  have  established  themselves  in  the 
valleys,  without  their  consent  in  writing,  comprehending  therein  their 
offspring  that  are  born  there  :  we  command,  that  in  case,  within  one 
fortnight  after  the  publishing  this  present  edict,  they  do  not  declare  to 
be  willing  to  embrace  the  Catholic,  Apostolic  and  Roman  Religion,  they 
shall  be  obliged,  if  the  said  term  be  past,  to  retreat  out  of  our  Territories, 
under  pain  of  death,  and  confiscation  of  their  goods.  And  though, 
lawfully,  by  virtue  of  the  said  edicts,  the  goods  which  the  said  foreign- 
ers have  acquired  in  our  territories,  ought  to  be  confiscated  for  our 
royal  treasury  ;  nevertheless  we  are  willing  in  this  case  to  show  our 
accustomed  clemency,  and  to  give  them  leave  to  sell  their  said  goods 
(if  they  please)  within  the  said  term,  and  dispose  of  the  same  as  they 
think  convenient;  yet  upon  these  conditions,  that  the  selling  the  im- 
movable goods  shall  only  be  made  in  favour  of  the  Catholics  ;  but  in 
case  they  shall  find  no  buyer,  they  shall  be  looked  upon  as  sold,  and 
united  to  our  dominions  under  a  reasonable  price.  Finally,  we  com- 
mand all  the  magistrates  established  by  us,  ministers  of  state,  officers, 
judges,  and  all  others  whom  it  concerns,  to  see  this  present  edict  in- 
violably observed  ;  and  so  to  order  the  same,  that  the  council  of  Pied- 
mont may  enrol  it,  and  give  their  full  approbation  of  what  is  contained 
therein.  Moreover,  our  will  is,  that  the  publishing  made  hereof  in  the 
accustomed  places,  and  in  the  ordinary  manner,  shall  have  the  same 
virtue  as  if  it  had  been  made  known  to  every  particular  person ;  and  that 
there  be  the  same  observance  paid  to  the  copy  hereof,  printed  by  Sinibal 
our  printer,  as  to  this  my  original  itself;  for  this  is  our  will.  Given 
at  Turin,  Jan.  31,  1686. 

VICTOR  AMADEUS. 
By  his  Royal  Highness's  Command. 

Dest.  Thomas. 
No.  2. 
Memorial  against  the  foregoing  Edict,  -presented  to  the  Court  of 
Savoy,  by  Caspar  de  Muratt,  and  Bernard  de  Muratt,  Coun- 
sellors of  State,  the  first  of  Zurich,  and  the  other  of  Berne  in 
Switzerland. 

Whereas  the  right  honourable,  the  ministers  of  state  of  his  royal 
highness,  have  given  us  to  understand,  upon  a  private  information  of 
our  reasons,  that  his  present  engagement,  and  into  which  he  did  not 
enter  but  by  the  necessity  of  the  present  juncture  of  the  times,  was  a 

48* 


570  Appendix. 

great  obstacle  to  the  success  of  our  negotiation :  we  find  ourselves 
obliged  to  represent  to  your  royal  highness,  that  the  churches  of  the 
valleys  in  Piedmont,  did  not  separate  themselves  from  the  religion  of 
their  Prince ;  because  they  live  in  that  they  received  from  their  prede- 
cessors about  eight  centuries  ago,  and  which  they  did  profess  before 
they  were  under  the  dominion  of  your  royal  highness's  ancestors,  who, 
having  found  them  in  the  possession  of  their  religion,  have  maintained 
them  therein  by  several  declarations,  and  principally  by  those  of  the 
year  1561,  1602,  and  1603,  which  having  been  enrolled  by  the  Parlia- 
ment of  Chambery,  in  the  year  1620,  for  the  sum  of  six  thousand 
French  ducats,  which  these  churches  paid  them,  as  the  very  act  of 
enrolling  mentions ;  their  right  passed  into  a  form  of  transaction,  and 
into  a  perpetual  and  irrevocable  law,  which  has  been  observed  during 
the  life  of  his  royal  highness,  Victor  Amadeus,  and  during  the  regency 
of  Madam  Royal,  who  confirmed  them  by  her  declaration  in  the  year 
1638.  These  churches  have,  in  following  times,  obtained  several 
other  favourable  declarations  of  his  royal  highness  Charles  Emanuel, 
of  glorious  memory,  your  royal  highness's  father,  in  particular  in  the 
year  1649  and  1653.  But,  whereas  to  the  prejudice  of  a  right  so  well 
established  by  a  possession  immemorial,  and  by  so  many  declarations, 
the  Sieur  Gastaldo  did  nevertheless,  in  the  month  of  February,  1655, 
publish  a  declaration,  that  produced  some  terrible  and  fatal  consequences 
to  these  poor  churches;  all  the  Protestant  kings,  princes,  and  states 
of  Europe,  and  particularly  our  sovereign  lords,  did  concern  themselves 
in  their  misfortune,  and  having  interceded  in  their  favour  with  his 
royal  highness,  Charles  Emanuel,  they  obtained  a  confirmation  of  their 
privileges  and  of  their  concessions,  by  two  solemn,  perpetual,  and 
inviolable  patents,  of  the  year  1655  and  1664,  enrolled  in  a  good  form, 
and  confirmed  by  the  letters  he  did  write  to  our  sovereign  lords,  the 
28th  of  February,  1664,  by  which  he  promised  them  to  see  these 
patents  faithfully  executed;  to  which  the  royal  madam,  your  royal 
highness's  mother  did  engage  herself  also,  by  her  letters  dated  Jan- 
uary the  28th,  1679.  Therefore,  because  your  royal  highness's 
ancestors  had  several  times  solemnly  engaged  their  royal  word,  princi- 
pally in  those  patents  that  were  granted  in  the  presence  of  the  ambas- 
sadors our  sovereigns  had  sent  for  that  purpose,  it  would  not  be  just 
to  break  so  many  formal  and  authentic  engagements,  not  only  because 
these  privileges  and  patents  being  granted  in  the  sight  of  all  Europe, 
and  by  the  mediation  and  intercession  of  several  kings,  princes,  and 
states,  they  are  pledges  and  perpetual  monuments  of  the  public  faith ; 
but  also,  because  the  words  and  promises  of  sovereigns  ought  to  be 
sacred  and  inviolable.  If  engagements  of  this  nature  might  be  annulled 
under  pretence  of  a  necessity,  to  which  the  junctur?  of  affairs  might 
reduce  a  prince,  or  of  some  convenience  and  advantage  to  the  state, 
then  there  would  be  nothing  secure  in  the  world,  and  nothing  would 
be  seen  there,  but  war  and  confusion.  This  maxim  being  once  estab- 
lished amongst  sovereigns,  the  Protestant  princes  might  as  lawfully 
destroy  the  Catholics  that  are  under  their  dominions,  as  the  Catholics 
would  have  a  right  to  extirpate  their  Protestant  subjects.  Therefore 
it  is  evident,  that  whether  we  examine  the  thing,  as  relating  to  the  glo- 


Proofs  and  Illustrations.  571 

ry  and  reputation  of  the  prince ;  or  if  we  consider  it  according  to  the 
principles  of  true  and  just  policy,  that  has  no  other  end  than  the  secu- 
rity of  sovereign  nations  and  states,  we  shall  find  that  the  words  of 
princes  ought  always  to  be  inviolable.  It  is  for  this  reason  that  we  are 
persuaded,  that  no  necessity  of  the  present  juncture,  nor  any  interest 
will  oblige  so  just,  so  gracious,  and  so  wise  a  prince,  as  your  royal 
highness,  to  follow  a  new  engagement,  that  does  not  only  destroy  all 
your  predecessors  have  done  in  the  eyes  of  the  whole  universe,  but 
that  exposes  also  your  own  state  and  subjects  to  the  flames,  butchery, 
calamities,  devastation,  and  the  most  cruel  and  inhuman  rage  and  ty- 
ranny. 

It  is  agreed,  that  it  is  natural  for  a  pious  prince  to  wish  there  was 
but  one  religion  in  his  country ;  and  that  being  persuaded  that  his  own 
is  the  true  one,  it  did  belong  to  his  duty  and  charity  to  do  all  he  can 
to  persuade  his  subjects  to  it.  But  it  ought  to  be  allowed  also,  that  re- 
ligion enters  into  our  hearts  by  means  of  persuasion,  and  not  by  force: 
and  that  to  convince  one  of  the  Divine  Truth,  there  ought  to  be  em- 
ployed nothing  but  instruction,  sweetness,  and  exhortation,  according 
to  the  practice  of  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ  and  his  apostles. 

That  kings  and  princes,  though  they  are  masters  of  their  subjects, 
yet  they  have  no  empire  over  their  consciences,  which  are  subject  alone 
to  God ;  insomuch  that  we  have  reason  to  hope,  that  your  royal  high- 
ness, far  from  forcing  your  subjects  to  do  things  against  their  con- 
sciences, you  will  be  pleased,  on  the  contrary,  to  restore  them  their 
peace,  which  we  implore  for  them,  to  confirm  their  privileges,  and  to 
let  them  enjoy  the  liberty  to  give  God  that  which  is  due  to  him,  whilst 
at  the  same  time  they  pay  your  royal  highness  that  respect  and  homage 
which  they  owe  you,  as  your  faithful  subjects. 

My  lords,  the  ministers  of  state,  have  told  us  also,  that  the  inhabi- 
tants of  the  valleys  had  rendered  themselves  unworthy  of  their  prince's 
favour.  But  besides  that  all  the  world  agrees,  that  before  the  publish- 
ing of  the  first  edict,  they  had  given  your  royal  highness  no  reason  of 
complaint ;  and  that,  consequently,  it  is  not  their  ill  conduct  that  has 
drawn  upon  them  so  rigorous  an  order ;  and  that  if  there  were  some 
amongst  them  that  had  committed  a  fault,  (which  we  are  yet  ignorant 
of,)  we  ought  not  to  be  surprised,  if  some  miserable  wretches,  that  are 
brought  to  despair,  should  do  some  imprudent  actions.  Besides  all 
this  we  say,  your  royal  highness  is  too  gracious  and  too  good  not  to 
pardon  faults  of  this  nature ;  and  too  just  and  equitable  to  punish  the 
public  for  an  excess  that  may  have  been  committed  by  some  particular 
persons. 

In  fine,  they  would  make  us  believe,  that  those  patents  his  royal 
highness,  Charles  Emanuel,  granted  in  the  year  1655  and  1664,  did 
.  not  concern  religion,  but  gave  them  leave  only  to  inhabit  some  certain 
places  in  the  valleys  ;  and  that,  consequently,  our  sovereign  lords,  and 
the  other  princes  that  were  mediators  in  this  affair,  had  no  interest  in 
it.  But  we  beg  your  royal  highness  to  consider,  first,  that  religion  was 
then  so  much  the  subject  of  the  question,  that  properly  no  other  things 
did  belong  to  it ;  for  besides  that  the  order  of  the  Sieur  Gastaldo,  that 
produced  so  many  dismal  consequences,  did  destroy  these  concessions, 


572  Appendix. 

that  were  granted  to  the  inhabitants  of  the  valleys  about  religion,  it 
was  pretended  at  that  time  to  force  them  to  do  things  against  their  con- 
science, because  they  were  threatened  with  death,  and  confiscation  of 
their  goods,  that  would  not  embrace  the  Catholic  religion  within  twen- 
ty days  after  they  were  ordered  to  do  it. 

Secondly,  all  the  mediation  and  intercession  of  the  Protestant  princes 
and  states,  were  only  grounded  on  things  concerning  religion  and  con- 
science. They  have  only  acted  according  to  this  principle,  and  the 
ambassadors  were  for  no  other  reason  received  and  heard,  but  by  rea- 
son of  the  interest  they  took  in  a  business  concerning  religion  :  and  it 
is  for  this  reason,  that  your  royal  highness's  predecessors  have  given 
several  assurances,  by  letters  to  their  excellencies  the  Evangelical  Can- 
tons, that  the  patents  granted  upon  their  request  should  be  punctually 
and  faithfully  executed. 

And  because,  to  the  prejudice  of  all  that  has  been  granted  them,  your 
royal  highness  has  published  an  edict  that  forbids  them  the  exercise  of 
their  religion  in  all  the  valleys,  under  pain  of  death  ;  that  commands 
the  demolishing  all  the  churches,  that  banishes  the  ministers  and  school- 
masters, that  commands  that  the  children  should  be  baptized,  and 
brought  up  in  the  Romish  religion,  and  that  deprives  by  these  means 
those  people  of  their  liberty  of  conscience :  our  sovereign  lords,  that 
are  united  to  the  churches  of  the  valleys  by  the  same  faith,  are  obliged 
to  continue  to  intercede  for  them  :  and  it  is  this  we  do  now  in  their 
name,  in  hopes  that  your  royal  highness  will  be  touched  by  some  con- 
deration  of  our  sovereign  lords,  and  by  some  compassion  for  your 
subjects. 

The  following  Letters,  No.  3,  4,  5,  6,  7,  and  8,  relate  to  the  nego- 
tiations of  the  Swiss  commissioners,  between  the  churches  of  the  val- 
leys and  the  court  of  Savoy,  and  tend  to  throw  considerable  light  upon 
the  unhappy  and  distracted  state  of  affairs  at  this  eventful  period. 

No.  3. 
From  the  Swiss  Commissioners  to  the  Waldenses. 

We  do  not  doubt  but  that  your  deputies  have  faithfully  acquainted 
you  with  our  sentiments,  which  are  not  grounded  according  to  our 
opinion,  but  upon  the  public  good  of  your  commonalties ;  and  where- 
as, since  our  arrival  at  Turin,  we  have  been  informed  there  of  several 
tilings  that  confirm  us  that  our  apprehension  for  you  is  just ;  that  our 
advice  is  good  and  profitable ;  we  hope  that  you  will  follow  the  coun- 
sel we  have  given  to  your  deputies,  being  persuaded  that  God  by  his 
divine  Providence  will  find  out  for  you  a  retreat,  where  you  will  find 
all  the  necessary  supports  of  life  and  liberty,  to  serve  him  in  his  fear, 
and  according  to  your  consciences  ;  and  since  you  know,  that  the  pre- 
sent state  of  your  affairs  requires  a  prompt  remedy,  and  that  there  is 
not  a  moment  to  be  lost  to  obtain  it  iroin  your  prince  ;  we  found  it  very 
necessary  to  despatch  immediately  our  secretary  to  acquaint  you,  that 
his  royal  highness  did  not  find  it  convenient  to  grant  passports  for  your 
deputies ;  therefore  we  desire  you  to  send  us  immediately  your  resolu- 


Proofs  and  Illustrations.  573 

tion  in  writing,  for  fear,  if  you  should  protract  it,  our  services  would 
be  no  more  respected  at  court,  and  that  you  would  render  them  unsuc- 
cessful to  procure  you  a  free  and  advantageous  retreat,  for  which,  (if 
you  desire  it,)  we  will  address  ourselves  to  his  royal  highness  with  all 
possible  care  and  affection,  &c. 

No.  4. 

From  the  TVuldenses  to  the  Suics  Commissioners. 
My  Lords, 

We  have  received  the  letters  which  your  excellencies  have  done  us 
the  honour  to  send  us  by  the  secretary  of  your  embassy,  and  have 
been  made  sensible  by  him  of  the  extraordinary  care  your  excellencies 
have  taken  to  represent  to  his  royal  highness,  our  sovereign,  and  his 
ministers  of  state,  all  the  reasons  that  were  most  capable  to  maintain 
us  in  our  right,  as  also  the  answers  made  upon  the  reproaches  of  our 
conduct,  as  well  in  general  of  all  the  valleys,  as  of  some  particular  per- 
sons, for  which  we  cannot  but  render  to  your  excellencies  all  the  most 
humble  thanks  of  which  the  most  grateful  persons  can  be  capable.  In 
the  mean  time  we  have  exercised  all  possible  reflection  on  the  subject 
of  your  letter ;  and  on  what  side  soever  we  turn  our  eyes,  we  find  very 
great  and  almost  insurmountable  difficulties,  which  we  have  made  bold 
to  set  down  in  the  enclosed  memorial,  which  we  humbly  desire  your 
excellencies  to  take  into  your  wise  consideration.  We  are  entirely 
persuaded  that  your  excellencies  have  no  other  end  but  to  find  some 
solid  expedient  for  these  poor  churches.  They  cannot  but  make  their 
humble  entreaty,  that  in  case  it  be  impossible  to  revoke  the  published 
edict,  or  to  find  some  equitable  moderation  of  it,  you  would  have  the 
kindness  to  follow  those  other  expedients  which  you  will  judge  most 
proper  for  the  conservation  of  those  that  rely  altogether  upon  your  con- 
duct, after  having  surveyed  the  difficulties  which  the  said  memorial 
mentions.  This  is,  my  lords,  the  general  sentiment  of  those  churches, 
who  will  never  desist  to  pray  the  Divine  Majesty  for  the  prosperity  of 
the  sacred  persons  of  your  excellencies,  and  the  happy  success  of  your 
holy  employment.     These  are  the  prayers  of, My  Lords, 

Your  most  humble,  most  obedient,  and  most  obliged,  ser- 
vants, the  ministers  and  deputies  of  the  evangelical 
churches  of  Piedmont. 

Siderac  Bastie,  Moderator. 
David  Leger,  Adjoint. 
Jean  Chauvie,  Secretary. 

MINISTERS.  DEPUTIES. 

Jean  Laurens,  Jean  Manelot, 

Jean  Jahier,  Jacques  Peyrot, 

G.  Manelot,  Jean  Baptiste  Roberto, 

P.  Leydet,  Etienne  Gautier, 

P.  Jahier,  Paul  Beax, 

Giraud,  Jean  Pierre  Guantan, 

Bertrand.  Daniel  Mberan. 

rfngrogne,  March  28,  1686. 


574  Appendix. 

No.  5. 
From  the  Siviss  Commissioners  to  the  Waldenses. 
Gentlemen, 

According  to  your  intention,  which  you  acquainted  us  with  in  your 
letter  of  the  28th  of  March,  and  the  enclosed  memorial,  we  have  de- 
sired of  his  royal  highness,  that  he  would  be  pleased  to  grant  you  leave 
to  retreat  out  of  his  territories,  and  to  dispose  of  all  your  goods ;  and 
to  that  purpose  to  give  us  some  commissioners,  with  power  to  regulate 
the  manner  of  your  retreat :  whereof  his  royal  highness  has  given  us 
to  understand  by  one  of  his  ministers,  that  being  your  sovereign,  he 
could  not,  without  making  a  breach  into  his  honour  and  authority,  en- 
ter into  a  treaty  with  you;  but  that  it  is  requisite  you  should  send  him 
five  or  six  persons,  with  full  power  to  make  him  that  submission  which 
you  owe  him ;  and  to  ask  by  a  petition,  what  favour  you  desire  should 
be  granted  to  you  :  and  that  afterwards  he  will  let  you  see  the  conside- 
rations he  has  for  our  sovereignty.  It  is  true,  that  we  expected  a  more 
favourable  answer  than  this  ;  but,  nevertheless,  to  take  away  all  pre- 
tences his  royal  highness  could  take  hold  on,  to  make  such  delibera- 
tions that  might  be  fatal  to  you,  we  think  you  will  do  well  to  send 
your  deputies  hither  as  soon  as  is  possible,  promising  that  we  will  as- 
sist them  with  our  counsels  in  the  delivering  their  petition.  Our  se- 
cretary is  to  deliver  you  this  letter,  with  the  enclosed  passports,  which 
will  acquaint  you  more  at  length  with  the  particulars  of  our  negotia- 
tions, and  with  the  disposition  of  the  court  in  your  regard,  &c. 

No.  6. 

From  the  Waldenses  to  the  Commissioners. 

Most  High,  Mighty,  and  Sovereign  Lords, 

In  consequence  of  the  letter  your  excellencies  have  been  pleased  to 
write  to  these  valleys  some  few  days  ago,  our  churches  of  St.  Jean, 
Angrogne,  and  Boby,  throw  themselves  at  your  feet,  to  assure  you  of 
their  humble  respect,  and  of  their  due  acknowledgments  of  the  favours 
your  excellencies  have  endeavoured  to  obtain  for  them,  from  his  royal 
highness,  our  sovereign,  concerning  the  continuation  of  the  exercise  of 
our  religion  in  these  places.  And  concerning  the  proposals  that  are 
now  on  foot,  having  been  incapable  of  persuading  our  people  to  come 
to  the  same  sentiments  which  the  other  churches  have,  in  order  to  com- 
ply with  your  excellencies'  demands,  we  have  charged  our  deputy,  Mr. 
Daniel  Blanchis,  Syndicus  of  the  commonalty  of  St.  Jean,  to  acquaint 
you  by  word  of  mouth,  of  our  true  sentiments.  And  we  humbly  be- 
seech you,  that  you  would  be  pleased  to  continue  the  effects  of  your 
inexpressible  and  paternal  kindness,  and  principally  in  regard  to  your 
powerful  intercession  with  his  royal  highness,  about  the  above-men- 
tioned subject ;  beseeching  the  Lord  to  bless  your  negotiation,  and  to 
be  your  abundant  rewarder  for  all  the  cares,  pains,  and  troubles  your 
excellencies  have  the  goodness  to  take  for  our  poor  flocks,  in  the  name 


Proofs  and  Illustrations.  575 

of  which  we  make  it  always  our  glory  to  carry  with  all  respect  and 
submission  imaginable,  the  title  of  your  excellencies'  most  humble, 
most  obedient,  and  much  obliged  servants,  the  deputies  of  the  follow- 
ing churches, 

Michael  Purise,  >  Qf  ^  c/mrch    ,  ^  Jem 

Jean  Muston,       3 

Jean  Putta,  for  Angrogne. 

Marque  de  Daniel,  ~"| 

Negrin  N.  Syndicus,        \Qf  }    a       }    ,  Bb 

Franc.  Dane,  Counsellor,  j    J  J  J 

Stephen  Pertin,  Deputy, J 

Jlngrogne,  April,  4,  1686. 

Monsieur  de  la  Bastie,  minister  at  Angrogne,  touched  by  the  divi- 
sions of  these  poor  churches,  wrote  to  the  Commissioners  in  the  fol- 
lowing terras  : 

No.  7. 
My  Lords, 

I  take  the  liberty  to  tender  your  excellencies  my  most  humble  re- 
spects, by  the  deputies  that  go  to  Turin,  to  make  their  submission  to 
his  royal  highness,  and  to  present  him  such  a  petition  as  your  excel- 
lencies will  think  fit.  I  and  my  brethren  are  in  the  greatest  consterna- 
tion and  affliction  in  the  world,  to  see  our  people  so  much  divided 
about  a  retreat,  apprehending  their  divisions  will  defeat  your  excellen- 
lencies'  charitable  negotiation  with  his  royal  highness  in  our  behalf,  and 
render  your  cares  and  troubles  unsuccessful.  We  have  employed  our 
utmost  endeavours  to  make  them  sensible,  that,  considering  the  present 
juncture  of  affairs,  it  was  the  best  resolution  they  could  take;  but  we 
have  not  been  happy  enough  to  have  like  success  with  all.  If  we  were 
not  satisfied  of  your  excellencies'  incomparable  kindness,  we  should 
have  reason  to  fear  that  this  indiscreet  conduct  would  much  change 
your  goodness  and  zeal  for  our  interest.  We  most  humbly  beseech 
your  excellencies  to  make  use  on  this  occasion  of  your  goodness  and 
clemency,  and  to  continue  in  your  indefatigable  cares  for  these  poor 
churches.  I  most  humbly  beg  your  excellencies'  pardon  for  my  bold- 
ness, and  beseech  you  to  give  me  leave  to  tender  you  my  most  humble 
respects,  and  to  assure  you,  that  I  am  with  all  the  respect  and  submission 
imaginable 

My  Lords, 

Your  Excellencies'  most  humble,  most  obedient, 
and  most  obliged  Servant, 

Sidrac  Bastie,  Ministsr. 
Jlngrogne,  April  4,  1686. 

The  following  admirable  letter  was  drawn  up  by  the  Swiss  Commis- 
sioners, in  consequence  of  the  difference  of  opinion  that  existed  among 
the  Waldenses  about  quitting  the  valleys.     It  certainly  reflects  great 


576  Appendix. 

honour  upon  their  memories,  and  shows  them  to  have  been  men  of  a 
right  spirit.  It  was  sent  back  into  the  valleys  by  the  hands  of  the  de- 
puty of  the  church  of  Bobio. 

No.  8. 
Gentlemen, 

It  is  true  that  one's  native  soil  has  great  charms,  and  that  most  men 
have  a  natural  desire  to  live  and  die  there;  yet  the  children  of  God 
ought  not  to  set  their  hearts  thereupon,  because  they  are  foreigners  upon 
earth,  and  heaven  is  their  true  native  country ;  therefore  you  will  be 
guilty  of  mistrusting  God's  providence,  if  you  fancy  you  cannot  find 
any  other  country  where  you  may  live  comfortably,  and  worship  your 
heavenly  Father.  In  what  part  of  the  world  soever  we  ourselves  be 
transported,  we  ought  to  think  ourselves  happy,  provided  we  there  have 
freedom  to  serve  God  according  to  our  consciences.  You  ought  to  pro- 
pose to  yourselves  the  examples  of  the  patriarchs,  who  have  drawn  upon 
them  God's  blessing  by  trusting  to  his  promises,  and  by  abandoning 
their  houses  and  fields,  to  go  and  inhabit  some  remote  country.  A  con- 
fidence of  this  nature  cannot  but  be  very  acceptable  to  the  Lord ;  and  it 
is  without  doubt  more  agreeable  to  the  spirit  of  the  Gospel,  than  to  take 
up  arms  against  your  Sovereign;  it  is  to  suffering  that  Christians  are 
called,  and  not  to  a  resistance  ;  and  we  do  not  find  that  either  the  apos- 
tles or  the  primitive  church  made  use  of  any  other  weapons  against 
their  persecutors  than  prayer  and  patience.  These  are  the  considera- 
tions that  have  obliged  our  Sovereign  Lords,  the  evangelical  cantons, 
to  give  us  orders  to  procure  for  you  from  his  Royal  Highness,  your 
lawful  prince,  a  free  retreat,  with  permission  to  dispose  of  your  goods, 
in  case  he  would  no  longer  grant  you  the  exercise  of  your  religion ;  and 
though  you  look  upon  this  retreat  as  an  insupportable  unhappiness,  yet 
they  do,  nevertheless,  consider  it  as  a  favour,  reflecting,  according  to 
their  great  wisdom,  upon  the  miserable  condition  to  which  you  are  re- 
duced ;  and  indeed  they  did  think  it  would  be  very  hard  to  obtain  it 
from  his  Royal  Highness,  and  that  in  case  he  did  grant  it  upon  their 
request,  you  ought  not  only  to  accept  it  with  submission,  but  to  show 
your  great  acknowledgment  of  it;  you  cannot,  therefore,  doubt  that  we 
have  been  surprised  to  hear  that  you  have  any  difficulty  in  resolving 
yourselves  to  it,  and  that  you  have  a  design  to  resist  two  powerful 
princes  that  are  resolved  to  extirpate  you,  in  case  you  make  the  least 
opposition;  for  by  this  behaviour  you  do  not  only  act  against  your 
duty,  against  Christian  prudence,  and  against  your  true  interest,  but  you 
give  us  also  just  reason  to  complain  of  you,  that  having  engaged  us  in 
a  negotiation  with  your  prince,  you  will  not  accept  of  those  advantages 
we  are  in  a  condition  to  procure  you.  Open,  therefore,  your  eyes,  and 
consider  the  misfortunes  you  draw  upon  yourselves,  and  the  fatal  con- 
sequences of  your  design,  that  must  needs  turn  to  the  entire  destruction 
of  your  churches  and  families.  Consider,  that  what  is  offered  you  is  so 
advantageous,  considering  the  present  state  of  your  affairs,  that  several 
persons  of  the  greatest  quality,  would  have  accepted  of  it  as  the  great- 
est happiness,  in  the  late  persecutions  of  France,  and  that  they  would 
have  been  exceedingly  joyful  to  get  stark  naked  out  of  their  country 


Proofs  and  Illustrations.  577 

without  hinderance.  If  you  properly  reflect  upon  all  these  things,  we 
hope  that  the  example  of  those  that  are  of  a  better  opinion,  will  touch 
and  persuade  you  to  follow  the  same  conduct;  but  if  you  refuse  to  imi- 
tate it,  and  if  you  persist  in  your  obstinacy,  you  will  be  guilty  before 
God,  not  only  of  having  thrown  away  your  lives,  which  you  might  have 
saved,  and  of  having  exposed  your  wives  and  your  children  to  the  mas- 
sacre, but  also  of  having  caused  the  ruin  of  these  noble  remains  of  the 
Waldensian  churches,  which  you  might  have  transported  into  some 
other  country.  And  do  not  flatter  yourselves  with  being  able  to  pre- 
vent these  evils  by  the  means  of  some  succours  that  some  persons 
have  promised  you;  for  we  do  assure  you,  that  those  that  enter- 
tain you  with  these  vain  imaginations  only  abuse  you,  and  that  you 
cannot  be  assisted  from  any  side  ;  you  ought  to  consider,  that  you  will 
be  left  by  all  men,  and  by  some  of  the  very  inhabitants  of  your  coun- 
try ;  and  that  therefore  you  will  soon  be  destroyed,  either  by  the  sword 
or  by  famine,  and  that  those  that  may  escape  the  fury  of  their  enemies, 
will  finish  their  lives  either  by  being  burnt  at  the  stake,  upon  the  rack, 
or  the  gallows.  We  conjure  you,  that  you  would  be  prevailed  with  by 
such  powerful  considerations,  and  to  agree  with  the  sentiments  of  the 
commonalty,  that  are  i-esolved  to  desire  of  their  prince  a  permission  to 
retreat  out  of  his  territories,  being  persuaded  that  the  Divine  providence 
will  conduct  you  to  some  places  where  you  will  perhaps  find  more  ad- 
vantageous establishments  than  those  you  leave  behind  you  ;  and  where 
those  that  are  poor  will  not  be  in  want  of  charitable  persons  that  will 
provide  them  with  all  necessaries.  In  expectation  that  God  will  inspire 
you  with  good  resolutions,  and  that  you  will  give  to  your  Deputy  such 
a  procuration  as  those  of  the  other  commonalties  have  given,  we  re- 
commend you  to  his  mercy  and  his  divine  protection,  resting,  Gentle- 
men, your  very  affectionate  to  render  you  service. 
Turin,  5th  of  April. 

No.  9. 

Second  edict  from  the  Duke  of  Savoy.     Dated  April  9,  1686. 

Divine  Providence  having  established  Sovereigns  over  the  people, 
has  given  to  the  first  the  distribution  of  favours  and  punishments,  that 
the  hopes  of  the  one  might  make  the  good  mindful  of  their  duty ;  and 
that  the  sense  of  the  other  might  prevent  the  bad  from  abandoning 
themselves  to  evil.  This  latter  ought  to  fall  from  our  avenging  hands 
upon  our  subjects  of  the  valleys  of  Lucerne,  who  make  profession  of  the 
pretended  Reformed  Religion ;  because  it  is  notorious  that  they  have  not 
only  gainsayed  with  great  obstinacy  our  order  of  the  31st  of  January 
last,  but  that  they  have  also  hardened  themselves  in  their  crime,  and 
are  fallen  into  an  enormous  and  consummate  rebellion :  nevertheless, 
our  natural  clemency  surpassing  their  crime,  and  not  contenting  our- 
selves with  our  fatherly  kindness,  with  which  we  have  so  long  time 
unsuccessfully  waited  for  their  repentance,  we  have  still  been  willing 
to  leave  to  their  will,  (which  has  ever  followed  bad  counsels)  the  choice 
of  a  happy  or  miserable  condition,  and  to  open  to  them  at  the  last  trial 
the  gates  of  our  favour,  that  so  they  may  be  able  to  take  hold  of  it  in  the 

49 


578  Appendix. 

following  manner,  and  that  in  case  they  should  not  answer  it  by  a  ready 
obedience,  they  might  not  be  able  to  impute  to  any  thing  but  their  own 
rashness  their  deserved  punishments,  which  we  shall  inflict  upon  them 
without  delay. 

Therefore,  confirming  in  the  first  place  our  order  of  the  31st  of  Jan- 
uary last,  as  far  as  it  shall  not  be  found  contrary  to  this,  we  have  by 
virtue  of  this  present  edict,  with  our  certain  knowledge,  full  power,  and 
absolute  authority,  and  with  advice  of  our  privy  council,  commanded 
all  our  subjects  of  the  valleys  of  Lucerne,  making  profession  of  the  pre- 
tended Reformed  Religion,  to  lay  down  their  arms,  and  to  retire  into 
their  houses  within  the  term  hereafter  prescribed. 

We  command  them  also  to  form  no  more  any  associations,  nor  to 
hold  any  conventicles  ;  that  so  according  to  our  intention,  the  judges 
of  the  place  may  have  free  access,  and  that  the  missionaries  and  other 
religious  persons  may  return  to  the  churches  which  they  have  been 
forced  to  leave,  and  that  the  Catholics,  and  those  which  have  embraced 
the  Catholic  religion,  may  return  to  their  houses  which  they  have 
abandoned. 

And  whereas  it  is  not  reasonable  that  the  religious  missionaries,  the 
Catholics,  and  those  which  have  embraced  the  Catholic  Religion,  should 
be  at  any  loss  by  occasion  of  several  damages  which  they  have  received 
from  those  of  the  pretended  Reformed  Religion,  we  desire,  command, 
and  ordain,  that  all  the  necessary  sums  to  indemnify  them  be  generally 
and  without  distinction  levied  upon  the  goods  of  those  of  the  pretended 
Reformed  Religion,  so  as  that  it  shall  be  summarily  enforced  before  the 
Chevalier  Monzonx,  intendant  of  justice  of  the  valleys,  declaring  never- 
theless, that  in  case  those  of  the  said  religion  prove  that  the  damages 
have  been  caused  by  some  particular  persons,  they  may  have  their  re- 
course and  warrant  against  them. 

And  to  show  our  said  subjects  how  great  our  clemency  is  towards 
them,  we  grant  leave  to  those  that  shall  think  of  a  retreat  out  of  our 
territories,  to  do  it  within  the  term,  and  upon  the  conditions  hereafter 
prescribed ;  but  because  their  ill-will  has  showed  itself  but  too  much 
by  their  past  conduct,  and  that  several  could  hide  their  evil  designs 
under  a  false  pretence  of  obedience,  we  reserve  to  ourselves,  besides 
those  who  shall  retreat  out  of  our  territories  upon  their  own  motion,  to 
ordain  it  also  to  such  as  we  shall  think  fit,  and  as  we  shall  find  it  most 
expedient  to  secure  the  peace  of  those  that  shall  stay  behind,  whence 
we  do  intend  to  prescribe  the  rules  which  they  shall  observe  for  the 
future. 

And  as  an  augmentation  of  our  favours,  we  grant  leave  as  well  to 
those  that  shall  voluntarily  retreat,  as  to  those  who  retreat  by  our 
orders,  to  take  along  with  them  their  goods  and  effects  at  their  pleasure, 
and  to  sell  those  they  shall  leave  behind  them,  provided  they  do  it  in 
such  a  manner  as  is  hereafter  prescribed. 

The  same  is  to  be  understood  concerning  strangers,  and  those  that 
are  born  of  strangers,  who  are  to  conform  themselves  to  all  but  the 
last  article  of  our  order  of  the  31st  of  January  last,  here  above  men- 
tioned. 

The  said  selling  of  goods  shall  be  made  to  Catholics,  or  to  persona 


Proofs-  and  Illustrations.  579 

that  have  embraced  the  Catholic  Religion ;  but  because  there  may  per- 
haps not  be  found  buyers  within  the  term  herebefore  prescribed,  and 
that  we  are  not  willing  that  the  zealots  of  that  religion,  who  shall  retreat 
out  of  our  territories,  should  be  deprived  of  the  benefits  of  our  present 
concession,  they  may  agree  about  or  fix  upon  persons  into  whose  hands 
they  shall  put  their  procurations,  who  shall  have  leave  to  stay  during 
three  months  in  Lucerne,  with  full  liberty  to  treat  and  negotiate  with 
whom  they  think  lit  to  sell  the  goods  of  those  who  shall  have  retreated, 
and  who  shall  have  leave  to  prescribe  in  their  procurations  the  conditions 
of  their  selling  their  goods  for  their  better  security,  to  receive  the  price 
thereof  in  what  place  soever  they  desire  it  should  be  sent  them,  without 
fraud  and  deceit  of  the  constituted  procurators,  which  the  Chevalier  and 
intendant  Monzonx  shall  take  care  of. 

Those  that  shall  be  willing  to  retreat,  shall  be  obliged  to  meet  at  the 
day  and  place  hereafter  specified,  to  be  ready  to  depart  without  fire-arms 
by  the  way  that  shall  be  named  them,  either  through  Savoy,  or  the 
valley  of  Aste:'to  this  purpose,  we  will  provide  them  with  passports, 
that  they  may  receive  no  ill  usage,  or  hinderance  in  our  territories; 
but  that  on  the  contrary,  they  may  find  all  possible  assistance;  and  be- 
cause that  being  in  great  number  they  may  be  exposed  to  some  incon- 
veniences upon  the  way,  and  in  the  places  through  which  they  are  to 
go  overcharged,  they  shall  divide  themselves  into  three  bodies  as  is 
herein  before  mentioned.  The  first  shall  be  composed  of  those  of  the 
valleys  of  Lucerne,  and  shall  meet  at  Tour  this  month  of  April ;  the 
second,  composed  of  those  of  the  valleys  of  Angrogne,  St.  Bartholomew, 
Rocheplatte,  and  Perustin,  shall  meet  at  St.  Second,  and  shall  depart 
the  day  following,  viz.  the  twenty-second  of  this  month;  the  third  and 
last  made  up  of  those  of  the  valleys  of  St.  Martin  and  Perouse,  shall 
meet  at  Micadole,  and  part  from  thence  the  third  day,  viz.  the  twenty- 
third  of  this  month. 

The  term  wherein  our  said  subjects  of  the  pretended  Reformed  Reli- 
gion, that  inhabit  the  valleys  of  Lucerne,  shall  be  obliged  to  lay  down 
their  arms,  in  the  manner  prescribed  in  the  first  article  of  this  present 
order,  is  within  eight  days  after  the  publication  hereof  in  Lucerne,  during 
which  they  ought  to  have  obeyed  the  contents  of  the  said  order,  to  en- 
joy the  fruits  of  our  clemency,  but  which  as  well  as  our  fatherly  affec- 
tion towards  our  said  subjects,  we  leave  to  its  nature  and  course,  not- 
withstanding the  enormity  of  their  crimes.  And  by  means  of  a  punctual 
observation  of  all  herein  contained,  we  grant  our  favour,  pardon,  remis- 
sion, absolution,  and  a  full  amnesty  to  our  said  subjects  of  all  their 
excesses,  misdemeanours,  crimes,  and  other  things  which  they  map 
have  committed  since  the  publication  of  our  order  of  the  thirty-first  of 
January  last,  as  well  in  general  as  particular,  so  that  they  may  not  be 
called  to  an  account  for  it  under  any  pretence  whatsoever,  prohibiting 
all  judges,  fiscals,  and  others  to  whom  it  belongs,  to  inquire  into  it. 
But  because  in  case  they  should  render  themselves  unworthy  of  such 
favours,  by  not  observing  all  that  is  here  above  mentioned,  within  the 
term,  it  would  be  too  pernicious  an  example  to  delay  any  longer  their 
deserved  punishments,  after  having  been  prodigal  to  them  of  our  favours, 
and  after  having  waited  so  long  time  for  their  repentance,  we  intend  to 


580  Appendix. 

make  use  of  those  means  which  God  has  put  into  our  hands  to  bring 
the  obstinate  to  their  duty,  and  to  make  them  feel  the  punishment  of 
their  great  presumption. 

Given  at  Turin,  the  9th  of  April,  1686. 
Enrolled  the  10th. 

No.   10  and  11. 

Letters  from  the  Deputies  of  the  churches  of  Boby,   St.  John,  and 
Angrogne,  to  the  Swiss  Ambassadors. 

My  Lords, 

We  did  not  fail  immediately  after  the  arrival  of  our  deputy,  to  make 
some  copies  of  the  letter  which  your  excellencies  have  been  pleased  to 
write  to  our  churches,  and  they  have  been  read  every  where  after  sermon. 
There  can  nothing  be  said  that  is  either  more  true,  or  more  moving  and 
comforting:  and  your  excellencies  may  be  fully  persuaded,  that  there 
is  nobody  but  that  finds,  and  does  acknowledge,  that  it  is  the  effect  of 
your  holy  and  christian  charity  towards  our  churches  ;  yet  notwithstand- 
ing it  has  been  till  now  absolutely  impossible  to  dispose  our  people  to 
a  retreat  out  of  this  country  ;  some  out  of  fear  it  might  cause  the  loss 
of  several  persons  that  shall  venture  to  stay  behind  ;  others  by  a  prin- 
ciple of  conscience  ;  and  others  from  several  other  considerations,  which 
our  deputy  will  explain  to  your  excellencies  by  word  of  mouth.  We 
are  in  great  consternation  about  it,  and  scarcely  dare  to  appear  before 
your  excellencies  with  so  much  irresolution.  Our  people  adhere  the 
more  to  their  opinion,  because  they  have  been  informed  that  several 
other  churches,  at  least  a  great  part  of  those  that  composed  them,  did 
not  know  that  the  business  was  about  such  a  retreat,  when  they  gave 
their  procuration  to  their  deputies,  or  if  they  had  understood  them,  they 
had  changed  their  minds,  which  gives  us  a  just  reason  to  fear,  that  in 
case  your  excellencies  should  be  farther  engaged  for  this  people,  you 
would  be  extremely  displeased  with  their  refusal  to  retreat ;  and  it  was 
by  reason  of  this  fear  which  we  had  here  the  last  Sunday,  when  we  de- 
sired your  excellencies  to  give  us  leave  to  inform  ourselves  of  the  minds 
of  our  people  about  this  proposition,  foreseeing  at  the  same  time  that 
it  would  be  very  hard  to  persuade  them  to  it :  they  were  for  the  most 
part  resolved  to  be  their  Father's  children,  and  hope  that  the  Lord  will 
be  their  deliverer,  that  would  make  use  of  feeble  things  to  confound  the 
strong,  and  that  heaven  would  find  out  some  hinderance  to  those  designs 
which  are  formed  against  us.  We  do  not  question  but  this  extremely 
afflicts  your  excellencies  ;  and  we  are  touched  with  it  to  our  very  souls  : 
but  it  is  not  in  our  power  to  change  their  hearts,  and  to  dispose  of 
other  men's  wills ;  nevertheless  we  conjure  your  excellencies,  in  all 
possible  humility,  that  you  would  be  pleased  not  to  abate  your  kindness 
to  these  churches,  neither  to  deprive  us  of  your  powerful  and  comfort- 
able support,  which,  under  God,  has  made  us  subsist  till  now.  For 
God's  sake  do  always  pity  us  ;  what  way  soever  our  affairs  shall  go, 
we  lay  our  souls  before  God,  to  supplicate  him  with  all  ardency,  that 
he  would  be  pleased  to  direct  all  things  to  the  glory  of  his  holy  name, 
and  the  preservation  of  our  people  :  and  that  he  would  grant  by  his 


Proofs  and  Illustrations.  581 

Divine  Providence,  by  the  means  of  your  excellencies,  that  we  may 
still  get  the  prolongation  of  some  days,  that  we  may  once  more  inform 
ourselves  of  the  sentiments  of  our  people  by  the  collecting  every  man's 
voice  in  particular,  if  it  be  possible,  to  know  their  final  resolution  ;  so 
that  we  may  not  be  blamed,  either  of  one  side  or  another.  The  Lord 
be  the  abundant  re  warder  of  your  excellencies'  kindness,  and  we  are, 
with  all  manner  of  respect, 

My  Lords, 

Your  excellencies'  most  humble,  most  obedient, 
and  most  obliged  servants, 

The  Deputies  of  Boby,  St.  John,  and  Angrogne. 

John  Aghitto,         1 

Daniel  Graffe,       V  Deputies  of  Boby. 

EsTIENNOR    DANNO,  J 

Michael  Parisa,  >  D        .^    ,  ^  Joh^ 
John  Mjschon,    3       r  * 

John  Dlffa,     ~) 

Piezze  Duffa,  \  Deputies  of  Angrogne, 
Lewis  Odin,      J 
Angrogne,  April  9,  1686. 

Most  High,  Mighty,  and  Sovereign  Lords, 

We  throw  ourselves  in  all  humility  at  your  Excellencies'  feet,  to 
show  you  our  most  sensible  and  inexpressible  concern,  that  a  great 
part  of  our  people  are  not  able  to  appreciate  with  Christian  prudence 
the  favour  your  Excellencies  endeavour  to  procure  them,  by  a  free  re- 
treat out  of  this  country,  with  person  and  goods  and  to  embrace  it  with 
holy  joy,  as  a  present  from  heaven,  and  a  favour  which  they  have  sigh- 
ed for  at  other  times.  This  makes  our  hearts  bleed,  and  so  much  the 
more,  that  your  Excellencies'  letter,  which  you  have  been  pleased  to 
write  to  them,  ought  to  have  immediately  disposed  them  to  an  affair  of 
this  nature;  yet  we  dare  still  most  humbly  beseech  your  Excellencies 
to  have  the  goodness  to  exercise  love  on  all  these  considerations,  as 
knowing  very  well  that  we  have  to  do  with  persons  whom  it  is  very 
hard  to  compass,  and  to  make  them  all  sensible  of  the  reason  and  the 
state  of  things,  but  by  experience,  and  principally  when  it  is  about  aban- 
doning their  old  and  dear  native  soil :  there  are,  nevertheless,  a  great 
many,  and  the  principal  of  them,  who  resign  themselves  entirely  to 
your  Excellencies'  counsel,  charity,  and  prudence,  and  that  will  never 
oppose  what  you  shall  find  most  expedient  for  the  glory  of  God,  and 
.  their  welfare  and  preservation.  The  ministers  also  are  all  of  the  same 
opinion,  and  we  are  all  willing  punctually  to  observe  the  counsel  your 
Excellencies  shall  be  pleased  to  give  us.  And  we  most  humbly  be- 
seech you  to  pity  us  and  our  families,  to  extricate  us  out  of  an  unhappy 
state  which  to  all  appearance  is  unavoidable  ;  this  is  the  favour  we  hope 
from  your  Excellencies,  and  pray  the  Lord  to  bless  your  Lordships 
49* 


582  Appendix. 

with  all  manner  of  prosperity ;  and  we  are  with  all  possible  respect 
and  submission,  most  high,  mighty  and  sovereign  Lords, 

Your  Excellencies'  most  humble,  and 
most  obedient  Servants, 

SlPRAC  BASTIE, 

Gtjillaume  Mallanot. 
Angrogne,  April  9,  1686. 

I.  We  have  been  informed  for  certain,  by  a  credible  person,  that  his 
Royal  Highness  will  not  grant  us  a  retreat  with  our  goods,  but  that  he 
pretends  to  detain  them  for  the  charges  he  has  been  at  already. 

II.  That  he  absolutely  insists  that  the  ministers  and  foreigners  should 
be  delivered  into  his  hands. 

III.  That  we  should  lay  down  our  arms,  and  that  we  should  deliver 
them  up  to  the  governor. 

IV.  That  the  troops  are  to  enter  into  the  valleys  to  demolish  the 
churches,  and  to  obstruct  all  divine  exercises. 

V.  In  fine,  we  have  been  informed,  that  the  council  would  by  no 
means  suffer  that  the  French  troops  should  march  against  us. 

No.  12. 
Memorial  of  the  Swiss  Ambassadors  to  the  Duke  of  Savoy. 

Your  Royal  Highness  is  humbly  requested  to  consider,  that  he  that 
will  retreat  out  of  the  valleys  by  virtue  of  your  published  Order,  is 
obliged  to  prepare  himself  for  his  departure,  for  the  transportation  of 
his  wife,  his  children,  and  his  goods  which  will  be  necessary  to  him; 
that  he  will  be  obliged  to  dispose  in  several  places  what  he  cannot  carry 
along  with  him ;  that  he  must  provide  for  the  sale  of  his  corn,  of  his 
provisions,  of  his  wine,  of  his  cattle,  which  he  would  not  be  forced  to 
leave  at  random ;  and  that  he  cannot  entrust  with  his  procurator  at  Lu- 
cerne, and  who  consequently,  by  reason  of  the  distance  of  the  place, 
will  be  incapable  to  take  care  of  it ;  that  within  the  term  of  eight  days 
he  will  not  be  able  to  settle  accounts  either  with  his  creditors  or  his 
debtors,  because  those  he  has  to  do  with  do  not  live  in  the  valleys,  or 
because  there  may  be  some  accounts  that  cannot  be  regulated  but  by 
arbitration ;  that  in  consideration  of  goods  immovable,  there  is  to  be 
made  an  exact  description  of  the  vineyards,  meadows,  fields,  and  woods, 
whose  boundaries  and  limits  are  to  be  marked  out  and  described,  as 
also  of  the  rights  thereunto  belonging,  and  the  sums  for  which  they  are 
mortgaged,  and  that  there  ought  to  be  granted  some  particular  procura- 
tions to  that  purpose.  Therefore  your  Royal  Highness  having  been 
pleased  by  an  instinct  of  your  justice  and  clemency,  to  grant  to  your 
subjects  of  the  valleys  leave  to  retreat  wherever  they  please,  and  to  sell 
their  goods  which  they  shall  leave  behind  them,  you  would  not  wish 
that  his  favour  should  be  unprofitable  to  them,  by  obstructing  the  fa- 
vour of  this  concession  by  the  shortness  of  time,  to  take  away  from 
them  with  one  hand  what  you  had  given  them  with  the  other.  Your 
Royal  Highness  is  also  requested  to  consider  that  six  trustees  are  not 


Proofs  and  Illustrations.  583 

enough  for  the  sale  of  goods  belonging  to  several  hundreds  of  families 
that  shall  be  willing  to  retreat ;  that  this  commission  cannot  be  given 
but  to  people  of  the  country,  and  consequently  to  persons  without  learn- 
ing and  without  capacity,  and  taken  up  with  their  own  affairs ;  that 
besides,  these  trustees  will  be  obliged  to  run  to  several  places  to  find 
out  buyers,  to  let  them  have  a  view  of  the  property  which  they  are  to 
buy,  that  settlements  must  be  made  in  several  places  before  several  no- 
taries, that  they  are  to  watch  at  the  selling  of  a  great  number  of  move- 
ables that  are  dispersed  in  several  houses,  to  count  money,  to  change 
it,  and  to  send  it  to  them  into  foreign  countries,  to  find  out  some  conve- 
niences for  that  purpose,  to  write  to  their  correspondents  for  the  clear- 
ing of  several  doubts  that  may  be  raised,  to  remove  the  obstructions 
they  shall  meet  with,  to  defend  themselves  against  some  unjust  de- 
mands ;  to  receive  letters  from  those  they  shall  write  to  from  the  places 
of  their  retreat,  to  acquaint  them  with  the  state  of  their  affairs,  and  in  a 
word,  to  be  charged  with  a  thousand  other  occupations  that  we  cannot 
now  foresee  :  Therefore,  because  your  Royal  Highness  does  not  intend 
to  enrich  yourself  with  the  goods  of  your  poor  subjects,  nor  to  augment 
your  revenues  by  their  losses,  you  will  be  pleased  to  grant  them  leave 
to  nominate  twelve  persons,  that  within  the  time  prescribed  by  your 
Royal  Highness,  shall  proceed  to  the  sale  of  the  goods  of  those  that 
shall  have  retreated.  But  because  it  will  undoubtedly  happen,  that 
within  the  term  of  three  months,  with  what  diligence  soever  the  trus- 
tees may  proceed  to  the  sale  of  the  goods  of  the  poor  refugees,  there 
will  be  found  few  chapmen,  and  that  every  body  will  expect  at  the  end 
of  the  term  to  take  advantage  of  the  necessity  to  which  the  trustees  will 
be  driven  to  dispose  of  their  goods,  and  to  have  them  from  those  wretch- 
ed people  at  an  under  price,  by  reason  of  their  fear  to  lose  all,  we  hope 
your  Royal  Highness  will  have  the  goodness  to  prevent  this  inconve- 
nience, and  according  to  the  agreements  made  in  the  year  1663,  with 
his  late  Royal  Highness  of  glorious  memory,  you  will  buy  at  a  reason- 
able price  the  movable  and  immovable  goods  that  within  the  space  of 
three  months  shall  not  be  sold. 

And  forasmuch  as  your  Royal  Highness  distinguishes  yourself  by 
your  goodness  and  clemency,  you  are  not  willing,  without  doubt,  to 
oblige  any  body  to  impossibilities,  and  therefore  must  be  aware  that  fe- 
males newly  brought  to  bed,  or  such  as  are  in  the  last  month  of  their 
time,  and  old  and  sick  men,  are  incapable  of  travelling,  you  will  make 
no  difficulty  to  dispense  in  their  favour  with  the  law  you  have  prescrib- 
ed to  others  about  their  retreat,  and  exempt  them  from  quartering  sol- 
diers, who,  how  well  soever  disciplined,  always  cause  some  disorder, 
and  carry  distress  into  all  places  where  they  enter,  as  also  to  grant  them 
leave  to  live  and  die  in  their  houses  without  fear  of  being  ill  used,  and 
of  being  spoiled  of  their  goods  and  provisions. 

In  fine,  we  beseech  your  Royal  Highness  that  you  would  be  pleased 
instantly  to  use  your  clemency  towards  those  of  the  valleys  that  are 
detained  in  your  prisons,  and  towards  those  that  have  been  taken  upon 
that  account,  and  that  you  will  be  pleased  mercifully  to  set  them  at 
liberty. 


584  Appendix. 

No.  13. 

From  the  Swiss  Ambassadors,  to  the  Churches  of  the  Valleys. 
Gentlemen, 

At  the  secret  audience  which  we  had  of  his  Royal  Highness,  your 
prince,  we  have  earnestly  desired  him,  that  he  would  be  pleased  to 
grant  you  a  retreat  out  of  his  territories  upon  more  gracious  conditions 
than  those  that  are  expressed  by  the  last  edict ;  and  we  have  repre- 
sented to  him  as  well  by  word  of  mouth  as  by  our  memorial,  all  the 
reasons  that  might  be  capable  of  moving  and  to  prevail  with  him  to  mi- 
tigate the  orders  he  has  already  published  against  you.  We  solicited 
him  to  grant  you  a  longer  term  to  dispose  yourselves  for  so  troublesome 
a  retreat,  and  to  sell  your  goods,  and  that  he  would  be  pleased  to  aug- 
ment the  number  of  the  trustees  charged  to  sell  them;  to  give  leave  that 
the  aged,  sick,  and  infirm  persons,  and  women  newly  brought  to  bed, 
or  that  were  big  with  child,  might  stay  behind  in  the  country  without 
being  exposed  to  any  ill  usage ;  and  without  being  obliged  to  quarter 
soldiers ;  and,  in  fine,  to  give  orders  that  his  procurators  might  sell  the 
goods  that  should  not  be  vended  within  the  time  prescribed  by  his 
edict.  But  we  have  not  been  able  to  obtain  the  least  thing  from  his 
Royal  Highness,  because  he  has  been  informed  that  you  are  up  in  arms 
to  obstruct  the  execution  of  his  orders.  We  have  also  endeavoured  to 
persuade  the  Marquis  of  St.  Thomas  that  he  would  be  pleased  to  em- 
ploy his  credit  with  his  Royal  Highness,  to  dispose  him  to  grant  us 
what  we  desired  in  your  favour ;  but  he  has  given  us  to  understand, 
that  as  long  as  you  shall  keep  in  arms,  there  are  no  hopes  for  you. 
His  Royal  Highness  departs  this  day  for  Preeairas,  and  we  have  had 
our  audience  of  Conge,  with  a  design  to  return  immediately  into  our 
country,  except  God's  providence  give  us  some  more  favourable  occa- 
sion to  serve  you ;  and  since,  without  taking  notice  of  some  wise  men's 
counsels,  you  resign  the  event  of  your  affairs  to  God's  providence,  we 
beseech  him  that  he  would  be  pleased  to  assist  you  in  your  calamity, 
and  direct  all  to  his  glory  and  your  temporal  and  spiritual  welfare. 
Resting,  after  we  have  recommended  you  to  God  Almighty's  favour, 
&c. 

Turin,  fyc. 

No.  14. 

Letter  from  several  of  the  Pastors  of  Churches  in  Piedmont,  addressed 
to  the  Cantons  of  Switzerland. 

Most  High,  Mighty,  and  Sovereign  Lords, 

Our  churches  have  for  a  long  time  experienced,  and  principally  in 
these  unhappy  troubles  that  have  happened  to  them,  the  incomparable 
charity  and  fatherly  affection  of  your  excellencies  towards  them,  and 
still  very  lately,  by  sending  our  lords,  the  ambassadors,  to  his  royal 
highness,  upon  occasion  of  the  order  of  the  31st  of  January  last,  pub- 
lished against  us,  as  we  have  been  informed  of,  by  the  letter' which  you 
have  been  pleased  to  direct  to  us.    We  are  not  r.ble  enough  to  acknow- 


Proofs  and  Illustrations.  585 

ledge  the  care,  trouble,  and  pains  which  our  lords  the  ambassadors 
have  taken  in  our  favour  and  preservation,  towards  our  sovereign  ;  and 
had  they  met  with  hearts  disposed  to  our  welfare  and  quietness,  their 
intercessions  would  not  have  failed  of  being  successful ;  but  it  ought 
to  be  confessed,  that  our  condition  is  very  bad  from  that  quarter ;  we, 
nevertheless,  render  to  your  excellencies,  with  all  the  sentiments  of  ac- 
knowledgments we  are  capable  of,  our  most  humble  and  hearty  thanks 
for  so  many  favours  we  have  received  from  their  holy  and  Christian 
charity.  We  are  very  sensible,  and  confess  it,  though  with  great  con- 
fusion, that  our  lords  the  ambassadors  have  not  had  from  our  people  all 
that  satisfaction  that  might  have  been  wished  for,  concerning  their  re- 
signation into  your  hands;  but  we  most  humbly  beseech  you  to  em- 
ploy their  charity  and  support  towards  a  people  that  make  to  them- 
selves a  point  of  conscience  and  honour  to  preserve  their  religion  in 
their  native  country,  where  it  has  been  a  long  time  miraculously  pre- 
served. We  are  very  sensible  that  as  to  the  world,  our  ruin  is  una- 
voidable ;  but  we  are  in  hopes  that  God  will  revenge  his  quarrel,  and 
that  good  and  charitable  people  will  not  abandon  us  ;  and  principally 
we  put  our  trust  under  God  in  your  excellencies,  and  throw  ourselves 
into  their  fatherly  arms,  beseeching  you  for  the  compassion  of  God, 
and  in  the  name  of  his  Son  Jesus  Christ,  our  common  Father  and  Sa- 
viour, not  to  deprive  us  of  your  charity  and  affection,  and  to  throw  the 
eyes  of  your  clemency  and  tenderness  upon  so  many  poor  families,  lit- 
tle children,  and  other  weak  miserable  persons,  as  to  the  world,  to  let 
them  feel  the  favourable  effects  of  your  Christian  goodness.  We  be- 
seech the  Lord  that  he  would  be  pleased  to  be  the  perpetual  preserver 
of  your  excellencies,  and  the  abundant  rewarder  of  all  your  holy  and 
Christian  charities ;  and  are,  with  all  the  veneration  imaginable, 

Most  high,  mighty,  and  sovereign  lords, 
your  excellencies'  most  humble,  most 
obedient,  and  most  obliged  servants, 

The  ministers,  elders,  and  other  directors  of  the 
churches  of  the  valleys  in  Piedmont,  and  for  all, 

S.  Bastie,  Moderator, 
Gr.  Matant,  Minister. 

No.  15. 

Letter  from  the  Pastors  of  the  Churches  in  the  Valleys  of  Piedmont 

to  the  Swiss  Ambassadors. 
My  Lords, 

We  do  intend  to  communicate  immediately  to  our  commonalties  your 
excellencies'  letter  :  we  could  have  wished  that  they  had  been  more 
mindful  of  those  wise  counsels  your  excellencies  have  given  them,  to 
prevent  such  danger  and  desolation  as  in  all  human  probability  is  now 
unavoidable  :  we  pray  to  God  that  he  would  be  pleased  to  crown  their 
resolution,  though  against  all  appearance,  with  success,  and  to  strengthen 
their  infirmity  and  feebleness.     I  do  believe  that  all  the  ministers  do 


586  appendix. 

design  to  live  and  to  die  amongst  them,  because  your  excellencies  do 
not  disapprove  it :  and,  indeed,  it  would  neither  be  honest  nor  excusa- 
ble to  abandon  them  in  such  a  juncture  of  time ;  and  we  should  cer- 
tainly have  reason  to  think  ourselves  guilty  in  part  of  their  loss,  be- 
cause a  good  shepherd  is  bound  to  lay  down  his  life  for  his  flock.  We 
continue  to  give  your  excellencies  our  most  humble  thanks  for  the  trou- 
ble and  indefatigable  care  you  have  taken  for  our  welfare  and  subsist- 
ence ;  and  we  conjure  you  by  the  compassion  of  God,  and  by  the  cha- 
rity of  Jesus  Christ,  not  to  forget  us,  but  whether  it  be  during  your 
stay  at  Turin,  or  after  your  return  to  the  most  high  and  mighty  Pro- 
testant Cantons,  to  favour  us  with  your  affection  and  Christian  charity 
upon  all  occasions.  We  pray  our  great  God  and  Saviour  that  he  would 
be  pleased  to  reward  the  pains  and  charity  of  your  excellencies  towards 
these  churches,  with  his  most  precious  blessings  in  heaven  and  earth, 
and  to  cover  your  sacred  persons  with  his  inviolable  protection :  these 
are  the  sincere  and  fervent  wishes  of  those  that  are,'  with  profound  re- 
spect, 

My  Lords, 
Your  excellencies'  most  humble  and  obedient  servants, 

The  ministers  of  the  evangelical  churches  of  the  val- 
leys of  Lucerne,  Angrogne,  Perouse,  St.  Martin, 
4c.  in  Piedmont,  and  in  the  name  of  all, 

S.  Bastie,  Minister. 
Angrogne,  April,  17,  1686. 

No.  16. 

Letter  from  his  Royal  Highness,  the  Duke  of  Savoy,  to  the  French 
King's  Brother,  the  Duke  of  Orleans. 

Amongst  the  many  and  great  troubles,  under  which  I  am  at  present, 
seeing  none  but  you  capable  of  giving  some  ease  to  my  afflicted  spi- 
rits, I  hope  you  will  give  me  leave  to  do  what  unfortunate  men  have 
only  left  to  do ;  that  is  to  say,  to  justify  their  conduct,  and  to  demon- 
strate their  reasons  to  those  that  are  not  yet  so  far  from  all  equity,  as 
to  refuse  to  pity  them.  What  have  I  ever  done  else  to  the  king,  than 
to  serve  him  in  the  most  substantial  things  lie  desired  of  me?  Have 
J  not  sacrificed  to  his  satisfaction  the  valleys  of  Lucerne,  to  my  oivn 
prejudice,  and  against  all  the  prmciples  of  true  politics  ?  Did  I  not 
consent  to  give  him  three  of  my  regiments,  at  the  same  instant  his  am- 
bassador made  the  first  mention  of  it  ?  Is  it  not  evident  that  to  please 
the  king,  I  have  abandoned  my  interest,  my  country,  and  my  person, 
by  such  compliances,  as  have  drawn  upon  me  great  aversion  from  all 
the  Protestant  poivers,*  of  the  emperor,  of  the  king  of  Spain,  and  of 
all  the  confederate  princes  ?    Wherein  have  I  ever  displeased  the  king? 

His  ambassadors  have  sometimes  made  their  complaints  about  some 
little  insignificant  things,  a  thousand  of  which  would  not  be  able  to 

*  Here  is  a  frank  avowal  that  the  duke  had  consented  to  the  destruction  of 
the  Waldenses  to  oblige  the  king  of  France. 


Proofs  and  Illustrations.  587 

balance  the  least  part  of  those  substantial  services  which  I  have  men- 
tioned, nor  the  continual  marks  I  have  given  of  a  strict  adherence  to 
the  king's  interests.  A  gentleman  of  Nice  raises,  without  my  leave, 
and  without  my  desiring  it,  some  soldiers,  in  the  said  place,  against 
several  declarations  of  my  predecessors,  at  the  same  time  that  I  am 
there  actually  present:  this  is  not  enough,  he  enlists  some  of  those  that 
belong  to  my  regiment  of  guards:  I  have  the  goodness  not  to  suffer 
him  to  be  tried  at  the  sessions,  nor  his  goods  to  be  seized  according  to 
custom ;  and  I  content  myself  to  send  him  to  prison,  only  to  prevent 
the  ill  example  he  had  given  by  his  behaviour;  and  yet,  after  all,  they 
pretend  to  make  a  great  business  of  this,  as  if  I  was  obliged  tamely  to 
suffer  this  insolence  and  affront  of  one  of  my  own  subjects,  in  my  very 
presence,  instead  of  which  they  should  have  taken  notice  of  my  mo- 
deration. 

I  have  given  the  king  three  regiments,  partly  composed  out  of  the 
principal  nobility  of  this  country ;  there  is  a  considerable  number  of 
gentlemen  and  others  of  my  subjects  in  those  troops;  I  am  willing,  for 
my  greater  recommendation,  to  give  the  king,  with  my  own  hands, 
such  as  he  may  desire  to  have  above  the  said  number:  but  I  do  not  in- 
tend to  give  my  subjects  full  license  to  act  against  the  law,  and  to  de- 
viate from  that  loyalty  they  naturally  owe  to  their  sovereign.  Never- 
theless, those  that  do  it  are  not  punished  for  it,  their  goods  are  not 
seized,  and  I  do  expressly  prohibit  not  to  indict  them  for  some  imper- 
tinent and  seditious  words;  neither  do  I  trouble  their  parents  for  it; 
yet,  after  all,  if  I  do  not  applaud  their  exorbitance,  my  past  services 
are  forgotten,  and  I  have  no  good  intentions  for  those  of  his  majesty  ! 
There  is  a  reciprocal  agreement  made  about  the  restoring  of  the 
deserters  of  the  garrison  of  Pignerol,  Perouse,  and  Cassal,  and  of  those 
of  my  troops.  This  is  not  at  all  executed  on  the  side  of  the  said  gar- 
risons ;  for  if  they  restore  one,  they  retain  fifty:  and  yet  they  make  a 
great  noise,  as  if  the  agreement  was  not  observed  on  my  side.  Of 
those  troops  which  for  the  king's  service  I  entertained  in  the  val- 
leys of  Lucerne,  a  great  many  deserted  to  Pignerol ;  but  the  governor 
pretended,  either,  that  he  had  no  authority  over  those  deserters,  because 
they  had  listed  themselves  amongst  some  recruits  which  were  made 
for  other  regiments;  or  that  they  were  to  be  exchanged  with  those 
troops  of  his  majesty  that  were  out  of  the  place;  or  they  refused  them 
sometimes  downright,  pretending  that  there  was  an  amnesty  of  the 
king  in  favour  of  the  deserters ;  as  if  an  amnesty  of  the  king,  that  only 
regards  those  that  desert  in  his  own  kingdom,  could  be  made  use  of  by 
those  that  deserted  out  of  my  troops,  far  from  coming  back,  as  it  is  ex- 
pressly required  in  the  amnesties  of  such  nature.  It  has  been  declared 
at  Cassal,  that  they  would  neither  render  nor  retake  any  deserter.  This 
is  a  thing  I  do  not  complain  of,  for  there  seems  to  be  a  reciprocal  equity 
in  not  asking,  and  in  not  giving  back:  but  then  the  garrison  of  Cassal 
has  no  reason  to  complain  neither. 

Give  me  leave  about  this  subject  to  inform  you  of  a  thing  that  has 
made  so  great  a  noise.  Some  officers  of  Pignerol  having  made  their 
complaints,  that  some  of  their  deserters  were  to  be  found  in  the  valleys 
of  Lucerne,  I  gave  orders  that  they  should  be  restored ;  and,  withal, 


588  Appendix. 

leave  that  they  might  go  themselves  to  discover  them.  They  took 
along  with  them  a  serjeant  that  had  deserted  out  of  a  regiment  belong- 
ing to  the  said  valleys  :  the  officers  of  the  said  regiment  seized  him  as 
60011  as  they  saw  him  :  I  was  told  of  it  in  a  letter:  I  gave  them,  accord- 
inor  to  my  custom  in  such  matters,  a  general  answer  ;  that  is  to  say,  to 
do  what  they  found  just,  having  no  mind  to  condemn  the  deserter  my- 
self. The  serjeant  did  himself  confess  that  he  had  deserted;,  he  was 
tried  and  condemned  according  to  law.  Ought  a  deserter  not  to  have 
been  seized,  that  had  the  impudence  to  come  before  his  officers,  to  en- 
courage (by  his  so  fine  example)  the  rest  of  the  regiment  to  desert  as 
well  as  he?  Does  the  agreement  made  to  restore  the  deserters,  mention 
not  to  take  them  ourselves  when  they  are  to  be  found  in  our  own  ter- 
ritories, from  whence  they  deserted,  only  because  some  officers  had  the 
impudence  to  take  them  along  with  them?  Ought  we  to  think  that  it  is 
the  king's  pleasure  that  we  leave  off  being  sovereigns  in  foreign  coun- 
tries, when  a  criminal  is  at  the  suit  of  a  French  officer,  and  that  there 
be  no  justice  for  them  there?  Ought  we  to  think  that  he  would  have  us 
take  there  more  care,  than  in  his  own  kingdom?  And  yet  this  is  the 
very  thing  that  has  been  so  much  exaggerated,  to  prove  that  I  have  no 
good  intentions  for  the  king's  service. 

They  have  continued  secretly  to  raise  soldiers  in  my  territories  for 
the  king's  service :  they  are  exhausted  of  men ;  I  cannot  find  enough  to 
complete  my  own  regiments.  I  endeavour  to  retain  my  own  subjects 
by  some  slight  demonstrations  without  troubling  those  any  more  that 
do  not  observe  it,  setting  at  liberty  those  that  have  been  imprisoned,  as 
soon  as  they  have  it.  Such  great  moderation  is  not  at  all  taken  notice 
of;  as  if  a  sovereign  ought  to  contribute  himself  to  the  exhausting  his 
country  of  men,  and  that  he  ought  to  leave  off  making  use  of  his  own 
subjects,  only  to  be  employed  in  the  king's  service,  without  seeming 
to  take  notice  of  it,  without  being  asked  or  thanked  for  it. 

Some  years  ago,  the  king  desiring  to  make  some  recruits  in  Savoy, 
for  his  regiments  of  Rousillon  and  St.  Laurent,  did  consent  that  I  might 
make  some  recruits  for  my  service  in  the  provinces  of  Dauphiny,  Lion- 
nois,  and  Provence;  and  though  those  recruits  are  very  expensive, and 
come  to  nothing  at  all,  by  reason  of  the  great  number  of  those  that  de- 
sert, either  on  the  way,  or  as  soon  as  they  have  arrived  in  this  country ; 
yet  I  never  failed  to  give  orders  in  Savoy,  as  often  as  the  officers  of  the 
said  regiment  arrived  there  with  a  letter  of  Mons.  de  Louvois,  to  let 
them  make  their  recruits.  It  has  been  represented  some  few  months 
ago,  to  two  or  three  officers  that  were  come  for  the  same  purpose,  that 
Savoy  was  exhausted  of  men ;  that  it  had  very  much  suffered  the  last 
year,  endeavouring  to  hinder  the  incursions  of  those  of  Lucerne,  and 
some  French  Protestants ;  and  that  to  continue  to  contribute  to  the 
king's  satisfacton,  there  would,  according  to  all  appearance,  be  no  less 
difficulty  this  year  to  furnish  men  enough  to  the  same  end  ;  desiring  the 
said  officers  to  put  off  their  recruits  till  some  more  convenient  time. 
The  Count  de  Rebenac  having  spoken  something  of  it  here,  the  same 
reasons  were  made  known  to  him;  withal  telling  him,  that  it  was  no 
refusal,  but  only  a  putting  it  off  for  a  better  time,  to  make  the  said  recruits 
with  so  much  the  more  conveniency  ;  and  though  he  seemed  to  be  sa- 


Proofs  and  Illustrations.  589 

tisfied  with  these  just  reasons,  yet  endeavours  have  been  made  to  draw 
an  ill  consequence  out  of  it,  to  the  prejudice  of  my  good  intentions  for 
the  king's  service ;  as  if  the  various  troubles  of  this  poor  country, 
which  it  has  been  forced  to  undergo,  were  not  evident  to  all  the  world, 
and  which  is  only  with  a  design  to  contribute  to  his  majesty's  satis- 
faction. 

I  run  over  and  examine  all  my  actions,  and  I  find  nothing  else  that 
in  the  least  can  be  taken  hold  of  by  those  that  please  themselves  with 
censuring  my  actions  before  the  king,  except  my  journey  to  Venice, 
which  the  Marquis  of  Arcy  has  so  often  talked  of  before  and  after  it. 
I  confess,  that  I  was  very  glad  to  have  an  opportunity  to  know  the 
Duke  of  Bavaria,  and  to  see  at  the  sa  no  time  the  so  much  renowned 
city  of  Venice.  I  protest,  that  I  did  not  think  nor  resolve  on  it,  till 
at  a  time  when  I  could  not  make  it  known  to  the  king,  and  receive  his 
advice,  without  losing  the  opportunity  of  executing  my  design.  I  be- 
seech you  seriously  to  consider  of  what  ill  consequence  it  could  be, 
and  what  reason  the  king  has  to  complain  of  it,  since  I  did  not  do  it, 
when  my  father  of  blessed  memory  went  to  Padua  for  the  same  rea- 
son, and  that  I  did  not  know  the  king  meddled  with  the  travels  that 
other  princes  undertake.  Sure  it  is  that  what  has  followed,  has  made 
it  evident  that  there  was  nothing  in  this  journey  but  what  is  good  and 
honest,  and  what  nobody  can  disapprove  of. 

Give  me  leave  also  to  answer  some  other  complaints  which  the  am- 
bassador of  his  majesty,  and  Monsieur  Catinat,  have  mingled  in  their 
discourse,  and  which  partly  you  yourself  have  made  to  the  Marquis  of 
Dogliani,  my  ambassador,  namely,  that  I  was  treating  with  his  Impe- 
rial Majesty,  with  the  King  of  Spain,  with  England  and  Holland.  To 
convince  his  majesty  that  this  was  a  false  supposition,  I  have  written 
you  several  times  that  it  was  not  true:  if  you  did  but  know  me  well, 
you  will  easily  be  convinced  that  this  is  more  than  a  sufficient  proof; 
for  I  had  rather  lose  all  than  tell  you  a  lie.  In  the  mean  time  I  inform- 
ed the  Pope,  by  my  resident,  I  have  written  to  him,  and  his  nuncio 
that  had  showed  the  letter  to  Mons.  Catinat,  that  it  was  not  true,  and 
that  nothing  had  passed,  neither  was  there  any  thing  on  foot  against  his 
majesty's  interest:  that,  on  the  contrary,  I  had  done  several  things 
against  common  civility,  and  directly  against  my  own  interest,  out  of 
fear  of  displeasing  him  ;  having  had  no  ministers  at  the  emperor's,  and 
the  catholic  king's  court,  to  behave  myself  in  this  point  according  to  the 
Marquis  of  Arcy's  direction,  who  could  not  allow  so  much  as  some 
gentlemen,  my  subjects,  going  into  Hungary  to  improve  themselves  in 
the  art  of  war.  As  for  England,  the  same  reason  has  hindered  me  that 
I  have  sent  no  answer  to  an  obliging  letter  from  thence;  and  concerning 
the  States-General,  they  have  written  to  me  a  letter,  not  long  ago,  in 
favour  of  the  Waldenses  ;  I  desired  to  be  excused  from  doing  what  they 
requested,  and  this  is  the  only  correspondence  I  have  had  with  them. 

There  has  been  something  mentioned  of  intelligence  I  kept  with 
certain  men  in  Dauphiny  ;  this  is  an  invention  of  the  same  stamp  with 
the  rest,  but  with  this  difference,  that  I  have  reason  to  hope  that  by  the 
falsity  of  this  lie  it  will  be  judged  that  the  rest  is  of  no  better  foundation. 
In  fine,  I  am  willing  to  submit  myself  to  the  judgment  of  his  holiness, 
50 


590  Appendix. 

or  the  commonwealth  of  Venice,  or  any  other  power  that  I  have  not 
just  reason  to  suspect ;  but  the  king  himself,  by  making  some  just  re- 
flections, according  to  his  great  understanding,  may  easily  see  the  falsity 
of  all  these  accusations.  And  to  be  plain  with  you  ;  after  the  hard  usage 
I  just  now  receive,  it  ought  to  be  less  strange,  that  those  who  have 
surprised  his  majesty's  equity,  so  as  to  persuade  him  to  such  extremes 
with  me,  have  endeavoured  to  give  some  few,  though  false,  colours  to 
their  pretences. 

1  beseech  you,  Sir,  to  make  a  parallel  of  what  substantial  things  I 
have  actually  done  for  the  king's  service,  with  the  aforesaid  pretences, 
and  to  judge  if  those  solid  marks  I  have  given  of  my  zeal  for  the  king's 
interest,  do  not  altogether  destroy  them  ;  and  if  it  be  not  against  com- 
mon sense,  to  put  them  into  a  parallel  ?  Cast  your  eyes  upon  what 
follows.  Monsieur  de  Rebenac,  the  king's  ambassador,  arrives  in  this 
country ;  he  takes  pains  to  assure  me  of  the  king's  goodness  in  regard 
to  my  person.  I  answer  it  with  those  earnest  protestations  so  often 
repeated  by  me  and  my  ministers,  of  my  great  acknowledgment  and  zeal 
for  the  king's  service,  that  ought  fully  to  persuade  him  of  it.  He  de- 
sires me  to  drive  the  rest  of  my  subjects  out  of  the  Valleys;  I  do  con- 
sent to  it;  he  does  nothing  but  entertain  me  about  that  business,  and 
the  king's  favourable  opinion  he  has  of  me.  Monsieur  Catinat  arrives 
at  Pignerol,  he  comes  to  see  me  in  this  city;  the  project  against  the 
Vaudois  seems  to  be  his  only  design ;  he  speaks  to  me  about  it  as  the 
only  cause  of  his  coming.  I  do  easily  believe  it,  I  let  him  see  a  list  of 
all  my  troops,  and  that  they  are  not  enough  to  furnish  garrisons  for  my 
fortresses,  and  to  send  them  to  such  places  where  my  service  requires 
their  presence  ;  and  nevertheless  I  resolve  to  furnish  him  with  a  con- 
siderable detachment.  He  seems  to  be  satisfied ;  he  desires  to  have 
at  Pignerol  a  conference  with  my  officers  ;  I  send  them  to  him.  All 
his  thoughts  seem  to  be  employed  about  this  design;  he  makes  all 
seeming  preparations  for  it ;  he  says  that  his  commission  regards  more 
those  parts  that  are  of  this,  than  the  other  side  of  Pignerol ;  that  it  was 
necessary  to  use  all  haste  to  make  an  end  of  the  business  with  the 
Vaudois,  and  he  seems  to  concern  himself  with  nothing  else.  In 
the  mean  time  there  happened  an  insurrection  in  Mondovi:  to  ap- 
pease that,  I  sent  thither  some  of  my  troops,  and  some  few  of  those 
that  are  at  Lucerne.  Monsieur  Catinat  lets  me  know,  that  seeing  I  was 
engaged  about  the  business  of  Mondovi,  if  I  could  not  assist  him  with 
the  same  number  of  troops  I  had  promised,  I  should  let  him  have  at 
least  a  part  of  it.  I  gave  orders  to  send  him  a  detachment  of  400  men ; 
lie  seems  to  be  satisfied.  It  snows  very  much  in  the  Valleys,  so  there 
is  no  action  there.  Some  few  days  after,  having  made  an  end  of  the 
business  of  Mondovi,  and  coming  back  to  Turin,  I  understand  that  the 
King's  troops,  which  we  thought  were  designed  for  Burgundy,  Cata- 
logue, and  against  the  Protestants  in  the  Valleys  did  advance  towards 
the  borders  of  my  territories.  This  report  is  confirmed  by  the  discourse 
of  his  majesty's  principal  officers,  who  make  it  public,  that  they  intend- 
ed to  put  the  dutchy  of  my  land  under  contribution,  and  accordingly 
they  dispersed  there  some  papers  that  intimated  the  same.  Nobody 
speaks  to  me  about  the  passage;  I  judge  that  the  king  has  a  mind 


Proofs  and  Illustrations.  591 

either  to  fake  it  by  force,  or  that  he  desires  1  should  offer  it.  I 
do  it  with  all  the  security  of  going  and  coining  back,  and  all  the  con- 
veniency  of  provisions  in  my  territories,  with  all  possible  protestations 
of  my  zeal  to  serve  him.  But  this  signifies  nothing  ;  Monsieur  Catinat 
desires  some  commissaries  to  explain  himself  about  the  king's  intention. 
I  send  him  two  persons  to  Pignerol.  He  tells  them  in  general  terms, 
that  the  king  is  not  satisfied  icith  my  behaviour  ;  that  he  had  received 
orders  to  enter  his  troops  into  my  territories,  that  he  would  give  them 
bread,  but  that  I  was  to  furnish  them  with  forage,  and  with  a  pound  of 
flesh  each  soldier;  and  gives  a  hint  that  he  would  write  to  me  something 
more  particular.  Those  villages  through  which  he  enters  into  my 
territories,  give  him  what  he  desires;  after  he  is  entered  there,  he  de- 
sires of  me  in  a  letter,  to  send  him  somebody  to  whom  he  might  ex- 
plain himself.  I  send  to  him  the  Marquis  of  Ferrero,  whom  you  for- 
merly knew  as  my  ambassador.  Monsieur  Caiinat  begins  with  general 
complaints  ;  and  ends  with  telling  him,  that  the  king  expects  I  should 
send  into  France,  over  the  bridge  of  Beauvoisin,  2000  foot,  and  two 
regiments  of  dragoons,  of  my  troops,  and  that  I  was  to  resolve  upon  it 
in  48  hours,  in  case  I  had  no  other  proposals  to  make.  The  Marquis 
Ferrero  did  all  he  could,  to  let  him  see  a  second  time  the  little  grounds 
of  his  complaint,  the  great  occasion  I  had  for  my  own  troops,  and  in 
fine,  offers  him  a  league  defensive.  But  Monsieur  Catinat  persisting  in 
his  demands,  he  assures  him,  that  I  would  send  those  troops  over  the 
bridge  Beauvoisin,  into  his  majesty's  service.  Monsieur  Catinat  seems 
to  be  very  glad  of  it,  and  told  the  Marquis  of  Ferrero,  that  henceforth 
we  should  look  upon  his  majesty's  troops  as  our  friends,  and  in  assur- 
ance of  it,  countermands  the  march  to  Grugliasch,  near  Turin,  because 
the  said  Marquis  had  made  some  mention  about  it.  I  wrote  to  the  Count 
Provane,  whom  I  thought  to  be  at  Paris,  to  represent  to  the  king  what 
the  Marquis  Ferrero  had  told  Monsieur  Catinat  without  any  success, 
and  to  add  some  proposals  to  satisfy  the  king  about  the  troops,  with  the 
advantages  of  his  Majesty's  service,  and  the  least  prejudice  of  my  own. 
What  will  you  say,  when  you  hear,  that  neither  Monsieur  Catinat's, 
nor  my  express  could  at  all  return  ;  that  he  leaves  briskly  Veillane,  and 
comes  to  Orbassan,  from  whence  he  sends  a  commissary  to  let  me  know, 
that  the  troops  were  not  enough  to  satisfy  the  king,  that  he  desires 
some  other  assurance  of  my  good  intentions  for  the  king's  service;  that 
he  did  not  positively  know  what  it  was,  but  believed  it  might  regard 
some  place.  That  Monsieur  Catinat  expects  an  answer  in  twenty-four 
hours ;  that  it  was  then  about  eight  or  nine,  and  that  about  the  same 
time  to-morrow  he  expected  some  proposals,  for  want  of  which  he 
should  begin  to  commit  hostilities.  I  send  him  the  Abbot  of  Verrue: 
Monsieur  Catinat  repeats  his  complaints,  and  desires  some  assurance 
of  my  good  intentions.  He  is  intreated  to  tell,  if  he  had  any  power 
from  the  king  to  treat.  He  answers  that  he  has  none,  but  that  he  may 
accept  some  places  in  the  king's  name.  We  request  to  know  what 
place  he  expects  ;  he  makes  some  difficulty  to  tell  it,  and  desires  we 
should  guess  it ;  at  last  he  says,  that  the  communication  of  Pignerol, 
and  the  citidel  of  Cassel  must  be  secured ;  but  says  at  the  same  time, 
they  made  no  reflection  upon  the  new  city  of  Ast. 


592  Appendix. 

The  pope's  nuncio  goes  to  him,  in  order  to  accommodate  matters 
betwixt  us ;  he  shows  him  my  letter,  wherein  I  assure  him,  that  I  was 
no  ways  a  treating  against  the  King,  no  not  so  much  as  in  my  thoughts  ; 
but  all  this  without  effect.  The  Marquis  of  Ferrero,  and  the  Abbot  of 
Verrue  return  thither;  they  hear  nothing  but  the  same  things  repeated. 
The  Marquis  Ferrero  returns  thither  once  more  alone,  with  a  letter  from 
the  Marquis  de  St.  Thomas,  wherein  he  shows  my  readiness  to  satisfy 
the  King,  with  an  assurance  of  my  good  intentions.  He  is  extremely 
surprised  to  hear  out  of  Monsieur  Catinat's  own  mouth,  that  he  had  not 
spoken  of  an  assurance  in  the  singular,  but  in  the  plural  number;  that 
he  had  given  it  sufficiently  to  understand  to  the  Abbot  of  Verrue,  yet  it 
seemed  to  be  the  same  thing  to  that  abbot,  and  to  the  commissary,  to 
speak  in  the  plural,  instead  of  the  singular  number,  as  they  have  both 
done.  But  Monsieur  Catinat,  who  aimed  at  his  ends,  persisted  in  this 
opinion,  and  declared  afterwards,  that  there  was  nothing  but  the  citadels 
of  Turin  and  Verrue  that  could  satisfy  the  King;  that  in  case  they  were 
not  in  twenty-four  hours  put  into  his  hands,  he  could  no  longer  defer  to 
commit  hostilities ;  as  if  the  entering  with  an  army  into  a  country,  and 
to  make  them  subsist  at  the  expenses  of  the  people,  were  great  marks 
of  friendship.  And  yet  he  would  by  no  means,  nay,  he  had  no  power 
to  treat  about  the  conditions,  which  is,  in  plain  terms,  to  live  at  discre- 
tion. 

In  this  great  extremity,  seeing  my  people  at  the  mercy  of  a  foreign 
army,  I  thought  fit  to  give  myself  the  honour  to  send  to  the  King  a  let- 
ter, the  copy  of  which  I  have  joined  to  this,  and  sent  it  to  Monsieur 
Catinat  by  the  Count  of  Marcenaese.  He  agreed  to  suspend  all  actions 
of  hostilities,  and  despatched  immediately  his  nephew  to  carry  the  let- 
ter to  the  King  with  all  possible  speed.  And,  indeed,  his  speed  was 
so  great,  that  he  was  but  few  hours  above  a  seven-night  in  going  and 
coming.  Monsieur  Catinat  gave  me  notice  of  his  arrival  by  sending  me 
his  Majesty's  answer,  the  copy  of  which  I  have  also  joined  to  this.  I 
confess  I  was  mightily  troubled  to  see  a  letter  writ  with  so  much  re- 
serve, and  that  did  not  give  me  the  least  sign  of  the  king's  reconcilia- 
tion to  me,  which  I  did  expect;  and  far  from  giving  me  the  least  hopes 
about  the  restoring  of  my  places,  he  gives  me  sufficiently  to  understand, 
that  he  required  long  proofs  of  my  affection  before  he  could  be  persuad- 
ed of  it;  insomuch,  that  if  these  things,  altogether  false  and  supposi- 
tious, and  some  other  slight  ones,  could  so  easily  persuade  him  to  the 
depriving  me  of  the  said  places,  would  he  ever  want  some  pretences  to 
retain  them  ?  I  sent,  nevertheless,  the  Marquis  Ferrero  and  the  Mar- 
quis of  St.  Thomas  to  Monsieur  Catinat,  with  full  power  to  treat. 
They  endeavoured  to  acquaint  themselves  with  his  power  and  his  sen- 
timents: the  first  was  in  very  good  form,  but  the  other  little  answered 
my  expectation. 

In  fine,  Sir,  after  all  the  ill  usage  I  received  from  the  King,  I  am 
sure,  if  he  would  give  himself  the  trouble  to  hear  the  reading  of  this 
letter,  he  would  not  desire  to  be  judge  of  this  affair  ;  and  if  he  did  de- 
sire it,  I  seriously  believe  he  could  nothinder  himself  from  pronouncing 
in  my  favour. 


Proofs  and  Illustrations.  593 

My- chancellor  has  written  a  letter  to  Monsieur  Catinat,  of  which  I 
send  you  a  copy,  as  also  another  of  his  answer.  After  which  having 
demanded  contributions  in  my  territories,  and  I  hearing  of  nothing  but 
threatenings,  was  forced  to  accept  the  succours  which  those  that  always 
looked  upon  me  as  a  Frenchman  had  the  generosity  to  offer  me,  in  this 
great  extremity  to  which  I  am  reduced !  which  I  did  not  consent  to, 
till  after  1  had  left  no  stone  unturned  to  keep  me  from  that  necessity. 
This  is  so  very  great,  that  I  do  not  think  to  flatter  myself  so  much,  as 
to  believe  that  all  Europe  will  pity  me,  without  excepting  the  most 
generous  and  just  men  in  France.  Good  God  !  how  was  it  possible  it 
should  be  for  the  king's  interest  to  oppiess  a  prince,  who  has  the  honour 
to  be  so  nearly  related  to  him,  who  has  given  him  such  substantial 
marks  of  his  zeal  and  affection,  whose  countries  are  surrounded  by 
those  of  his  Majesty's,  and  who  by  the  rest  of  the  world  is  taken  to  be 
a  Frenchman  ?  What  will  those  princes  say,  which  France  would  fain 
separate  from  the  contrary  party?  Is  it  not  as  much  as  to  let  them  know, 
that  they  have  nothing  to  hope  and  every  thing  to  fear,  considering  the 
usage  I  receive  ?  Is  the  world  not  enough  informed  of  the  vast  designs 
of  France,  without  discovering  them  so  much  in  desiring  to  drive  me 
out  of  the  citadel  of  my  ordinary  residence,  and  another  very  consider- 
able place  ?  Will  the  princes  of  Italy  believe  that  it  is  in  order  to  de- 
fend them  from  their  enemies,  of  which  they  have  none?  or  to  open 
the  way  to  some  greater  conquests,  making  the  beginning  with  him, 
who  far  from  fearing  any  enterprises  from  him  had  all  the  reason  in  the 
world  to  rely  on  his  protection?  Pardon,  Sir,  the  prolixity  of  this  let- 
ter, and  do  not  ascribe  it  to  any  thing  but  to  justify  to  you  my  behaviour, 
after  having  made  use  of  all  human  prudence  could  furnish  me  with.  I 
hope  that  God  Almighty  will  not  abandon  the  justice  of  my  cause ;  that 
he  will  fortify  my  weakness  ;  and  that  the  consolation  of  a  prince,  whom 
they  endeavour  to  drive  out  of  apart  of  what  he  has  inherited  from  his 
ancestors,  will  be  the  darling  work  of  Divine  Providence.  Pity  me  in 
my  misfortunes,  but  assure  yourself,  that  having  nothing  to  reproach 
myself  with,  I  look  upon  it  with  courage?  and  in  case  I  should  happen 
to  be  a  prince  without  a  country,  (which,  by  God's  assistance  I  hope  I 
shall  not)  I  will  nevertheless  maintain  those  sentiments,  and  that  great- 
ness of  soul,  which  is  answerable  to  my  birth,  and  worthy  of  a  son,  that 
intends  to  honour  you  as  a  father  all  his  life-time,  and  that  ever  will  be 
entirely  yours. 

Since  the  writing  of  this  letter,  I  have  received  one  from  Monsieur 
Catinat,  which  I  send  you  a  copy  of,  as  also  of  the  answer  I  sent  him, 
and  how  he  replied  to  it.  Methinks  that  after  what  has  passed,  I  am 
not  in  the  wrong  to  desire  to  treat  in  writing,  and  that  all  the  world  will 
easily  agree,  that  it  is  a  mark  of  the  uprightness  of  my  proceedings, 
and  the  sincerity  of  my  intentions,  assuring  you  again  that  what  Mon- 
sier  Catinat  mentions  about  a  precedent  engagement,  is  nothing  but  a 
mere  pretence,  and  that  I  have  had  none,  either  with  the  Emperor  or 
the  Catholic  King,  till  the  third  of  this  month,  when  Monsieur  Catinat 
cut  off*  all  manner  of  treaties,  and  intimated  contributions  to  several  of 
my  tenitories. 

50* 


594  Appendix. 

No.  17. 

Letter  from  his  Royal  Highness  the  Duke  of  Savoy,  to  the  French 

King,  May  the  20th,  1690. 

MONSIEGNEUR, 

I  am  infinitely  troubled  to  see  that  those  false  colours  with  which  I 
have  been  blackened  in  the  eyes  of  your  Majesty,  have  had  so  much 
power  over  your  mind,  as  to  deprive  me  of  the  honour  of  your  favour, 
which  I  have  always  valued  more  than  my  life.  The  only  consolation 
I  have  left  me  in  this  extremity  is,  that  I  have  not  drawn  this  misfor- 
tune upon-  me  by  the  least  want  of  zeal  for  your  royal  service,  of  which 
I  will  make  a  glory  to  continue  to  give  some  real  marks  on  all  occa- 
sions. When  Monsieur  Catinat  told  me,  you  desired  part  of  my  troops, 
of  which  I  have  not  very  many,  I  assured  him  that  your  Majesty  was 
master  of  them,  and  that  they  were  to  pass  the  mountains  immediately 
to  go  to  serve  your  Majesty.  He  has  since  given  me  to  understand, 
that  your  will  and  pleasure  was,  to  have  some  places  in  Piedmont  in 
assurance  of  my  good  intentions  ;  and  although  your  Majesty  stands  in 
no  need  of  any  other  assurance  than  that  of  my  heart,  which  is  entirely 
yours,  yet  having  desired  Monsieur  Catinat  to  speak  somewhat  plainer, 
and  he  having  at  last  told  me  that  the  citadels  of  Turin  and  Verrue 
were  aimed  at,  I  am  ready  to  give  your  Majesty  so  substantial  a  proof 
of  my  submission,  as  the  delivery  of  those  two  places  into  your  hands 
will  be,  humbly  entreating  you,  that  you  would  be  pleased  to  do  it  upon 
such  terms,  as  a  prince  that  has  the  honour  to  be  so  nearly  related  to 
you,  may  reasonably  expect  from  the  goodness  and  generosity  of  so 
great  a  king;  but  if  your  Majesty  would  be  pleased  to  make  choice  of 
some  other  place  in  Piedmont  instead  of  the  citadel  of  Turin,  that  I 
might  continue  to  live  there  with  the  dignity  of  a  Sovereign,  your  Ma- 
jesty would  infinitely  oblige  me.  I  humbly  implore  your  Majesty's 
generosity  for  it,  as  also  that  you  would  be  pleased  to  hear  the  Count 
of  Provane,  my  ambassador,  who  will  sufficiently  satisfy  your  Majesty 
about  the  illgrounded  suspicions  your  Majesty  has  been  inspired  with 
concerning  my  behaviour,  and  who  will  renew  to  your  Majesty  all  the 
sincere  protestations  of  my  zeal  and  respect,  assuring  you  that  I  intend 
to  be  all  my  life-time,  &c. 

No.  18. 
The   French   King's  answer  to  his  Royal  Highness  the  Duke  of 

Savoy's  Letter,  dated  May  the  24th,  1690. 
Dear  Brother, 

I  understand  with  great  satisfaction,  by  your  letter  which  Monsieur 
Catinat  has  sent  me,  the  resolution  you  have  taken  to  put  into  my  hands 
the  citadels  of  Turin  and  of  Verrue :  and  seeing  that  the  Count  of 
Provane  is  not  here,  and  that  if  I  should  stay  for  his  arrival,  to  hear 
what  he  has  to  say  to  me  on  your  part,  there  would  be  wasted  a  con- 
siderable time,  in  which  the  march  of  my  troops  towards  the  dutchy  of 
Milan  would  be  put  off;  I  thought  fit  to  send  to  the  Sieur  Catinat,  full 
powers  to  receive  those  places  in  my  name ;  and,  in  the  mean  time,  I 
am  willing  to  assure  you,  by  this  letter,  that  I  have  been  very  much 


Proofs  and  Illustrations.  595 

troubled  to  find  myself  obliged  to  give  orders  for  ray  troops  to  enter 
your  territories ;  and  that  as  soon  as  I  shall  have  no  cause  to  doubt  of 
your  zeal  for  my  interest,  and  of  that  constant  affection  for  my  crown, 
of  which  most  of  your  ancestors  have  given  many  substantial  proofs,  I 
will  render  you  any  friendship  with  pleasure,  and  do  that  for  you  which 
your  near  relationship  gives  you  reason  to  hope  for. 

I  am,  &c. 
No.  19. 
Letter  from  his  Royal  Highnesses  Chancellor  to  Mons.  Catinat,  June 

the  3rd,  1690. 
Sir, 

His  royal  highnessTias  been  extremely  troubled  to  understand,  by 
what  I  have  told  him  of  your  invincible  resistance  to  accept  the  pro- 
posals I  have  made  you  in  his  name,  the  misfortune  he  has  not  to  be 
able  to  satisfy  his  majesty,  and  to  see  that  so  many  extraordinary 
endeavours  of  his  to  please  him,  have  been  altogether  unsuccessful.  It 
is  without  doubt  the  effect  of  my  little  capacity  to  make  them  agreeable, 
which  I  am  also  heartily  sorry  for.  But  thinking  that  his  royal  highness's 
proposals  concerning  the  places  and  troops  were  so  very  liberal  and 
just,  that  they  wanted  no  art  of  rhetoric,  I  received  with  pleasure  his 
orders  to  make  them  known  to  you.  I  wish  with  all  my  heart  that 
you  would  be  pleased  to  assist  me  with  your  great  experience  of  the 
affairs  cf  the  world,  to  find  out  some  other  more  successful  expedient. 
I  will  do  all  that  lies  in  my  power  to  make  them  acceptable  to  his  royal 
highness,  as  also  to  let  you  see,  by  my  care,  the  honour  I  have  to  be 
really  yours,  &c. 

No.  20. 
Monsieur  CatinaVs  Answer  to  the  Chancellor's  Letter,  dated  June 

the  3rd,  1690. 
Sir, 

I  have  received  the  letter  you  have  done  me  the  honour  to  write  to 
me,  which  I  find  to  be  written  with  the  same  spirit  as  all  his  royal 
highness's  ministers  have  discovered  to  me  in  our  conversations.  I  have 
found  nothing  that  has  been  positive  in  all  the  treaties  I  have  had  the 
honour  to  have  about  a  business  of  so  great  consequence,  except  the 
promises  that  have  been  made  to  the  king  by  his  royal  highness,  in 
a  letter  which  he  has  had  the  honour  to  write  to  him  with  his  own 
hand. 

I  am,  &c. 

No.  21. 

Monsieur  Carina? s  Letter  to  his  Royal  Highness,  June  the  16th, 
1690. 

MONSEIGNEUR, 

I  have  to-day  received  an  express  from  his  majesty,  with  such  or- 
ders as  may  furnish  some  means  to  your  Royal  Highness  to  help  your- 
self out  of  those  extremities  which  you  yourself  have  drawn  upon  you. 


596  Appendix. 

For  this  reason  I  beseech  your  Royal  Highness  to  send  to  me  two  or 
three  of  your  ministers,  in  whom  you  have  most  confidence,  that  I  may 
make  it  known  to  them ;  For  the  going  and  coming  of  which  I  take 
the  liberty  to  send  you  passports.  I  humbly  beseech  your  royal  high- 
ness to  do  me  the  honour  to  believe  that  I  am,  with  deep  respect,  &c. 

No.  22. 

His  Royal  Highness's  Answer  to  Monsieur  CatinaVs  Letter,  dated 

June  the  17th,  1690. 

You  have  as  many  witnesses  as  you  have  soldiers,  of  what  I  have 
suffered,  to  show  my  respect  for,  and  readiness  to  serve  the  king  your 
master.  You  know  I  consented  to  your  demand,  about  some  of  my 
troops  going  into  France  ;  that  you  showed  a  great  satisfaction  about  it 
to  the  Marquis  Ferrero,  as  if  it  had  been  your  only  design  in  my  regard, 
and  that  you  told  me  we  should  henceforth  look  upon  the  king's  troops 
as  friends.  Nevertheless,  some  few  days  after,  you  wanted  some  of  my 
strong  places,  afterwards  you  desired  that,  contrary  to  your  first  pro- 
posals, my  troops  were  not  to  go  into  France,  but  to  join  your  army,  in 
order  to  act  against  the  Dutchy  of  Milan.  After  which  you  see  that  I  have 
reason  to  wish,  that  in  case  you  have  any  thing  to  propose  to  me,  you 
would  do  it  in  writing,  and  I  will  do  the  same.  This  is  all  that  I  can 
say  at  present,  in  answer  to  your  letter,  and  that  I  will  always  preserve 
those  sentiments  of  esteem  for  you,  with  which  I  am,  &c. 

No.  23. 

Monsieur  CatinaVs  Reply  to  his  Royal  Highnesses  Answer,  June 

the  l?th,  1690. 

MONSEIGNEUR, 

I  have  received  the  letter  your  Royal  Highness  has  done  me  the  hon- 
our to  write  to  me,  in  which  your  intentions  are  so  clear  and  evident 
to  follow  those  engagements  you  have  embraced  a  great  while  ago,  that 
it  is  needless  to  propose  to  you  any  thing  in  writing  that  may  furnish 
the  means  to  recover  the  honour  of  his  majesty's  favour.  I  am,  with 
all  the  respect  that  is  owing  to  you. 


INDEX 

TO  THE  TWO  VOLUMES. 


Adrian,  the  Roman  emperor,  i.  115.  his  letter  to  Minutins  Fundanus 
in  behalf  of  the  Christians,  118. 

iErius  endeavours  to  restore  the  simplicity  of  the  Christian  worship, 
i.  197.  denied  the  distinction  between  bishop  and  elder,  199. 

Albert  de  Capitaneis,  appointed  papal  legate  in  France  and  Piedmont, 
ii.  434.  his  sanguinary  exploits  in  the  valley  of  Loyse,  435.  invades 
Piedmont  at  the  head  of  a  crusading  army,  436. 

Aguit,  Mr.  Francis,  a  Waldensian  pastor,  apostatizes  from  his  profes- 
sion, ii.  500.  his  repentance  and  conversion,  501. 

Agelius,  pastor  of  the  Novatianist  church  in  Constantinople,  i.  192. 

Alaric,  the  Gothic  chief,  besieges  Rome,  i.  210.  and  ultimately  sacks 
it,  214. 

Albigenses,  mistakes  concerning  them  rectified,  ii.  308.  were  the  same 
class  of  people  as  the  Waldenses,  309.  proceedings  of  the  inquisi- 
tors against  them,  371.  their  extraordinary  conduct  at  the  siege  of 
Beziers,  376.  are  massacred  by  the  crusading  army,  377.  the  sect 
nearly  exterminated  in  that  quarter,  382.  the  manner  in  which  they 
were  treated  by  the  inquisitors,  386.  the  immense  multitudes  of  them 
that  were  apprehended  in  France,  387. 

Albinus,  state  of  Judea  under  his  government,  i.  100. 

Alcuin,  some  account  of,  i.  258.  note. 

Aldegonde,  Lord  of,  a  Flemish  nobleman,  dictates  the  compromise,  i. 
466. 

Alexander  and  Arius,  how  they  represented  each  other's  views  of  the 
Sonship  of  Christ,  i.  171. 

Allix,  Dr.  his  remarks  on  the  churches  of  Piedmont,  quoted,  i.  249. 
250.  256,  257.  ii.  327.  345.  555. 

Alva,  Duke  of,  his  sanguinary  proceedings  in  the  Netherlands,  ii.  469. 

Ammianus  Marcellinus,  view  of  the  conduct  of  the  clergy  in  his  days, 
i.  179.  his  account  of  Julian's  attempt  to  rebuild  the  temple,  187. 

Antichrist,  reflections  on  the  rise  of,  i.  152. 


598  Index. 

Antioch,  in  Syria,  described,  i.  58.  its  population,  and  the  number  of 
Christians  there,  in  the  time  of  Theodosius,  195.  note. 

Antoninus  Pius,  emperor,  his  amiable  character,  i.  125.  letter  to  the 
town  council  of  Asia,  126.  his  reign  of  twenty-three  years  favoura- 
ble to  the  Christians,  ib. 

Apostles,  at  first  confined  to  Jerusalem,  i.  40.  their  subsequent  tra- 
vels, 96. 

Arian  Controversy,  i.  169.  not  settled  by  the  decision  of  the  council 
of  Nice,  176. 

Archaeologia,  the  account  there  given  of  the  Waldenses,  i.  282. 

Arnold,  of  Brescia,  his  history,  i.  284. 

Arnold  Hot  defends  the  Albigenses  against  the  Catholic  clergy,  ii.  373. 

Arnold,  Abbot  of  Cisteaux,  commands  the  first  crusading  army  against 
the  Albigenses,  ii.  381. 

Athens,  city  of,  i.  74. 

Athenagoras,  his  apology  for  the  Christians,  i.  140. 

Athanasius,  his  controversy  with  Arius,  i.  177. 

Augustine's  "  City  of  God,"  i.  216. 

Aurelius  Marcus,  emperor,  persecutes  the  Christians,  i.  127. 

Avignon,  city  of,  besieged  by  the  crusaders,  ii.  385. 


Barnabas  and  Saul  proceed  on  their  mission  to  the  Gentiles,  i.  53. 

Berengarius  denies  the  real  presence,  i.  274. 

Bernard,  St.  his  testimony  to  the  Cathari,  i.  278.  censures  the  clergy 
of  his  day,  279.  note,  preaches  against  heretics,  ii.  360. 

Berea,  the  first  preaching  of  the  gospel  there,  i.  74. 

Beziers,  city  of,  attacked  by  the  crusading  army,  ii.  375. 

Beziers,  Earl  of,  intercedes  for  the  Albigenses  of  his  city,  ii.  378.  de- 
fends Carcassone,  379.  falls  a  dupe  to  papal  perfidy,  380. 

Bishops  of  Italy  and  the  Grisons  rejected  the  Church  of  Rome,  i.  249. 

Blood-eating,  prohibited,  i.  131. 

Bohemia,  description  of,  ii.  412.  state  of  religion  there,  413. 

Bohemian  brethren,  persecution  against,  ii.  422.  sketch  of  their  histo- 
ry, 424. 

Bourg,  Sieur  de  Petit,  his  defence,  ii.  499. 

Bruys,  Peter  de,  founder  of  the  Petrobrusians,  i.  282. 

Burnet,  Dr.  his  Letters  from  Italy,  quoted,  ii.  541.  543.  562. 


Cains  Caligula,  his  reign,  i.  55. 

Calabria,  the  Waldenses  settled  there  in  1370,  ii.  396.  persecuted  by 

Pope  Pius  IV.  475. 
Calvin,  remarks  on  his  talents,  ii.  442. 
Campbell,  Dr.  George,  quoted,  on  the  incongruity  of  enforcing  religion 

by  the  power  of  the  magistrate,  i.  169.  the  identity  of  the  office  of 

bishop  and  elder,  199.  the  origin  of  monkery,  200.  his  opinion  of 

Gregory  the  Great,  225. 


Index.  599 

Carcassone,  besieged  by  the  crusaders,  ii.  377.  singular  escape  of  its 
people  from  the  upper  city,  381. 

Carthage,  account  of  the  persecution  there,  i.  130. 

Caesarea,  dispute  between  the  Jews  and  Nero  concerning  it,  i.  100. 

Castrocaro,  Governor  of  Piedmont,  his  tyrannical  conduct  towards  the 
Waldenses,  ii.  486. 

Cathari,  in  Germany,  in  the  thirteenth  century,  opposed  infant  baptism, 
i.  278. 

Catinat,  general  of  the  French  army,  his  cruelties  towards  the  Walden- 
ses, ii.  555. 

Cestius,  revolt  of  the  Jews  under  his  administration,  i.  102. 

Chandler,  Dr.  his  History  of  the  Persecutions,  quoted,  i.  150. 

Charlemagne,  king  of  France,  crowned  by  the  Pope,  Emperor  of  the 
West,  i.  257. 

Charles  the  Bald,  raised  to  the  throne,  i.  264. 

Charles  V.  his  conduct  in  the  Netherlands,  ii.  459. 

Christianity,  state  of,  under  Trajan,  i.  116. 

Church  at  Jerusalem,  a  pattern  of  the  kingdom  of  Christ,  i.  43. 

Claude  of  Turin,  account  of,  i.  251. 

Clergy,  their  kingdom  and  that  of  Christ  not  the  same  thing,  i.  153. 
instance  of  their  ignorance,  241. 

Constantinus  Chlorus,  favours  the  Christians,  i.  159.  nominates  his  son 
Constantine  to  be  his  successor,  161. 

Constantine  the  Great,  different  views  of  his  character,  i.  163.  con- 
verted to  Christianity,  ib.  removes  the  seat  of  government  to  By- 
zantium, or  Constantinople,  165.  his  character  and  death,  ib.  changed 
the  profession  of  Christianity,  ib.  his  endowment  of  churches  and 
patronage  of  the  clergy,  167.  insists  on  a  uniformity  of  profession, 
174.  prohibits  paganism  by  law,  175.  convenes  the  council  of  Nice, 

172.  his  exertions  to  accommodate  differences  among  the  clergy, 

173.  banishes  Arius  and  his  party,  175. 

Constantine  II.,  Constans,  and  Constantius,  divide  the  empire  on  the 

death  of  their  father  Constantine  the  Great,  i.  173. 
Constantius  the  emperor,  favours  the  Arians,  i.  177.  reflections  on  his 

reign,  179. 
Constantine  Copronymus,  opposes  the  worship  of  images,  231. 
Constantine,  of  Mananalis,  founds  the  sect  of  the  Paulicians,  i.  243. 
Copin,  Bartholomew,  memoir  of,  ii.  489. 
Corinth,  the  city  of,  i.  77. 

Council  of  Constance,  burn  Huss  and  Jerome,  ii.  418. 
Council  of  Nice,  proceedings  of  the,  i.  172. 
Council  of  Trent,  its  proceedings,  ii.  464, 
Cromwell,  Oliver,  his  character  and  government,  ii.  504.  appoints  a 

public  fast  in  behalf  of  the  Waldenses,  509.  liberality  towards  them 

and  State  Letters,  521. 
Crusades  to  Asia,  history  of,  i.  289. 
Crusades,  raised  against  the  Albigenses,  ii.  370. 
Cumanus,  state  of  Judea  under  his  government,  i.  99. 
Cyprian,  of  Carthage,  his  letters,  cpioted,  i.  147. 


600  Index. 


D 


Damascus,  city  of,  described,  i.  52. 
Decius,  the  emperor,  persecutes  the  Christians,  i.  150. 
Dioclesian,  the  emperor,  persecutes  the  Christians,  i.  160. 
Domitian,  the  Roman  emperor,  his  character,  i.  113. 
Dominic,  founder  of  the  inquisition,  ii.  359. 
Donatists,  their  origin  and  principles,  i.  225. 


Edict  of  Nantz,  effects  of  its  revocation,  ii.  564. 

Echard,  an  inquisitor  after  persecuting  the  Waldenses,  becomes  a  con- 
vert to  their  profession,  and  suffers  martyrdom,  ii.  394. 

Ecolampadius,  his  letter  to  the  Waldenses,  ii.  445. 

Egbert,  a  monk,  his  account  of  the  Cathari,  i.  279. 

Ephesus,  origin  of  the  Christian  church  there,  i.  80. 

Elector  Palatine,  his  letter  to  the  Duke  of  Savoy  in  behalf  of  the  Wal- 
denses, ii.  484. 

Epicureans,  at  Athens,  their  tenets,  75. 

Eusebius,  of  Caesarea,  how  he  describes  the  state  of  the  Christian  pro- 
fession previous  to  the  Decian  persecution,  i.  151.  his  account  of  the 
council  of  Nice,  172. 

Evervinus,  of  Stanfield,  his  letter  to  St.  Bernard,  i.  277. 

Exarchate  of  Ravenna,  i.  210. 


Felix,  state  of  Judea  under  his  government,  i.  99. 

Festus,  state  of  Judea  under  his  government,  i.  ib. 

Florus,  Gessius,  state  of  Judea  under  his  government,  i.  100. 

Fontenoy,  sanguinary  battle  of,  i.  264. 

Fox,  Hon.  Charles  James,  his  History  of  James  II.  quoted,  ii.  430. 

his  opinion  of  Oliver  Cromwell,  505.  note. 
France,  kings  of,  seated  Antichrist  on  his  throne,  i.  257. 
Francis  I.  King  of  France,  conquers  Piedmont,  ii.  477.  is  entreated  by 

the  pope  to  persecute  the  Waldensas,  478. 
Frederic  II.  his  four  sanguinary  edicts  against  heretics,  ii.  361. 
Fuller,  Mr.  quoted  against  eating  blood,  i.  132. 


Galba,  succeeds  Nero  as  emperor,  i.  106. 

Galerius,   emperor  of  Rome,  his    horrid   cruelty  to    the   Christians, 

i.  161.  recal  of  his  sanguinary  edicts,  and  his  shocking  death,  162. 
Gastaldo,  his  order  against  the  Waldenses,  ii.  495. 
Geneva,  receives  the  exiled  Waldenses,  ii.  561. 
Gibbon,  Mr.  his  Roman  History  quoted,  i.  115.   122.   162.  180.  185. 

186.  190.  195.  note.  196.  202.  207.  note.  210.  211.  note.  224.  243. 

&C.  262. 


Index.  601 

Gothic,  invasion  of  the  Roman  empire,  i.  209. 

Greathead,   bishop  of  Lincoln,  ii.  399.  withstood  the  sec  of  Rome, 

400. 
Gregory  Nazianzen,  his  remark  on  the  clergy  of  his  times,  i.  180. 
Gregory   I.   (the   Great),  raised  to  the  papal  chair,  i.  217.  estimate  of 

his  character,  222. 
Gregory  II.  (pope)  his  two  letters  to  the  emperor  Leo,  i.  228. 
Gregory  III.  his  letter  to  the  emperor  Leo,  i.  230. 
Gregory  IX.  excommunicates  the  emperor,  and  deprives  him   of  his 

crown,  ii.  392. 
Gros,  Mr.  Peter,  a  Waldensian  pastor,  his  fall  and  recovery,  ii.  500. 

H 

Henry  the  Great,  Emperor  of  Germany,  i.  266. 

Henricians,  some  account  of,  i.  283. 

Herod  Agrippa,  incurred  the  displeasure  of  Tiberius,  i.  59.  kills  James 

the  apostle,  and  imprisons  Peter,  ib.  his  pride,  blasphemy,  and  death, 

60. 
Hincmar,  Archbp.  of  Rheims,  boldly  opposes  the  papal  chair,  i.  265. 
Holy  Spirit,  effusion  of,  i.  40. 
Huss,  John,  some  account  of,  ii.  414. 

I 

Ignatius,  sent  from  Antioch  to  Rome,  and  put  to  death,  i.  112. 
Images,  the  worship  of,  traced  to  its  source,  i.  226. 
Inquisition,  some  account  of,  ii.  364. 

Inquisitors,  their  proceedings  against  the  Waldenses,  ii.  390. 
Irene,  the  Greek  empress,  her  zeal  for  the  worship  of  images,  i.  233. 
Irenreus,  his  account  of  the  persecution  of  the  churches  of  Vienne  and 
Lyons,  i.  130. 

J 

James,  the  son  of  Zebedee,  his  death,  i.  59. 

James,  writer  of  the  epistle,  his  death,  i.  97. 

Jerome,  his  attack  on  Vigilantius,  i.  206. 

Jerome,  of  Prague,  some  account  of,  ii.  418. 

Jerusalem,  Christ's  predictions   concerning,  i.    104.   is   besieged  and 

taken  by  the  Romans,  106. 
Jesus  of  Nazareth,  his  baptism,  ministry,  doctrine,  and  miracles,  i.  36. 

his  death  and  resurrection,  37. 
Jews,  their  insurrection  at  Caesarea,  i.  100.  their  revolt  under  Gessius 

Florus,  101.  sketch  of  their  war  with  the  Romans,  102.  estimate  of 

the  numbers  of  them  killed  during  the  war  and  siege  of  Jerusalem, 

110. 
Job,  remarks  on  his  history  and  writings,  i.  235. 
John  the  Baptist,  his  preaching,  i.  36. 
John  of  Gischala,  i.  104. 

Josephus,  the  Jewish  historian,  some  account  of,  i.  103.  note. 
51 


602  Index. 

Jovian,  the  emperor,  favours  the  Christians,  i.  190. 

Judea,  origin  of  the  war  there,  i.  99. 

Julian,  the  emperor,  view  of  his  reign,  i.  185. 

Justin  Martyr,  his  apologies  for  the  Christians,  i.  128.  suffers  martyr- 
dom at  Rome,  129. 

Justus  Lipsius,  his  enumeration  of  the  Jews  killed  during  the  war  and 
siege  of  their  city,  i.  110. 


Kingdom  of  the  Messiah,  the  subject  of  prophecy,  i.  35.  its  erection  at 
Jerusalem,  44.  description  of  its  subjects  and  laws,  ib. 

I, 

Lactantius,  some  account  of,  i.  172.  note. 

Landgrave  of  Hesse  Cassel,  his  letter  to  the  Duke  of  Savoy  in  favour 
of  the  Waldenses,  ii.  522. 

Leo,  the  Greek  emperor,  his  contests  with  the  Roman  Pontiffs  con- 
cerning images,  i.  228. 

Lesna,  in  Poland,  destroyed  by  the  Catholics,  ii.  538. 

Limborch's  History  of  the  Inquisition,  quoted,  ii.  358.  character  of 
that  work,  359.  note.  360.  372.  375.  390. 

Lollards,  some  account  of,  ii.  411. 

Lothaire,  King  of  France,  behaviour  to  his  father,  i.  263. 

Louis  XII.  King  of  France,  condemns  the  conduct  of  the  inquisitors 
against  the  Waldenses,  ii.  348. 

Louis  XIV.  his  detestable  conduct  towards  the  Duke  of  Savoy,  ii.  Ap- 
pendix, No.   17. 

Lucifer,  Bishop  of  Cagliari,  in  Sardinia,  i.  197. 

Ludovicu3  Pius,  (Lewis  the  Meek)  King  of  France,  his  reign,  i.  262. 

Luther,  his  testimony  in  favour  of  the  Waldenses,  ii.  353.  strictures 
on  his  character,  441. 

Lyons,  persecution  of  the  church  there,  i.  131. 

M 

Macrinus,  the  Roman  emperor,  his  character  and  death,  i.  145. 

Maximin,  emperor,  i.  146. 

M'Laine,  Dr.  his  plea  for  human  inventions  in  religious  worship,  i. 
197. 

Mahomet,  the  Arabian  impostor,  his  history,  i.  234. 

Manichacans,  a  view  of  their  system,  ii.  322. 

Melito,  Bishop  of  Sardis,  his  apology  for  the  Christians,  i.  128. 

Merindole,  in  France,  destroyed  by  the  Catholics,  ii.  448. 

Middleton,  Dr.  quoted  on  the  superstition  of  the  Catholic  fathers,  i. 
204. 

Milton,  his  testimony  in  favour  of  the  Waldenses,  ii.  355.  his  Sonnet, 
507.  and  letters  in  behalf  of  the  Waldenses,  509,  &c. 

Minucius  Felix,  converted  to  Christianity,  and  wrote  an  eloquent  de- 
fence of  it,  i.  139. 


Index.  603 

Miriam,  affecting  account  of  her,  during  the  siege  of  Jerusalem,  i. 

108. 
Monkery,  its  rise  and  progress,  i.  200. 

Moors,  their  expulsion  from  Spain  by  the  inquisition,  ii.  366. 
Montfort,  Simon,  earl  of,  commands  the  crusading  army  against  the  Al- 

bigenses,  ii.  381. 
Monthly  Review,  quoted,  ii.  565. 

Morland,  Sir  S.  his  embassy  to  the  Duke  of  Savoy,  ii.  509. 
Muret,  battle  of,  singular  disclosure  made  after  it,  ii.  389  note. 

N 

Neal's  History  of  the  Puritans,  corrected,  ii.  528. 

Nero,  the  emperor,  his  cruel  treatment  of  the  Christians,  i.  95. 

Nerva,  the  Roman  emperor,  his  character,  i.  114. 

Netherlands,  state  of  religion  there  in  the  sixteenth  century,  ii.  458. 

Nicene  Creed,  i.  173. 

Nicomedia,  the  capital  of  Bithynia,  becomes  the  residence  of  the  Ro- 
man emperors,  i.  160. 

Novatian,  withdraws  from  the  communion  of  the  church  of  Rome,  i. 
181.  his  principles  and  conduct  vindicated,  182. 

O 

Oppede,  governor  of  Provence,  his  horrid  treatment  of  the  Waldenses, 

ii.  454. 
Origen,  some  account  of,  i.  147. 


Paganism,  its  fall  described  in  New  Testament  prophecy,  i.  195. 

Paterines,  their  origin,  principles,  increase,  manners,  and  behaviour,  i. 
287. 

Paul,  the  apostle,  his  history  and  travels  sketched,  i.  53. 

Paulicians,  sect  of,  i.  243. 

Paulinus,  of  Aquileia,  some  account  of,  i.  252. 

Pelagius,  his  description  of  the  sacking  of  Rome,  i.  213.  note. 

Peter,  the  apostle,  his  preaching  on  the  day  of  Pentecost,  i.  42.  is  im- 
prisoned by  Herod,  but  delivered  by  an  angel,  60. 

Peter  de  Bruis,  some  account  of,  i.  282. 

Philip  II.  King  of  Spain,  his  character  and  history,  ii.  458.  celebrates 
an  Auto-de-fe,  462.  puts  his  own  son  to  death,  473. 

Philippi,  Paul's  preaching  there,  i.  70. 

Piedmont,  derivation  of  the  name,  i.  246.  geographical  description,  fer- 
tility, &c.  247.  progress  of  Christianity  in,  251.  its  inhabitants  en- 
joy toleration  for  three  centuries,  ii.  389.  See  further  under  the 
article  Waldenses. 

Pionessa,  Marquis  of,  his  inhuman  treatment  of  the  Waldenses,  ii. 
496. 

Pliny's  letter  to  Trajan,  i.  116. 

Poggio  of  Florence,  his  account  of  Jerome  of  Prague,  ii.  419. 


604  Index. 

Pyrenean  mountains  described,  i.  247. 

Polycarp,  bishop  of  Smyrna,  bis  martyrdom,  i.  127. 

Poland,  persecution  of  the  Waldenses  there,  ii.  531. 

Pothinus,  pastor  of  the  church  in  Lyons,  his  death,  i.  134. 

Praetextatus,  a  heathen,  his  witticism  respecting  the  bishops  of  Rome, 

i.  180. 
Prince  of  Orange,  favours   the  Protestants,  ii.  465.   his  enlightened 

views,  467.  a  fine  speech  of  his,  468. 
Printing,  origin  and  happy  effects  of,  ii.  473. 
Provence,    a   province  of  France,    horrible  proceedings   against    the 

Waldenses  there  in  the  sixteenth  century,  ii.  446. 

Q 

Quadratus,  of  Athens,  writes  an  apology  for  the  Christians,  i.  124. 
Quarrel  between  Pope  Gregory  IX.  and  the  Emperor  Frederick  IL  im- 
peded the  progress  of  the  Inquisition,  ii.  394." 

R 

Ravenna,  the  residence  of  the  Emperor  Honorius,  i.  210. 

Rankin,  Dr.  his  History  of  France,  quoted,  i.  273.  ii.  310,  &c. 

Raymond,  Earl  of  Toulouse,  refuses  to  expel  the  Albigenses,  ii.  374. 
shamefully  treated  by  the  court  of  Rome,  375.  and  recovers  his  do- 
minions, 383.  his  death,  384. 

Raymond,  Roger,  Earl  of  Beziers,  incurs  the  displeasure  of  the  court 
of  Rome  by- protecting  the  Albigenses,  ii.  375. 

Reinerius  Saccho,  his  account  of  the  Waldenses,  ii.  318.  his  testimony 
to  their  purity,  350.  describes  their  itinerant  preachers,  ib.  appoint- 
ed legate  of  the  pope,  and  sent  against  the  Waldenses  in  France, 
370. 

Religion,  state  of,  about  the  time  of  the  Reformation,  ii.  430. 

Robertson,  Dr.  quoted  on  the  Gothic  invasion,  i.  210.  on  the  impro- 
per deference  shown  to  the  clergy,  216.  on  the  spirit  of  the  Inquisi- 
tion in  Spain,  ii.  366. 

Robinson,  Mr.  R.  his  defence  of  Novatian,  182.  his  account  of  the 
sect  of  the  Paterines,  287.  mistakes  the  principles  of  the  Albigenses, 
ii.  322.  his  uncandid  treatment  of  the  Waldenses,  ib.  note,  his  Me- 
moirs of  the  Reformation  in  France,  quoted,  432. 

Rome,  the  city  of,  described,  i.  90.  persecution  of  the  church  there,  94. 
contentions  for  its  bishoprick  in  the  fourth  century,  180.  besieged  by 
Alaric  and  his  Gothic  hordes,  210.  its  extent,  population,  and  gran- 
deur, note,  211.  captured  by  Alaric  and  sacked,  213. 

Roman  Empire,  its  state  at  Nero's  death,  i.  106. 

Roscoe's  Life  of  Leo  X.  quoted,  ii.  444. 

S 

Sadoletus,  bishop  of  Capentras,  treats  the  Waldenses  kindly,  ii.  453. 
Saluces,  the  marquisate  of,  described,  ii.  491. 


Index.  605 

Serenus  Granianus,  proconsul  of  Asia,  remonstrates  with  Adrian  on  his 
treatment  of  the  Christians,  i.  124. 

Severus,  the  emperor,  his  severe  treatment  of  the  Christians,  i.  135. 

Sigismund,  the  emperor,  his  duplicity  to  Huss,  ii.  417. 

Simeon,  a  Greek  officer,  sent  to  destroy  the  Paulicians,  becomes  a  con- 
vert to  the  faith,  and  sutlers  martyrdom,  i.  244. 

Sisinnius,  an  elder  of  the  Novatianist  church  in  Constantinople,  i.  192. 
interesting  anecdotes  concerning  him,  ib.  note. 

Sleidan,  John,  his  account  of  the  cruelties  exercised  on  the  Waldenses 
in  France,  ii.  446. 

Sonship  of  Christ,  how  mistaken  b>  both  Athanasians  and  Arians,  i. 
169. 

Spain,  establishment  and  influence  of  the  inquisition  in  it,  ii.  366. 

Stephen,  the  protomartyr,  his  eloquent  defence,  and  death,  i.  50. 

Stoics,  at  Athens,  their  tenets,  i.  75. 

Swiss  Cantons,  their  proceedings  in  behalf  of  the  Waldenses,  ii.  305. 


Tacitus,  his  character  of  Nero,  quoted,  i.  94. 

Temple,  set  on  fire  by  the  Roman  army,  plundered  and  destroyed,  i. 
109. 

Tertullian,  presbyter  of  Carthage,  his  Apology  for  the  Christians,  i. 
136. 

Thuanus,  (De  Thou,)  his  account  of  the  Waldenses  in  France,  ii.  349. 
reflections  on  the  persecution  of  the  Waldenses,  395.  note,  traces 
the  rise  and  progress  of  the  Waldenses,  403.  his  account  of  the  cru- 
elties inflicted  on  them  in  the  sixteenth  century,  450.  457. 

Tiberius  Caesar,  character  of  his  reign,  i.  54. 

Tiberianus,  his  treatment  of  the  Christians  in  Syria,  121. 

Titus,  accompanies  his  father  Vespasian  into  Judea,  i.  102.  succeeds 
his  father  in  the  command  of  the  aimy,  106.  efforts  to  save  the  tem- 
ple, 109.  razes  the  city  to  its  foundations,  111.  succeeds  his  father 
as  emperor,  113. 

Themistius,  his  oration  to  the  emperor  Jovian,  i.  190. 

Theodosius  the  Great,  advanced  to  the  imperial  dignity,  i.  194.  en- 
forces uniformity  of  religious  profession,  ib.  abolishes  the  pagan  wor- 
ship by  law,  195. 

Theodora,  the  Greek  empress,  her  persecution  of  the  Paulicians,  i. 
245. 

Thessalonica,  origin  of  the  church  there,  i.  73. 

Toulouse,  the  rendezvous  of  the  Albigenses,  taken  by  the  army  of 
crusaders,  ii.  386. 

Trajan,  ascends  the  throne,  i.  116.  his  answer  to  Pliny's  letter,  118. 

U 

Uladislaus,  king  of  Bohemia,  ii.  426. 
Unitas  Fratrum,  their  origin,  ii.  424. 
Usher,  Archbishop,  quoted  on  the  preaching  of  the  monks,  ii.  370. 


006  Index. 


Valentinian  and  Valens,  associated  as  emperors,  i.  191. 

Valens,  persecutes  the  orthodox,  i.  191.  proceeds  against  the  Nova- 
tianists,  192. 

Vespasian,  sent  by  Nero  to  subdue  the  "Jews,  i.  102.  is  elected  empe- 
ror and  proceeds  to  Rome,  106.  remarks  on  his  reign,  113. 

Victor  Atnadeus,  Duke  of  Savoy,  extirpates  the  Waldenses  from  Pied- 
mont, ii.  543. 

Viguaux,  Mr.  pastor  of  a  Waldensian  church,  his  history  of  the  Wal- 
denses referred  to,  ii.  354.  his  compassion  for  his  suffering  brethren, 

Vigilantius,  his  opposition  to  the  system  of  monkery,  i.  206. 
Voltaire's  description  of  Italy,  i.  248.  how  he  characterizes  the  spirit 

of  the  inquisition,  ii.  367.  his  account  of  Peter  Waldo,  438.  and  of 

the  Waldenses,  439. 
Vienne,  in  France,  persecution  of  the  church  there,  i.  129. 

W 

Waldenses,  their  appearance  in  England,  i.  281.  condemned  by  the 
council  of  Oxford,  in  1166,  282.  etymology  of  the  name,  ii.  307. 
how  described  by  Reinerius  Saccho,  318.  by  an  ancient  inquisitor, 
324.  by  iEneas  Sylvius,  327.  by  Claudius  Seisselius,  328.  their  con- 
fessions of  faith,  332,  their  Treatise  on  Antichrist,  quoted,  336.  the 
grounds  of  their  dissent  from  the  Church  of  Rome,  340.  their  apo- 
logies, quoted,  341.  testimonies  from  various  adversaries,  quoted,  346. 
remarkable  attestation  of  Thuanus,  349.  and  from  Reinerius  Saccho, 
350.  their  manner  of  disseminating  their  principles  among  the  great,  ib. 
commended  by  Luther,  353.  by  Beza,  Bullinger,  and  others,  ib.  Mil- 
ton's testimony,  355.  Dr.  Jortin's  testimony,  357.  similarity  of  their 
doctrinal  tenets  with  those  of  Wickliff,  Luther,  and  Calvin,  ib.  per- 
secuting edicts  of  Frederick  II.  against  them,  361.  spread  into  Spain, 
and  edicts  issued  against  them,  369.  390.  their  spread  into  Germany, 
Alsace,  Saxony,  and  Pomerania,  392.  in  the  city  of  Paris,  where 
they  are  cruelly  treated,  395.  their  emigration  from  Dauphiny  into 
Calabria,  396.  are  tolerated  in  Calabria  for  two  centuries,  ib.  their 
migration  from  France  into  the  Netherlands,  and  persecutions  there, 
297.  into  Poland  and  Lithuania,  ib.  and  into  England,  398.  perse- 
cuted in  the  valley  of  Pragela,  432.  and  in  the  valleys  of  Fraissi- 
niere,  Argentiere,  and  Loysc,  in  France,  433.  their  probable  number 
at  the  beginning  of  the  sixteenth  century,  439.  how  affected  by  the 
Reformation,  441.  intercourse  between  them  and  Ecolampadius,  445. 
sanguinary  proceedings  against  them  in  Provence,  446.  those  of  Ca- 
labria cruelly  persecuted,  and  at  last  exterminated,  475.  their  treat- 
ment under  Francis  I.  king  of  France,  477.  again  become  subject  to 
the  Duke  of  Savoy,  479.  avow  their  principles  and  plead  for  tolera- 
tion, 480.  are  threatened  and  persecuted  in  Piedmont,  ib.  plea  in  their 
favour  from  the  Elector  Palatine,  484.  those  of  Saluces  driven  into 


Index.  007 

exile,  493.  inhuman  order  of  Gastaldo  against  those  in  Piedmont, 
495.  their  pleas  with  the  governor  unsuccessful,  ib.  their  narrative  of 
the  cruelties  exercised  on  them,  490.  two  of  their  pastors  apostatize, 
500.  their  restoration  and  confession,  ib.  proceedings  in  England  on 
hearing  of  the  sufferings  of  the  Waldenses,  506.  contributions  raised 
for  their  relief,  521.  treaty  negotiated  for  them,  524.  disappoints 
their  hopes  and  expectations,  ib.  affecting  picture  of  their  distress, 
526.  the  Swiss  a  second  time  interfere  for  them,  527.  persecution  of 
their  brethren  in  Poland  and  Bohemia,  533.  those  in  Piedmont  obtain 
the  favour  of  their  prince  in  1662,  and  are  tolerated,  541.  but  dread- 
fully persecuted  under  his  son  Victor  Ainadeus,  543.  who  first  impri- 
sons and  then  banishes  them  from  Piedmont,  559.  &c. 

Waldo,  Peter,  of  Lyons,  his  history,  ii.  311.  is  driven  by  persecution 
from  Lyons,  313.  success  of  his  ministry,  314.  retires  into  Bohemia 
and  dies,  ib. 

Warburton,  his  Divine  Legation  of  Moses,  quoted,  i.  119. 

White,  Dr.  his  Bampton  Lectures  quoted  on  the  introduction  of  image 
worship,  i.  227.  on  the  ignorance  of  the  clergy  of  the  middle  ages, 
241. 

Wickliff,  his  character  and  writings,  ii.  405.  his  letter  to  John  Huss, 
407.  note,  progress  of  his  doctrine,  416. 

Z 

Ziska,  John,  some  account  of,  ii.  423. 


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